Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, Hi, the Detroit's wheels.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Hey duck put out please?
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Yeah, Jamie? Is that you?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Yeah, just like old times. There you go, Jamie James.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Everybody, I didn't recognize your voice for a moment. There
you sound about eighteen years old. Yeah no, I mean
your voice really hasn't changed. That's incredible.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Yeah, still alive and kicking.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
As a matter of fact, Jamie, this is my fiftieth
year in broadcasting.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Oh congratulations, man.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Thank you for that. Well, we go back aways.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
I should, you know, let people, you know, kind of
remind them of our history.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
But Jamie James was the king be of the king Bees.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
And if anybody remembers the king Bees from the late
seventy which here in Detroit, they absolutely do. You had
one of the biggest songs in the Motor City, my mistake,
some of the biggest shows that we put on around
town and then and just recently, well I wouldn't say recently,
but back here not too long ago with the reunion
(01:07):
show at the Magic Bag, and I was happy to
see that you've got some new music coming out. So
what the heck's been happening? I guess you got some
new music too.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Right, okay, Well, first off, I just want to say,
regarding your fifty years now, you and I go back
forty six years, forty five, forty six years, So that's
that's that's quite a freezing of it. So and I
just share with your audience that you, Doug Pudell, were
(01:37):
the first disc jockey to play My Mistake, and you
played it. I think you had an overnight show then,
didn't you. It was a late night show, late maybe, yep, yep, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
And.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I will always be grateful to you for that, because
you know, the record had been out for three months.
This was in nineteen eighty and the record had been
out for three months, and the guys at the record
company were saying to me, because I called him, crying
on their shoulder, what's going on? Nothing's going on, nothing's
going on. I mean, we got airplay here in Los
Angeles on k Rock, and you know a couple of
(02:13):
college stations. You know, did you mind me telling the story?
Does not at all? No? No, okay, yeah, because it's
a big part of our history actually and my history
as well. And so I don't know how much time
went by, Doggy, do you remember what months you started
playing it was that it must have been in the
spring maybe of nineteen eighty or yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
(02:40):
because I think it came out in March of nineteen eighty. So,
and I got a phone call from the president of
Varsow Records one day on a Thursday morning, and it's
one of the phone calls you never forget. And it
was his name was Al Corey, and he goes, Gamie, Jamie,
are you sitting down? Are you sitting down? And I said,
what do you mean? Am I sitting down? Is everything okay?
(03:00):
Sit down? Sit down? He had a high, very excitable.
I said, all right, I'm sitting down. Now, I'm sitting down.
We got to hit. We got to hit, we got
to hit. What do you mean we got to hit?
So and it kind of started like that and and
Al was very excited. And when he was excited, you know,
it kind of trickled downhill. So the label got excited
(03:22):
and and it opened things up for us, Doug. So,
thank you, thank you, thank you for that, my friend.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Well, thank you for the music. First off, I mean,
you know it goes hand in hand. But back you know,
back then, you were still able to convince the program
director to let you do a few things. And what
had happened was is that I was playing that song
on a new music show that I had on Sunday
(03:50):
nights and then eventually advanced it to my own show,
which was six to ten at night.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
And you know, we we were.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
All kind of crowd to champion new music back then.
And Sky Daniels, if you remember, Sky was the music
director and on air personality and he was a big
influence on me, and he challenged me to always look
for new stuff that would fit the Motor City. And boy,
(04:20):
that song fit like glove. I mean, you know, we
did live broadcasts and we did shows and you hung
out on the radio station. I mean, great memories of
the king Bees and great memories of the king Bees
all throughout the Motor City, Jamie.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
So yeah, I love that story.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
It was a lot of fun in those days. It was.
It was a lot less corporate and really, really, you know,
I'm more about the buzz from live rock and roll
and you know, I don't know just raw and I'm
not taking away anything from from anything that's dressed, uh
and said, I'm not. But those were very kind of
(05:04):
like uh organic, you know, for lack of a better word,
rob were you know, drummers played real drums, and singers
had to really sing. There was no auto tune, and
you know, you really played your instruments and and uh
and and created that magic with your with your instruments
and your talent, you know, and uh yeah, and but anyway,
(05:24):
that kind of brings me to this, this new record.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
I uh so, it's great to see that you're making
new music. So tell us a little bit about the
new music and the new label.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
A label that was started by a guy named Carlcapriolio
called Olio Records, And now I think Olio Entertainment and
Carl and I did something back in the nineties and
nothing really became a bit, but I always liked his enthusiasm.
He's a real music not just like you I and
you and I are because I think it all starts,
you know, we you know, just loving music man and
(05:55):
and and uh and loving to turn our friends onto it.
And way back when, you know, whenever you were playing
your first records, you know, and sharing music with people
and getting excited about music, and carls like that. And
but anyway, yeah, so I back in twenty twenty, I
had to well, I had. I was. I was playing
(06:16):
music with a good friend of mine, Dennis Quaid, and
and we had a group called the Dennis Quaid and
the Sharks, and we did that for quite a few years.
He was over here here to visit me a couple
of weeks ago, and we caught up a lot about
the fires because they were really close to his house
over in the Palisades. But anyway, Yeah, Dennis Quaid, the son,
the brother, the younger brother of Randy Quaid, the actor,
(06:37):
and the father of the now you know new Well,
I don't want to see newcomer. But Jack Quaid, his son,
who's starting to I'm seeing billboards of him all over
Los Angeles now, so way to go, Jack. But yeah, no,
and and and so in twenty twenty, we were doing
a show up and tell you ride and up in
(06:59):
the mountains, and I don't know, man, I just suddenly
I had trouble, you know, just trouble. I could trouble,
no energy, And this said anyway, it turned out that
about a week later I needed to have like a
you know, an emergency open heart surgery, and I had
to have a quadruple bypass.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
And and that changed my life because I didn't, you know,
the doctor told me I was three to five days
from from from buying the plot, you know. And so
it turned my life around. And this is gonna sound weird, man,
but when they were wheeling me in for surgery, I said,
I'll make a deal with you, God, I promise you.
(07:39):
I'll use my talent and everything, all my experience, and
I'll get back to writing songs and focusing on my
original music. And you just get me through this, dude,
and then I I'll And so I got through it,
and then COVID hit. This was in twenty twenty and
in February twenty twenty five years ago, and uh, and
(08:01):
I took up harmonica and I practiced and played my
good I always played my guitar, but I started playing harmonic,
and I started writing songs and I came up with
with a bunch of new songs and uh yeah, and
then I just uh no. I I showed them to
the guys and the guys, the guys that I've been
playing with with Dennis rit they're guys that have been
playing with me for a long time. Tom Watsh on
(08:22):
drums and uh, Tom Ancius on bass and Ken stanging
on on keyboards. And anyway, we went into the studio
and recorded live. You know. The only thing that I
overdubbed was some harmonica that I had to go back
and to do. But because I was playing on the rack,
you know, you have the rack over your shoulder like
Bob Dylan, and uh and and but I wanted a
(08:45):
little bit better sound so I could have my hands
over for control of it. Anyway, and so we recorded
it live, and I kept all my original scratch vocals,
no vocal overdubs or anything, and uh and uh and
and in a case, I just I And it was
a magical afternoon that the day we did the basic tracks,
man and yeah, and and then I sent it to
(09:06):
I only knew two people in the recording business, so
I sent it to both of them, and they both
liked it. And but Carl was the one that kind
of got back to me first, and he was enthusiastic.
So and then you know, here we are, you know,
five years later. You know. The single came out on
February the fourteenth, two days before the fifth anniversary of
(09:27):
my surgery, and the album's coming out in two weeks
on March fourteenth, I'm very excited.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah, I got to tell you.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
I listened to the the new song you sent me
called Let the Praine Begin, and I was blown away
at the style and boy, you know, talk about perfect timing,
because you know your sound right now just seems to
be your own. And you know, I was taken back
(09:56):
a little bit first. I thought, oh, okay, here comes
a new King B song. But this is completely Jamie
James music. You can feel it. And one of the
things I put in my notes, and it's funny you
say that you know, uh, you prayed to God and
you told them you were gonna, you know, do all this,
uh in the name of the Lord. I guess in
(10:17):
a sense, because I'm listening to this new music and
I'm going, man, this sounds like music from the soul.
This sounds like Jamie wrote this stuff about himself, which
is completely different from some of that rockabilly Kingby stuff.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
And look at I mean, am I on track here
or what I mean?
Speaker 2 (10:37):
It sounds yeah, you're right on the You're right on
the money. And listen matter I I you know, I
don't to me, you know, you know, my relationship with
God or spiritual out whatever it is. It's a very
personal thing. But you're right, You're right on the money.
And and yet I still maintain like uh like I
(11:00):
one of the songs coming out on the album, I
still have a sense of humor. Thank god, it's called
Septugenarian Blues because I'm seventy one and a half years
old now, and so you know, a septugenarian for those
that and a lot of people, a lot of people
don't know what a septuagenarian is. Well that that's a
person in their seventies, so oh so. And then and
(11:24):
there's another one called show Biz Boogie and show Biz Boogie,
which I can't wait for you to hear that one.
That's one of my favorites on the record. And show
Biz Boogie, you know, as about old guys like me
that are still hanging around here in Hollywood waiting to
be big. I'm going to be big though, I'm going
to be huge. Man.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Hey, listen, my man, You've had some huge hits here.
Come on.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
You know there are people that would give their left
arm to have had my mistake and some of the
stuff that came off those King B's albums, So you know,
you've got nothing to complain about, sir. You're out there
in Los Angeles still kicking it and recording and making
great new music too. I can't wait for everybody to
(12:10):
hear this. So is it just strictly a digital release?
And will it be on all the platforms? How are
people going to find this?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Well, Carl was just telling me yesterday he flew and
he lives in Las Vegas, and he flew I was
doing I did my first I've never made a video before.
And is the King bes broke up in March of
nineteen eighty one, before MTV and all that, so, so
you know, but I did a video shoot yesterday for
Let the Prying Began and and so, and Carl flew
(12:42):
into town yesterday to be there for that, and and
he was telling me that, you know, it's gonna be
it's digital, but if it creates a little bit of
a buzz, which it seems to be doing now that
you know that, yeah, he will definitely put out vinyl,
you know. And I love Vinyl. I still play Vinyl
all the time.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Yeah, so do I.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
And uh, I was just this weekend, I stopped into
a couple of different record stores and uh, you know,
they're vibrant today, especially here in Detroit. People are are
clamoring back into the stores for uh, you know, vinyl records,
So that would be great, but hey, listen, I know
millions of people who have you know, Spotify and all
(13:24):
the rest of the platforms. And nowadays, if you want
to listen to anything in your car, you've got to
download it to your phone or whatever.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
So it's not like you can pop a CD or
a record in there.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
So uh yeah, there's there's lots of different ways to
get your music out there. But I'm just happy to
see that you're happy and that you're playing music. Because
I had heard about that four way bypass, you know,
uh when it when it went down, I thought, wow,
you know, maybe he's not going to be you know,
back out there as much anymore. But uh, you know,
(13:56):
look at it just takes, uh, you know, that one
spark somewhere along the line and you're back on track.
So is this like strictly a solo thing. I mean,
it's just Jamie James, right, and this is your music?
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Yeah, yeah, this is these are all these are all
original songs. And because I've in the last few years,
I've written about thirty two originals. So this is the
first ten and then I'm going to go back and
record another ten. But yeah, this is original. And you
know Michael Rummins, the bass player that I love. He's
(14:36):
like a brother to me from the King Bees. But
he's not on this. He's doing another thing right now
with another band he had in the seventies and before
the king Bes called the Hollywood Stars. But yeah, these
are the guys that played with me, with Dennis Quaid
and you know. But you're right though, getting back to
(14:56):
your point about getting your music up here. Listen this
today with you, Doug Pudell. This is the first podcast
I've ever done, you know, And like I don't the
music business now. It's funny getting back into it because
I've been out of it for decades. I mean the
recording business, not the not playing music. Music. I've been playing.
(15:17):
My My thing is live. I love to play live,
is you know, Doug, You've seen me quite a few times.
I just love playing, you know, the energy from an
audience and everything and uh uh and I love to
stand in front of a drum kit man. You know.
It's like like a couple of times when I've played
in Detroit. Johnny Bees played with me. I love standing
in front of that guy, you know what I mean.
(15:37):
Like like drums still to this day excite me. And
I was very blessed to have Tom Wallas play drums
on this because he's wonderful. He's originally from Buffalo, New York.
And uh, well, you know, he started off forming a band,
I think Mike when he was in college or high
school he was telling me called spiro Gyro. And then
and then he left that and he joined America and
(15:59):
toured with them for quite a long time. And so
he's got a stellar history, you know. And Ken the
keyboard player on this, he played for years with Roger
Miller until he passed away. And and and of course
and then Tommy Camp both did tourists playing for Joe
Cocker and and and you know the pedigree of these musicians.
(16:19):
And these are the guys that I brought together to
play to back up Dennis.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Yeah, and I remember that band, spyro Gyro's matter of fact,
I've seen you play though. I've seen you play acoustic
though when you've come here to Detroit, you know, just
by yourself. Now, I did read what did I read?
And maybe this was happening, you know, while you were
just playing. But did you join a Steppenwolf band? Did
(16:47):
you join Steppenwolf for a while and play guitar?
Speaker 2 (16:50):
No? Yeah, yeah, Well what happened was and when I
first moved out here in seventy five and seventy six,
I met a bass player named Nick st. Nicholas, and
Nick Saint Nicholas was the original bass player and Steppenwolf,
but he wasn't on the first album because he had
a What he tells me is he had an argument
with with some of the band members, and so they
(17:13):
got young Russian John Burrav to play bass, and then
Nick got back with them, but Nick so so Nick,
Nick and I had a band together and back then
called Pacific Coast Highway pc AGENT, and we had a
lot of fun with it. But then he one day
he called me and said, listen through a series of
(17:35):
I guess legal events or something whatever they were working.
Because remember these guys were like in their third they
were much older than me. I was twenty three, and
Nick said, Goldie and I have the right Goldie. Mit
John was the organ player, and he said, we're gonna
We're gonna go out we have the right, I think
they said, he said for a year, but I can't
remember exactly to former group called the New steppen Wolf
(17:57):
and Tour, and I guess they worked up. It was
was it was without John k and it was the
first reformation. And the reason that I did it is
because being a songwriter. They they promised me that they
were going to do a couple of my songs, the
which we did. We played two of my original songs
in every show live and it was a wonderful experience
(18:19):
for a young guitar player for me. But after about
ten months, I just didn't feel like it was going
anywhere and it just and so you know, I saved
up a little money from that, and that's how I
that's by nineteen seventy seven, that's when I started the
King Bs and started rehearsing and yeah, so but yeah,
that was a short stint there you.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Yeah, okay, all right, yeah I was wondering about that.
But hey, listen, you were definitely born to be wild.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
My friends so.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Born to me mild actually yea these but no, but yeah, no,
I have played solo and because what I do is
sometimes like when I first wanted to test out my
harmonica playing in front of a crowd. I would either
go to a couple of different places, you know. I've
got a couple of my favorite places that I like
to play in Kentucky and uh and and and then
(19:12):
and always in Detroit. I've got a friend whose son
in law owns the bar there in Birmingham, and they
just to go in nonchalantly and casually and just sit
by myself and strum the guitar and play harmonica and stuff.
And it was so it was so encouraging for me
to kind of continue on that path. And that's what
then then when I get home, with that new encouragement,
(19:33):
I'm able to continue creating and writing and keeping things going,
you know. And uh but now I'm looking forward to
getting this band out there to do some shows. Man.
I I can't wait. I can't wait to get out
and uh uh and play some shows with these guys.
Because these guys, this band really it really lays it down.
It rocks live and uh.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Well, that was going to be that was going to
be one of my last questions was when can we
expect to see you back here?
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Maybe in the Motor City, you.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Know, as soon as I, Uh, well, I I you know,
it's funny because it's kind of one day at a time,
dougie like like you know, you don't know. I mean,
I'm I'm dedicated to go wherever the songs take me.
Uh you know, and uh they end up like a
part in the wind that's gone, you know, but right
like that's you know, it's those realities. But uh but
(20:28):
you know, no, no, no man, I'm I'm I'm ready
to go and uh uh and and so I hope,
I hopefully, hopefully I can get I'd love to do
something this summer and uh uh you know, and and
uh uh just get out there and play, you know,
and uh and you let people here and see. Uh
(20:48):
you know, just I don't know. I guess you just
have to, for lack of a better word, call it
like old school, you know. Uh you know, I I
people if some people have been asking me, I've been
doing these uh interview and how do you describe this music?
I said, listen, Jamie James is the perpetrator of seventies
blues pop. And I ain't talking nineteen seventies. I'm talking
(21:13):
in my seventies.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Well you don't look it and you sure don't sound
it and your music is fantastic, so I think you're
going to be just fine there, mister James.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Oh I feel man, I feel you. I feel great.
And I got to tell you, man, it's such an honor.
I mean, how many cats get to play and sing
as long as I have, and then, on top of that,
get to talk to an influential DJ that's been around
playing music for fifty years. Come on, man, this is
a joy for me. You canting where I'm having the
(21:47):
time of my life and people don't believe it. When
I told him, I said, these days are better. I
loved it in my twenties and thirties and forties, fifties,
but I'm telling you, man, there these are great times.
It's fucking it's great being in your set.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I love it man, well, great good times. Role.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
So the name of the album that we're going to
be looking for is that? Is that the Love Attack album?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
No? No, that that was the last call? That was
that that Love Attack? Is that? That that that? I
don't even think that ever got released because I wasn't
really happy about some of the final things, but I
did make some CDs to test it out. And send
the family. But this one's called straight Up. It's just
called straight up. Okay, Yeah, it's straight up Jamie James,
(22:30):
straight up. And the album will be out of March
fourteenth and all those platforms you know, yep, that you
were talking about, and I'll try to see I'll see
if I can get you an early I said, well,
you know, I don't know what they've got planned, so
I'll leave it up to them, but I just know
I'm ready to rock man.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
All right, Well, that sounds perfect for us. And as
soon as you know, if you've got a date here
or if you need any help, Jamie, let me know
and we'll we'll call a few people and we'll see
if we can't get you dialed in here to Detroit.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
But we'd love to see you. We love the music
when you're out.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Would you still do My Mistake and a few of
the songs from the King Bes Days?
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Man?
Speaker 2 (23:16):
I wrote those songs back when I was in my twenties,
and I mean I never thought for one second my
Mistake was going to catch on. I never did. I
never thought for one second it was going to catch
on because I thought the single off that first King
BEA's album was going to be a sweet Sweet Girl
to me. Yeah so no, it's a joy. I love
singing My mistake and Shake Bob. I love it. Yeah.
(23:38):
All right.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Well, well, Jamie James, thank you so much, my friend.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
We will look for the new music and congratulations on
this new recording and just being back, and we look
forward to seeing you soon.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Man. Thanks Doug. I appreciate it, man, seriously.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
All right, Jamie James, formerly of the king Bees but
now just rocking on his own and hopefully rocking right
here to the Motor City. We'll see you soon, Jamie,
thanks very much, Buddy.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Okay, nice talking to you, pal,
Yeah, Hi, the Detroit's wheels.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Hey duck put out please?
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Yeah, Jamie? Is that you?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Yeah, just like old times. There you go, Jamie James.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Everybody, I didn't recognize your voice for a moment. There
you sound about eighteen years old. Yeah no, I mean
your voice really hasn't changed. That's incredible.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Yeah, still alive and kicking.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
As a matter of fact, Jamie, this is my fiftieth
year in broadcasting.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Oh congratulations, man.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Thank you for that. Well, we go back aways.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
I should, you know, let people, you know, kind of
remind them of our history.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
But Jamie James was the king be of the king Bees.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
And if anybody remembers the king Bees from the late
seventy which here in Detroit, they absolutely do. You had
one of the biggest songs in the Motor City, my mistake,
some of the biggest shows that we put on around
town and then and just recently, well I wouldn't say recently,
but back here not too long ago with the reunion
(01:07):
show at the Magic Bag, and I was happy to
see that you've got some new music coming out. So
what the heck's been happening? I guess you got some
new music too.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Right, okay, Well, first off, I just want to say,
regarding your fifty years now, you and I go back
forty six years, forty five, forty six years, So that's
that's that's quite a freezing of it. So and I
just share with your audience that you, Doug Pudell, were
(01:37):
the first disc jockey to play My Mistake, and you
played it. I think you had an overnight show then,
didn't you. It was a late night show, late maybe, yep, yep, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
And.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I will always be grateful to you for that, because
you know, the record had been out for three months.
This was in nineteen eighty and the record had been
out for three months, and the guys at the record
company were saying to me, because I called him, crying
on their shoulder, what's going on? Nothing's going on, nothing's
going on. I mean, we got airplay here in Los
Angeles on k Rock, and you know a couple of
(02:13):
college stations. You know, did you mind me telling the story?
Does not at all? No? No, okay, yeah, because it's
a big part of our history actually and my history
as well. And so I don't know how much time
went by, Doggy, do you remember what months you started
playing it was that it must have been in the
spring maybe of nineteen eighty or yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
(02:40):
because I think it came out in March of nineteen eighty. So,
and I got a phone call from the president of
Varsow Records one day on a Thursday morning, and it's
one of the phone calls you never forget. And it
was his name was Al Corey, and he goes, Gamie, Jamie,
are you sitting down? Are you sitting down? And I said,
what do you mean? Am I sitting down? Is everything okay?
(03:00):
Sit down? Sit down? He had a high, very excitable.
I said, all right, I'm sitting down. Now, I'm sitting down.
We got to hit. We got to hit, we got
to hit. What do you mean we got to hit?
So and it kind of started like that and and
Al was very excited. And when he was excited, you know,
it kind of trickled downhill. So the label got excited
(03:22):
and and it opened things up for us, Doug. So,
thank you, thank you, thank you for that, my friend.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Well, thank you for the music. First off, I mean,
you know it goes hand in hand. But back you know,
back then, you were still able to convince the program
director to let you do a few things. And what
had happened was is that I was playing that song
on a new music show that I had on Sunday
(03:50):
nights and then eventually advanced it to my own show,
which was six to ten at night.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
And you know, we we were.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
All kind of crowd to champion new music back then.
And Sky Daniels, if you remember, Sky was the music
director and on air personality and he was a big
influence on me, and he challenged me to always look
for new stuff that would fit the Motor City. And boy,
(04:20):
that song fit like glove. I mean, you know, we
did live broadcasts and we did shows and you hung
out on the radio station. I mean, great memories of
the king Bees and great memories of the king Bees
all throughout the Motor City, Jamie.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
So yeah, I love that story.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
It was a lot of fun in those days. It was.
It was a lot less corporate and really, really, you know,
I'm more about the buzz from live rock and roll
and you know, I don't know just raw and I'm
not taking away anything from from anything that's dressed, uh
and said, I'm not. But those were very kind of
(05:04):
like uh organic, you know, for lack of a better word,
rob were you know, drummers played real drums, and singers
had to really sing. There was no auto tune, and
you know, you really played your instruments and and uh
and and created that magic with your with your instruments
and your talent, you know, and uh yeah, and but anyway,
(05:24):
that kind of brings me to this, this new record.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
I uh so, it's great to see that you're making
new music. So tell us a little bit about the
new music and the new label.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
A label that was started by a guy named Carlcapriolio
called Olio Records, And now I think Olio Entertainment and
Carl and I did something back in the nineties and
nothing really became a bit, but I always liked his enthusiasm.
He's a real music not just like you I and
you and I are because I think it all starts,
you know, we you know, just loving music man and
(05:55):
and and uh and loving to turn our friends onto it.
And way back when, you know, whenever you were playing
your first records, you know, and sharing music with people
and getting excited about music, and carls like that. And
but anyway, yeah, so I back in twenty twenty, I
had to well, I had. I was. I was playing
(06:16):
music with a good friend of mine, Dennis Quaid, and
and we had a group called the Dennis Quaid and
the Sharks, and we did that for quite a few years.
He was over here here to visit me a couple
of weeks ago, and we caught up a lot about
the fires because they were really close to his house
over in the Palisades. But anyway, Yeah, Dennis Quaid, the son,
the brother, the younger brother of Randy Quaid, the actor,
(06:37):
and the father of the now you know new Well,
I don't want to see newcomer. But Jack Quaid, his son,
who's starting to I'm seeing billboards of him all over
Los Angeles now, so way to go, Jack. But yeah, no,
and and and so in twenty twenty, we were doing
a show up and tell you ride and up in
(06:59):
the mountains, and I don't know, man, I just suddenly
I had trouble, you know, just trouble. I could trouble,
no energy, And this said anyway, it turned out that
about a week later I needed to have like a
you know, an emergency open heart surgery, and I had
to have a quadruple bypass.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
And and that changed my life because I didn't, you know,
the doctor told me I was three to five days
from from from buying the plot, you know. And so
it turned my life around. And this is gonna sound weird, man,
but when they were wheeling me in for surgery, I said,
I'll make a deal with you, God, I promise you.
(07:39):
I'll use my talent and everything, all my experience, and
I'll get back to writing songs and focusing on my
original music. And you just get me through this, dude,
and then I I'll And so I got through it,
and then COVID hit. This was in twenty twenty and
in February twenty twenty five years ago, and uh, and
(08:01):
I took up harmonica and I practiced and played my
good I always played my guitar, but I started playing harmonic,
and I started writing songs and I came up with
with a bunch of new songs and uh yeah, and
then I just uh no. I I showed them to
the guys and the guys, the guys that I've been
playing with with Dennis rit they're guys that have been
playing with me for a long time. Tom Watsh on
(08:22):
drums and uh, Tom Ancius on bass and Ken stanging
on on keyboards. And anyway, we went into the studio
and recorded live. You know. The only thing that I
overdubbed was some harmonica that I had to go back
and to do. But because I was playing on the rack,
you know, you have the rack over your shoulder like
Bob Dylan, and uh and and but I wanted a
(08:45):
little bit better sound so I could have my hands
over for control of it. Anyway, and so we recorded
it live, and I kept all my original scratch vocals,
no vocal overdubs or anything, and uh and uh and
and in a case, I just I And it was
a magical afternoon that the day we did the basic tracks,
man and yeah, and and then I sent it to
(09:06):
I only knew two people in the recording business, so
I sent it to both of them, and they both
liked it. And but Carl was the one that kind
of got back to me first, and he was enthusiastic.
So and then you know, here we are, you know,
five years later. You know. The single came out on
February the fourteenth, two days before the fifth anniversary of
(09:27):
my surgery, and the album's coming out in two weeks
on March fourteenth, I'm very excited.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah, I got to tell you.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
I listened to the the new song you sent me
called Let the Praine Begin, and I was blown away
at the style and boy, you know, talk about perfect timing,
because you know your sound right now just seems to
be your own. And you know, I was taken back
(09:56):
a little bit first. I thought, oh, okay, here comes
a new King B song. But this is completely Jamie
James music. You can feel it. And one of the
things I put in my notes, and it's funny you
say that you know, uh, you prayed to God and
you told them you were gonna, you know, do all this,
uh in the name of the Lord. I guess in
(10:17):
a sense, because I'm listening to this new music and
I'm going, man, this sounds like music from the soul.
This sounds like Jamie wrote this stuff about himself, which
is completely different from some of that rockabilly Kingby stuff.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
And look at I mean, am I on track here
or what I mean?
Speaker 2 (10:37):
It sounds yeah, you're right on the You're right on
the money. And listen matter I I you know, I
don't to me, you know, you know, my relationship with
God or spiritual out whatever it is. It's a very
personal thing. But you're right, You're right on the money.
And and yet I still maintain like uh like I
(11:00):
one of the songs coming out on the album, I
still have a sense of humor. Thank god, it's called
Septugenarian Blues because I'm seventy one and a half years
old now, and so you know, a septugenarian for those
that and a lot of people, a lot of people
don't know what a septuagenarian is. Well that that's a
person in their seventies, so oh so. And then and
(11:24):
there's another one called show Biz Boogie and show Biz Boogie,
which I can't wait for you to hear that one.
That's one of my favorites on the record. And show
Biz Boogie, you know, as about old guys like me
that are still hanging around here in Hollywood waiting to
be big. I'm going to be big though, I'm going
to be huge. Man.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Hey, listen, my man, You've had some huge hits here.
Come on.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
You know there are people that would give their left
arm to have had my mistake and some of the
stuff that came off those King B's albums, So you know,
you've got nothing to complain about, sir. You're out there
in Los Angeles still kicking it and recording and making
great new music too. I can't wait for everybody to
(12:10):
hear this. So is it just strictly a digital release?
And will it be on all the platforms? How are
people going to find this?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Well, Carl was just telling me yesterday he flew and
he lives in Las Vegas, and he flew I was
doing I did my first I've never made a video before.
And is the King bes broke up in March of
nineteen eighty one, before MTV and all that, so, so
you know, but I did a video shoot yesterday for
Let the Prying Began and and so, and Carl flew
(12:42):
into town yesterday to be there for that, and and
he was telling me that, you know, it's gonna be
it's digital, but if it creates a little bit of
a buzz, which it seems to be doing now that
you know that, yeah, he will definitely put out vinyl,
you know. And I love Vinyl. I still play Vinyl
all the time.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Yeah, so do I.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
And uh, I was just this weekend, I stopped into
a couple of different record stores and uh, you know,
they're vibrant today, especially here in Detroit. People are are
clamoring back into the stores for uh, you know, vinyl records,
So that would be great, but hey, listen, I know
millions of people who have you know, Spotify and all
(13:24):
the rest of the platforms. And nowadays, if you want
to listen to anything in your car, you've got to
download it to your phone or whatever.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
So it's not like you can pop a CD or
a record in there.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
So uh yeah, there's there's lots of different ways to
get your music out there. But I'm just happy to
see that you're happy and that you're playing music. Because
I had heard about that four way bypass, you know,
uh when it when it went down, I thought, wow,
you know, maybe he's not going to be you know,
back out there as much anymore. But uh, you know,
(13:56):
look at it just takes, uh, you know, that one
spark somewhere along the line and you're back on track.
So is this like strictly a solo thing. I mean,
it's just Jamie James, right, and this is your music?
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Yeah, yeah, this is these are all these are all
original songs. And because I've in the last few years,
I've written about thirty two originals. So this is the
first ten and then I'm going to go back and
record another ten. But yeah, this is original. And you
know Michael Rummins, the bass player that I love. He's
(14:36):
like a brother to me from the King Bees. But
he's not on this. He's doing another thing right now
with another band he had in the seventies and before
the king Bes called the Hollywood Stars. But yeah, these
are the guys that played with me, with Dennis Quaid
and you know. But you're right though, getting back to
(14:56):
your point about getting your music up here. Listen this
today with you, Doug Pudell. This is the first podcast
I've ever done, you know, And like I don't the
music business now. It's funny getting back into it because
I've been out of it for decades. I mean the
recording business, not the not playing music. Music. I've been playing.
(15:17):
My My thing is live. I love to play live,
is you know, Doug, You've seen me quite a few times.
I just love playing, you know, the energy from an
audience and everything and uh uh and I love to
stand in front of a drum kit man. You know.
It's like like a couple of times when I've played
in Detroit. Johnny Bees played with me. I love standing
in front of that guy, you know what I mean.
(15:37):
Like like drums still to this day excite me. And
I was very blessed to have Tom Wallas play drums
on this because he's wonderful. He's originally from Buffalo, New York.
And uh, well, you know, he started off forming a band,
I think Mike when he was in college or high
school he was telling me called spiro Gyro. And then
and then he left that and he joined America and
(15:59):
toured with them for quite a long time. And so
he's got a stellar history, you know. And Ken the
keyboard player on this, he played for years with Roger
Miller until he passed away. And and and of course
and then Tommy Camp both did tourists playing for Joe
Cocker and and and you know the pedigree of these musicians.
(16:19):
And these are the guys that I brought together to
play to back up Dennis.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Yeah, and I remember that band, spyro Gyro's matter of fact,
I've seen you play though. I've seen you play acoustic
though when you've come here to Detroit, you know, just
by yourself. Now, I did read what did I read?
And maybe this was happening, you know, while you were
just playing. But did you join a Steppenwolf band? Did
(16:47):
you join Steppenwolf for a while and play guitar?
Speaker 2 (16:50):
No? Yeah, yeah, Well what happened was and when I
first moved out here in seventy five and seventy six,
I met a bass player named Nick st. Nicholas, and
Nick Saint Nicholas was the original bass player and Steppenwolf,
but he wasn't on the first album because he had
a What he tells me is he had an argument
with with some of the band members, and so they
(17:13):
got young Russian John Burrav to play bass, and then
Nick got back with them, but Nick so so Nick,
Nick and I had a band together and back then
called Pacific Coast Highway pc AGENT, and we had a
lot of fun with it. But then he one day
he called me and said, listen through a series of
(17:35):
I guess legal events or something whatever they were working.
Because remember these guys were like in their third they
were much older than me. I was twenty three, and
Nick said, Goldie and I have the right Goldie. Mit
John was the organ player, and he said, we're gonna
We're gonna go out we have the right, I think
they said, he said for a year, but I can't
remember exactly to former group called the New steppen Wolf
(17:57):
and Tour, and I guess they worked up. It was
was it was without John k and it was the
first reformation. And the reason that I did it is
because being a songwriter. They they promised me that they
were going to do a couple of my songs, the
which we did. We played two of my original songs
in every show live and it was a wonderful experience
(18:19):
for a young guitar player for me. But after about
ten months, I just didn't feel like it was going
anywhere and it just and so you know, I saved
up a little money from that, and that's how I
that's by nineteen seventy seven, that's when I started the
King Bs and started rehearsing and yeah, so but yeah,
that was a short stint there you.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Yeah, okay, all right, yeah I was wondering about that.
But hey, listen, you were definitely born to be wild.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
My friends so.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Born to me mild actually yea these but no, but yeah, no,
I have played solo and because what I do is
sometimes like when I first wanted to test out my
harmonica playing in front of a crowd. I would either
go to a couple of different places, you know. I've
got a couple of my favorite places that I like
to play in Kentucky and uh and and and then
(19:12):
and always in Detroit. I've got a friend whose son
in law owns the bar there in Birmingham, and they
just to go in nonchalantly and casually and just sit
by myself and strum the guitar and play harmonica and stuff.
And it was so it was so encouraging for me
to kind of continue on that path. And that's what
then then when I get home, with that new encouragement,
(19:33):
I'm able to continue creating and writing and keeping things going,
you know. And uh but now I'm looking forward to
getting this band out there to do some shows. Man.
I I can't wait. I can't wait to get out
and uh uh and play some shows with these guys.
Because these guys, this band really it really lays it down.
It rocks live and uh.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Well, that was going to be that was going to
be one of my last questions was when can we
expect to see you back here?
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Maybe in the Motor City, you.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Know, as soon as I, Uh, well, I I you know,
it's funny because it's kind of one day at a time,
dougie like like you know, you don't know. I mean,
I'm I'm dedicated to go wherever the songs take me.
Uh you know, and uh they end up like a
part in the wind that's gone, you know, but right
like that's you know, it's those realities. But uh but
(20:28):
you know, no, no, no man, I'm I'm I'm ready
to go and uh uh and and so I hope,
I hopefully, hopefully I can get I'd love to do
something this summer and uh uh you know, and and
uh uh just get out there and play, you know,
and uh and you let people here and see. Uh
(20:48):
you know, just I don't know. I guess you just
have to, for lack of a better word, call it
like old school, you know. Uh you know, I I
people if some people have been asking me, I've been
doing these uh interview and how do you describe this music?
I said, listen, Jamie James is the perpetrator of seventies
blues pop. And I ain't talking nineteen seventies. I'm talking
(21:13):
in my seventies.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Well you don't look it and you sure don't sound
it and your music is fantastic, so I think you're
going to be just fine there, mister James.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Oh I feel man, I feel you. I feel great.
And I got to tell you, man, it's such an honor.
I mean, how many cats get to play and sing
as long as I have, and then, on top of that,
get to talk to an influential DJ that's been around
playing music for fifty years. Come on, man, this is
a joy for me. You canting where I'm having the
(21:47):
time of my life and people don't believe it. When
I told him, I said, these days are better. I
loved it in my twenties and thirties and forties, fifties,
but I'm telling you, man, there these are great times.
It's fucking it's great being in your set.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I love it man, well, great good times. Role.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
So the name of the album that we're going to
be looking for is that? Is that the Love Attack album?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
No? No, that that was the last call? That was
that that Love Attack? Is that? That that that? I
don't even think that ever got released because I wasn't
really happy about some of the final things, but I
did make some CDs to test it out. And send
the family. But this one's called straight Up. It's just
called straight up. Okay, Yeah, it's straight up Jamie James,
(22:30):
straight up. And the album will be out of March
fourteenth and all those platforms you know, yep, that you
were talking about, and I'll try to see I'll see
if I can get you an early I said, well,
you know, I don't know what they've got planned, so
I'll leave it up to them, but I just know
I'm ready to rock man.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
All right, Well, that sounds perfect for us. And as
soon as you know, if you've got a date here
or if you need any help, Jamie, let me know
and we'll we'll call a few people and we'll see
if we can't get you dialed in here to Detroit.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
But we'd love to see you. We love the music
when you're out.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Would you still do My Mistake and a few of
the songs from the King Bes Days?
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Man?
Speaker 2 (23:16):
I wrote those songs back when I was in my twenties,
and I mean I never thought for one second my
Mistake was going to catch on. I never did. I
never thought for one second it was going to catch
on because I thought the single off that first King
BEA's album was going to be a sweet Sweet Girl
to me. Yeah so no, it's a joy. I love
singing My mistake and Shake Bob. I love it. Yeah.
(23:38):
All right.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Well, well, Jamie James, thank you so much, my friend.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
We will look for the new music and congratulations on
this new recording and just being back, and we look
forward to seeing you soon.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Man. Thanks Doug. I appreciate it, man, seriously.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
All right, Jamie James, formerly of the king Bees but
now just rocking on his own and hopefully rocking right
here to the Motor City. We'll see you soon, Jamie,
thanks very much, Buddy.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Okay, nice talking to you, pal,
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