Texan rock legend Alejandro Escovedo got to make a “David Bowie sounding album” because he had Bowie’s producer Tony Visconti to make it for him.
When he was making ‘Real Animal’ in 2008, Visconti asked him how he wanted it to sound. “Just make it sound like David Bowie”, Alejandro Escovedo tells Noise11.com.
Alejandro wrote ‘Real Animal’ with Chuck Prophet. It began life as a concept album. “Chuck and I wrote that album with a storyboard in mind, kind of like we were writing a film,” he said. “It was like the story of my rock and roll experience with the Nuns and those early punk rock days in San Francisco. We had a timeline, characters, dates, a chronological thing going”.
Alejandro had one major problem with the record. His label’s A&R guy hated it. “Chuck and I had written all the songs that ended up on the album but an A&R guy label didn’t think they were right there. We were frustrated,” he said. “He was telling us that the album wasn’t there. I went to Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople fame and I played him all the songs. He played them back with ideas. He loved all the material we had written and gave me a lot of support. One of the last things he told me was “go tell him to fuck off”.”
The album came together when Alejandro was matched with David Bowie producer Tony Visconti. Visconti produced nearly every Bowie album. “We met Tony, who also loved the material,” he said. “We went into the studio and he did an amazing job producing. He’d ask me what do you want it to sound like and I’d say ‘just make it sound like David Bowie’. We used a lot of Bowie tricks on it. It was a special experience. I went on to make two other albums. He rang me the other day. He found a song we wrote together and he told me he is putting it on his new solo album”.
Alejandro Escovedo will tour Australia for David Roy Williams.
ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO – AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND MARCH 2019
Australia
Sun Mar 3 Camelot Lounge, Sydney
Tues Mar 5 Lizottes, Newcastle
Wed Mar 6 Junk Bar, Brisbane
Sat-Mon Mar 9-11 Port Fairy Folk Festival
Tues Mar 12 Thornbury Theatre, Velvet Room, Melbourne
Wed Mar 13 Caravan Club, Melbourne
New Zealand
Fri Mar 15 Tuning Fork, Auckland
Sat Mar 16 Caroline, Wellington
Sun Mar 17 Blue Smoke, Christchurch
Tickets On Sale: http://davidroywilliams.com/tours/alejandroescovedo/
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