Ep. #85 Albert Bouchard- Blue Öyster Cult

Back Stage Pass with Steve Ryan Ep. #85 Albert Bouchard- Blue Öyster Cult. Talking about being a founding member of the band, writing, and the songs Don't Fear the Reaper, Burnin' for You, Astronomy and more. #blueoystercult

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

It's Backstage Fast with Steve Ryan. And here's your host. Steve Ryan. How are you, Calbert? Good morning. Good morning. You know, um, I you've done so much stuff. I I'm I I have a limited amount of time. I'm never going to get to all of it, but we're going to try to get through as much as we can because I'm a big fan of yours. What you do is so great. And so I'm so happy to talk to you. Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

You know, you and uh you and your brother are founding members of uh Blue Oyster Cult. I want to talk about that a little bit if that's okay.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

You know, um this little band sold like you know over 25 million records. And uh, you know, the the early 70s into the into the early 80s was such a great time for rock and roll. I just wanted to get your perspective on, you know, you lived it, you were right in the middle of it. Tell me about that time where I I think music was so magical. We were coming out of the I think the 60s experimental, you know, kind of rock and roll phase, but then the 70s just kind of had this new vibe that was so fresh and so great, and you're right in the middle of it. Can you talk about that?

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Yeah, sure. Well, um I think that the Beatles had a lot to do with that because um, you know, they before the Beatles there were bands, there were lots of bands, you know, uh and there was bands, but there was also songwriters who they were separate from the bands. They they didn't really play in bands, and bands got their songs and songwriters, and the Beatles came along and they were doing their own thing. You know, f the Beach Boys really uh preceded them, but uh unlike the Beatles, the Beach Boys didn't really play their own instruments. They had you know, they had the wrecking crew, right? You know, and um so the Beatles were, you know, they really uh developed uh into uh uh virtuoso uh instrumentalists and writers. I think I just started I started in seventh grade playing the drums. I because I I I wanted to play the drums. My parents said no until um you had to take piano. So I took piano for four years. Reluctantly, reluctantly. I hated almost every minute of it, really. The only thing that w that was cool about um taking the piano lessons is that I had to practice and which I hated. But uh sometimes I would just um close my eyes and just bang on the piano and pretend like it was a symphony or something, you know, some you know, something very grand, you know. Yeah and uh, you know, just not know just not know what I was doing, you know. And uh I still do that. Yeah isn't that great? I still do it. Who else does it?

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Yeah, go I'm sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Yeah, so so anyway, so and I didn't think about um improvising or anything like that. I was just like, I'm just so bored with this stupid John Thompson, you know, beginner piano book, or maybe it was a second one, but uh you know, it was all you know, you know.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Who else who else were you uh you was were you kind of digging when you were getting into your music, the ventures and and uh Beach Boys Beatles, Beach Boys. You are are those the biggies for you?

SPEAKER_00 3:37

Yeah, uh um Well, uh my mother had a big record collection. She was a single girl in Chicago and uh she had her music, you know. She had like hundreds of uh she had like everything that Bing Cross record he ever had recorded. And but she also had uh uh uh Benny Goodman. Yeah so there was a drummer there and I just love Benny Goodman's drummer, you know, Jen Cooper. So that was that was you know, that's when I wanted to play the drums. It was like uh I was, you know, it was before I could even really express myself, you know. Yeah. You know, before I could talk.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Yeah, that's so crazy because my mom was uh my mom had a uh she was a single mom and she had an incredible uh record collection that I would dig into all the time. That's I think that's where I get my diversity too, because she had everything from country to rock and roll, and then you know, then she had the mix, you know, like when the Eagles came out, there a little bit of both, and you know, but uh then Johnny Cash and you know, and Nazareth, and you know, she I mean it was just very diverse and Dolly Parton and you know, I just would go through all of it. It's so amazing that uh we we kind of have a similar experience uh coming up that way.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Was there a time, Albert, when with the band, once you guys got going, that you felt like all the pistons are firing. Things, things that are really, really we're we're in our groove. Was we is there a moment with the band that you remember that? Or was it right at the beginning, first album?

SPEAKER_00 5:10

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. We I mean it was pretty we sucked for a long time. We just you know, we just didn't gel, you know. Uh I had a band in college that uh, you know, that only sucked for a little while, and then we got great. You know, but uh with Blue Oyster called it was like, well, there was Donald and me, and the two of us could always make amazing music together. We you know, I met him in college and uh uh we we would just jam, you know. He he ha he he would stay in his dorm room and play guitar all day and not not go to class. So I'd come back from class and I'd go over and he was playing and I'd say, Oh, you know, I'd pick up a a guitar or a harmonica or whatever, and we just start jamming, you know.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

When was it with uh with BOC that that you felt like it we were really we really hitting our groove?

SPEAKER_00 6:15

I would say right. I would say right af right after Secret Treaties. That year after Secret Treaties. Secret Treaties was rough again, cause uh we were all going through personal stuff, you know, uh people getting married and having kids and and uh getting I was getting divorced. You know, and uh and it was it was like we were just working, working, working, and and for me and I think for all of us our our personal lives were were uh taking a backseat, you know.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

And um So so so is that Angels of Fortune where you think you guys really hit it? Agents of fortune?

SPEAKER_00 7:06

No, no, no. On your feet or on your knees. That was the one. That's the one that did it, you know, for us. And we were. You know, and you know, we started out and it was opening act, and every every other opening act, every other band that we played with, there was a chance that we could do better than them. You know. And uh by the time, you know, uh on your feet or on your knees, there was like very few bands that could do better than us. You know, we always we'd make them regret putting us on the deal. You know, even though we were, you know, we went on time, we went off on time, you know, we we were very easy to work with like that, but you know, uh you know, we we definitely uh were showing off a lot.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

How many live albums did uh did you did you guys put out? Is it was it two?

SPEAKER_00 8:10

Three. Three well there was one after I after I was kicked out. So uh uh extraterrestrial live where I played on just two songs.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

The live albums they sold they sold just as well as your studio albums.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

Oh yeah. Um your feet or on your knees was um our first gold record.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

So that sold a half a million copies, you know, out of the out of the box. And we you know, so that was pretty uh uh amazing. And and uh you know we I did the in 2016 I did the 40th anniversary of Agents of Fortune. We all got together. It was the first time Joe and I had both played with uh with Don and Eric and Alan. So it was the whole the original group was back together.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Hey, did you know when when Don't Fear the Reaper um from Agents of Fortune came out and and became this huge smash hit, did you guys know when you're in the studio on doing that album, especially that song, that that something special was happening with that song in this album?

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Yeah, oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:23

As a matter of fact, you know, when I first heard it, well, not the very first time that I heard it, because all I heard was a guitar riff. You know, Donald had called me up and said, Um, hey, uh Al, what are you doing? I said, I'm I'm working on some songs. What are you doing? And he goes, I'm working on some songs. He said, Uh I got a riff, man. I want to he play it for you and see what you think. So he played me and I'm like, wow, that's a great riff. You know, I I likened it to some of his other riffs that he had done, but it was it was different, you know. Like, I mean it was kind of like last days of May, but it was also like uh Teen Archer. And he used uh some of the same notes that he used in Teen Archer, I don't know. You know, that's a lesser known uh Don song, but um a fantastic song, really underrated, you know. So anyway, so he put uh Teen Archer, which was a song about death, you know, with uh with uh Last Days of May, which was a song about death. And he made the ultimate song about death.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

And so when I heard I heard the uh demo, it was just the first verse. And I was like, Don, this is a hit. You know, I said him and he said, Really? It's good, but I don't know, you know, really? You think people would buy this? It's kind of like, you know, depressing. I said, not to me. It's a hit. Yeah. And if you listen to the drum part, you know, it's the happiest, it's the happiest uh death song recorded.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

Yeah, yeah, it's so true. It's got that great breakdown though in the middle. I remember the first time I heard it, and all of a sudden it's good got the breakdown. It's like a it's over almost a six-minute song, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

Yeah, and then it's got that breakdown in the middle. I'd never heard it, I'd never heard a song do that before. I remember the first time I heard it, I'd never heard that. And then all of a sudden it builds back up and it builds back up and then it goes right back in. It was so great.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you know, so I heard the first verse. I said, Hey, you need any help? I got ideas, you know. Yeah. And he said, No, no, I I I got let me work on it, you know. And I said, You know, the middle section, it should go somewhere else. Like, because it's a lot of the same thing, you know. And it's like he said, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know. I got I got something, I got something. Yeah. And then he he came back and he showed me, and I'm like, Whoa! Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

He really went somewhere.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

He really went somewhere, yeah. You know, yeah. It basically changed key. Yeah, you know, but it was a relative key, and it and of course he he found a slick way to bring it right back.

SPEAKER_01 13:17

Yeah, that's great. You know, and that album too, there's uh This Ain't the Summer of Love is on there a song that you wrote.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

Yeah, yeah, I I stole that song.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

How come Eric sang it and not you?

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Oh, because I was singing too many songs.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Is that what you thought?

SPEAKER_00 13:36

No.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

You guys you guys were unique that way.

unknown 13:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

Other people thought that.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

Yeah. Was there a tell me about that because I think that's interesting to you. The band is, you know, you everybody sang songs, some more than others, but there was no lead vocalist to the band. Um, how did you guys decide? Was there like, okay, you're just gonna sing three, you're gonna sing three, or yeah, how what was that like?

SPEAKER_00 14:00

No, no. I mean, we we just, you know, whoever was the better singer, like for instance, on treaties, we all tried to sing astronomy, and I was the one that was chosen to do it. So, uh, but on the day that I was supposed to sing it, I was all also gonna sing um Dominance and Submission. So at the end of Dominance and Submission, I lost my voice. I wasn't really screaming too much.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

You wrote that too.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wrote that and I wrote uh astronomy with with Joe. So uh both Sandy Perlman songs, but anyway, uh so when I came to sing astronomy, I couldn't sing. So I said, Well, you know, Eric, you maybe you should try it. So Eric sang, he did a great job. Sang the wrong lyrics though, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Yeah, you know, astronomy is is kind of like it has those tempo changes too.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

Oh yeah, I think that's a good one. You know, I mean, that's one of the reasons why I know feed it uh so great, is because it really just you know goes all over the place, but it and it it purposely purposefully uh changing tempos.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

Yeah. Fire of Unknown Origin, um, obviously Burning for You was a was a big hit uh on that. I love that song. Tell me about um Blue Coop.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

Ah, that's a great little project, you know. Um I was doing Blue Coop when I was still teaching, and so it's never been like a real serious uh um uh um effort to to to to to be a big band. You know, we'd already been big and we've done that. It's just really a creative outlet for us. So we still do stuff, we still play at parties, we still um you know, we're still recording. Uh my latest thing is, well, it's it's actually not what I'm doing right now, but what I was doing uh earlier uh this year and last year was um the the Imaginos four record. The fourth Imaginos record. So it's beyond the three that were originally intended, but really what happened was in the middle of making Mutant Reformation, they found this cache of Sandy Proman's writings, like a thousand pages or something. And there were uh thirty, well almost thirty, twenty-eight songs that he had written that were never recorded, and most of them I'd never even seen. You know, there were a few that I remember, oh I tried to write this and it didn't come out, you know. And so so I took some of those songs and made a new record. It's not quite as expansive as uh the Mutant Reformation, although that was really so much work to do. I decided I'm not gonna the original idea was to have three double records, you know, three records that were like sixty minutes or more each. So I did that. And now I'm I I this is supplementary material. Uh if you listen to this record, it's the whole it has the whole arc of Imaginos from the beginning to the end. You know, there's a whole bunch more that's gonna come next year. But in the meantime, the Imaginos 2 graphic novel came out. Wow. And so uh I had uh I have just discovered making videos with AI. So uh so this uh Imaginos 2 record every song has a video. And if you if you read the the the magazine, there's a QR code on every page that has a song. And you click on that and it takes you to a private YouTube uh channel a YouTube site where you can uh you see the video that goes along with that that page in the comic book.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

So genius it's it's great and uh I'm actually uh so Imaginos one came out uh three years ago and uh or two and a half years ago or something. So Reimaginos. So so I had been doing videos for the Reimaginos album like this past week. And uh it's great because uh I'm I'm trying to make it like one video which is one story where you know one video starts where the other one ends. Yeah, you know. And so each one ke keeps going along. This there's a a consistency to the characters, there's consistency to the style. So that's been great fun. It's like, and it also it's like as I'm doing it, I'm like, hey, this is some other aspect I didn't even think about for this thing.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Yeah. Wow, that's so great. Hey, if people want to uh want to follow you and find out what you're doing, any of your projects, what's what's the best place for them to go?

SPEAKER_00 21:40

Well, I have a YouTube channel, and that is just uh YouTube uh slash um altbouche a L T B O U C H which is my my Gmail. Altbouche at gmail.com is my uh my uh email address and they can and people can just write to me. I mean if they want to, but uh you can so I I'm always I have like a weekly vlog on on my YouTube channel called Mose Cowbell. Right and uh and I also have a website, so I have like gigs posted on there and I I do a little vlogging or a little blogging blog. Yeah so um yeah. Yeah, yeah. Facebook and I mean uh Facebook people message me on Facebook and it's like I might look at that once every couple weeks. Yeah. And I'm it's not instant, you know. If if you write to me to my email, it's not a big deal. I'll write back to you.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

Yeah. Wow, that's so great. Albert, I'm over I'm over time and and I knew what was gonna happen. I haven't even I haven't even got through a quarter of my notes. I hope we can get together again and go over uh some some more stuff because I enjoy talking to you. Your stories are great, and and uh we uh we barely scratched the surface of the songs that you've been a part of that I'd love to talk more about.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

I'm writing a book too, by the way.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

Yeah, when will that come out?

SPEAKER_00 23:13

Oh, I don't know. I I I did about 150 pages last year and uh and then I stopped because I was doing it like chronological and I realized no, this is not the most interesting way to do this. So now I've had since then I've had some other stories that I forgot that I'm like, oh, this is pretty spicy. Maybe I'll put this in here. Yeah, start it with that and then go back, you know.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

Well, when you put that out, we definitely need to come back and talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

That's keeping busy, brother. That's great.

SPEAKER_01 23:47

Yes, so great talking to you. Let's do this again and uh and have a follow-up and cover some of the other stuff.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

Okay, yeah, just tell Robin, you know what, and we'll set something up. Great.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Thank you, my friend.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

Okay, have a great day.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

All right, have see you later.

SPEAKER_03 24:01

For questions or comments, email Steve at Steve Ryan.song of the day at gmail dot com.