Nice, Dan! Another Billy song I pulled out to do in karaoke a decade ago! I loved doing that "Wo-Ohhhhh!" Another deep-cut Billy song I found was "All For Leyna," which not only became a new fave Billy song, but a new overall fave! I also sang "Say Goodbye to Hollywood"! It was fun to discover that Billy's catalog is so much more than "Piano Man" and "More Than a Woman"!
Very inspiring musical tale, Jeff! As a former teacher, it's those special moments of being accessible to a student, and showing you care that makes the difference! I couldn't help but check (I knew all this from memory, but wanted to check the years!).....but, Billy and Freddie were both on Columbia; I always think that helped make collabs happen a little easier....fewer phone calls, and, most importantly, no contractual blah blah!
So, while I'm sure Billy was also aware of, and a fan of Hubbard, it made it easier for collabbing that the two were on the same label!
Billy, of course, around '73 joined CBS, and Freddie's first album for the label came out the following year.....'74's "High Energy." So, he'd been on the label four years before Billy called! How many jazzers might've been turned on to Billy from "Zanzibar," and how many rockers got turned on to Hubbard from his guest turn on the album?
Your Hubbard/trumpet story reminds me of my story of being attracted to the flute sound made by Ian Anderson on Jethro Tull albums in the late '60s! I rented a flute, took one lesson to learn the embouchure and fingering, bought my own "axe," and learned all Anderson's licks off records all the way thru "A Passion Play!" Great story....thanks!
A while back, when Will Ferrell made "jazz flute" a big joke in his Anchorman movies, I remember wondering how many kids would find their way to Jethro Tull or Focus (of "Hocus Pocus" fame) through that.
I vaguely remember that Ferrell riff from "Anchorman"....and, I'm sure he was a fan of both, which may have actually whelped the bit. I learned that "Hocus Pocus" flute part, but in no way could play that fast! But, unlike what I used to do with Tull songs (play along while I dropped the needle on, say, "Cross-Eyed Mary"), I just played the Focus riff by myself, about half- or 3/4-time!! I've seen the Midnight Special clip with Focus, and they, literally, speed that thing up, way faster than their recorded version!😱
By the way, at the time I was "on the hill" at Christ College Irvine (Orange County, CA---making a severe turn from radio and the record biz into pro youth ministry) from '83-'86, Ferrell was just a few football fields away at Irvine's University High School! I sense he may have been in THEIR music room weighing the benefits of two instruments: "Hmmm....flute or cowbell, flute or cowbell?"
Love Zanzibar!
Nice, Dan! Another Billy song I pulled out to do in karaoke a decade ago! I loved doing that "Wo-Ohhhhh!" Another deep-cut Billy song I found was "All For Leyna," which not only became a new fave Billy song, but a new overall fave! I also sang "Say Goodbye to Hollywood"! It was fun to discover that Billy's catalog is so much more than "Piano Man" and "More Than a Woman"!
Very inspiring musical tale, Jeff! As a former teacher, it's those special moments of being accessible to a student, and showing you care that makes the difference! I couldn't help but check (I knew all this from memory, but wanted to check the years!).....but, Billy and Freddie were both on Columbia; I always think that helped make collabs happen a little easier....fewer phone calls, and, most importantly, no contractual blah blah!
So, while I'm sure Billy was also aware of, and a fan of Hubbard, it made it easier for collabbing that the two were on the same label!
Billy, of course, around '73 joined CBS, and Freddie's first album for the label came out the following year.....'74's "High Energy." So, he'd been on the label four years before Billy called! How many jazzers might've been turned on to Billy from "Zanzibar," and how many rockers got turned on to Hubbard from his guest turn on the album?
Your Hubbard/trumpet story reminds me of my story of being attracted to the flute sound made by Ian Anderson on Jethro Tull albums in the late '60s! I rented a flute, took one lesson to learn the embouchure and fingering, bought my own "axe," and learned all Anderson's licks off records all the way thru "A Passion Play!" Great story....thanks!
I love it!
A while back, when Will Ferrell made "jazz flute" a big joke in his Anchorman movies, I remember wondering how many kids would find their way to Jethro Tull or Focus (of "Hocus Pocus" fame) through that.
I vaguely remember that Ferrell riff from "Anchorman"....and, I'm sure he was a fan of both, which may have actually whelped the bit. I learned that "Hocus Pocus" flute part, but in no way could play that fast! But, unlike what I used to do with Tull songs (play along while I dropped the needle on, say, "Cross-Eyed Mary"), I just played the Focus riff by myself, about half- or 3/4-time!! I've seen the Midnight Special clip with Focus, and they, literally, speed that thing up, way faster than their recorded version!😱
By the way, at the time I was "on the hill" at Christ College Irvine (Orange County, CA---making a severe turn from radio and the record biz into pro youth ministry) from '83-'86, Ferrell was just a few football fields away at Irvine's University High School! I sense he may have been in THEIR music room weighing the benefits of two instruments: "Hmmm....flute or cowbell, flute or cowbell?"
...and then he cloned himself so he could play drums for the Red Hot Chili Peppers under an assumed name! :D
Wow, I missed that!!! See? He’s conflicted!