Monday morning I started my birthday off with a wonderful interview with one of the lead singers for The Band Orleans - LARRY HOPPEN. I had a great chat with Larry, a very nice guy with a lot of musical stuff happening. It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of ORLEANS, since first seeing them perform on the Pretender Tour with Jackson Browne in Miami Halloween 1976, and having had Larry's bandmate JOHN HALL perform at our venue Kool Beanz several times.
(cluster graft from BAND TO BAND tracing rock's family tree)I want to share the interview with you, but I've got good news & bad news...first the bad news - for the interview I was using/experimenting with a new piece of recording equipment (my birthday present from Jen - thanks baby!) and the mouthpiece on my phone was bad & rendered my voice and the recording horrible. The good news is that I salvaged a few minutes to share with you, and Larry gave us a few MP3s of new and rare stuff for you as well! - A New Solo track, a live one by Orleans, and a vintage live recording from 1969 of Dancin' In The Moonlight, by Larry's early band BOFFALONGO. (from Wiki: The song was written by Sherman Kelly in 1968, whose brother, Wells Kelly - King Harvest's drummer in the early 1970s (and later Orleans')- introduced the song to the band. It was originally recorded in 1970 by the American band, Boffalongo).
Hope we get to chat again soon Larry....
So, a little about Larry Hoppen:
Larry is of course, a founding member and 'the voice' of the band Orleans, whose critically acclaimed music and memorable harmonies are loved the world over. People instantly recognize Larry's uplifting tenor from Orleans' timeless classics: Still the One, Dance with Me (both BMI certified, with a combined airplay of over 6 million!) and the self-penned wonderful hits Love Takes Time, Let There Be Music.
A musician's musician, Larry's vocal, keyboards, guitar, bass, Hohner Melodica, and other instrumental talents have been featured on tours and album releases by such artists as Graham Parker, Michael Franks, Lulu, Felix Cavaliere, and Livingston Taylor, Screaming Cheetah Wheelies and Blues Traveler.
In 1996, Larry produced (his side project) The UnHerd's Looking for the Light. With David Sancious, Tony Levin, Terry Silverlight and other world class artists Larry created a wonderful collection of meaningful compositions. All CD sales profits and 100% of Larry's publishing are donated to Sunshine for HIV Kids, which he and wife Patricia, co-founded in 1993. The symbiotic combination of Larry's musical career and charitable efforts is something to which he is deeply committed.
Larry's newest CD as singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist is titled "Handmade", and recently, Larry has been touring the globe with RPM (Rock and Pop Masters) whose members enjoy 25 Gold Albums, 26 Platinum and Multi-Platinum Albums, 57 Top Forty singles, 25 Top Ten singles, and 10 Number One Hits!
Today, Larry is in Woodstock, perparing for a gig with ROBBIE DuPREE at the The Bearsville Theatre on Friday, February 1st.The Time and Tide CD concert will be a special concert because they will preview all the new songs from "Time and Tide", Robbie's Brand New CD (Today!) in the first part of the evening, and in the second half of the show, they will perform favorites and hits, reaching back through his recording history.
"Time and Tide" is Robbie's first studio record in 5 years, and features an awesome band: David Sancious, Larry Hoppen, Leslie Smith, Rick Chudacoff and Peter Bunetta. Together, they've been friends and music partners for more than 30 years.
Larry and I discussing the Rock and Pop Masters
Larry and I talking about the new Robbie DuPree project
solo Larry
Boffalongo `69
Check Out The Websites below for Larry, RPM, Robbie and Orleans...this bunch is still kicking out some awesome music!
LARRY HOPPEN
ORLEANS
RPM
ROBBIE DUPREE
Sunshine for HIV Kids
BAND TO BAND
1 comment:
Thanks for bringing us up to date on Larry and Orleans. Our two bands were geneologically linked at the hip from 1969 to 1972 with Sherman and Wells Kelly and Doc Robinson playing roles in the early development of both bands. In fact Sherman and Wells played on our second album, (The Lost Tapes, which just got released 30 years after it was recorded!)
Post a Comment