Synthesizer Keyboard Mad Drifting Record - West Coast Guitarist David Lindley Interview Report - Part 16

In October, I'm stepping away from the synthesizer, and I'm sending you a trilogy of foreign musicians I interviewed. This is the third in the series.

In the local town where I live, there was a live club run by the former leader of a band that had won a national popular music contest commonly known as "Popcon" sponsored by Y Company. Mr. Y, the owner of this live club was considering calling the famous West Coast guitarist, David Lindley. I'm a big fan of Jackson Browne, and David Lindley, who plays guitar on his albums, is one of my favorite guitarists. A chance to hear David's story! I contacted Mr. Y and asked if I could interview Lindley. Mr. Y consented to the interview, and I was able to interview David at Mr. Y’s club. Jackson Browne's "Late for the Sky" is my favorite album. On the album, David Lindley's lead guitar, combined with the record jacket has a strong feeling of nostalgia. I wanted to ask him how he felt when he played that guitar ... I found myself leaning forward in anticipation.

■ Recommended Album: Late For The Sky (1974) / Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne's third album. The singer-songwriter Jackson Browne's fresh singing voice is impressive. David Lindley's guitar, which sounds like it's snuggling up to the voice, is also a highlight of the album. It's not a particularly technical album, but it gives you a glimpse of the West Coast's conscience.

I have to decide the purpose and the direction of the interview...

However, David Lindley had already arrived in the local town ... there is no way we can broadcast the story on local news. The reason is that I thought nobody in Ichii would know David Lindley. However, tickets for Lindley’s were sold out. It turned out he was extraordinarily popular. I has to come up with a strong reason to broadcast the interview as news. I had to think about how I could persuade the news desk… I twisted my brain.

The mid-1990s was a TV drama boom, and many popular dramas used West Coast revival rock (such as the Eagles Hotel California). "The world is in a west coast revival music boom." The music of the 70s has been incorporated into TV dramas, and it is becoming a youth culture... The local Shizuoka town is no exception. I decided to create a story involving youth-oriented and West Coast music and David Lindley, and got the consent from the desk.

■ Recommended Album: Running On Empty (1977) / Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne's live album. Contains takes recorded in the bus or in hotel rooms while on tour. No. 3 on the US album chart. It is a masterpiece with good songs. David Lindley is a master of slide guitar. The moaning slide guitar in the title song "Lonely Runner" contributes to the skeleton of the song. David also plays an active role in fiddle and high vocals.

What happened in the long-awaited interview with David Lindley...

The day before the show. I interviewed David Lindley. He was a very friendly musician. I asked about playing the lead guitar for Jackson Browne's classic "Late for the Sky" after I had finished the interview questions for the news. "What kind of feeling did you have to play the beautiful lead?" Here, a kind of proto-language arises between the interviewer, who has a three-point theme for the interview, and Lindley, who is the subject (foreign musician) of the interview... “It was like a song, so I played the lead that matched it.” I missed a beat. I was expecting an answer such as "Since the lyrics are about the barrenness of love, I put that feeling in my heart and played it with all my thoughts", or an even deeper answer. Like most listeners, I felt that there was some unnamed drama, something hidden behind the solo. I changed the wording again and asked the same question. But Lindley’s answer was: "Jackson asked me to play it that way. So I did..." The answer was the same. I got the impression that it wasn’t quite right.

Our favorite music spices up a variety of situations in an individual, matures, accumulates, and continues to shine. Late was such a song for me. And I was thinking of an answer that would overlap with that feeling. The proto-language I felt was not Lindley’s problem, but my own. Lindley played a cool role as a band guitarist…. Nothing more, nothing less. Maybe Lindley was wondering if I would ask the same thing over & over again persistently.

David Lindley's masterpiece live

Rehearsal on the day of the show. I filmed Lindley playing on the stage. He was sitting and playing the slide guitar with the frets facing up on his thighs. It was like a keyboard player playing the keyboard. David's guitar was exclusively for slide guitar and the neck was hollow. He said that the hollow neck sounded better. The slide bar was not a bottleneck, but a metal bar with horns used in Hawaiian music.

The show started. Lindley skillfully manipulated the slide guitar and played backing, lead, and a variety of styles. Playing guitar while he was singing was a fantastic. The audience was full. I was able to cover a great live performance. The answer we got is that though we the audience don't know what happened in the past, but Lindley’s music feels nostalgic. I felt that David's music contained something like "nostalgia" and that it this wouldn’t reach the younger crowd. I thought it was something I had in common with Lindley’s lead guitar feeling in Late for the Sky.

■ Recommended Album: El Rayo-X (1981) / David Lindley

A masterpiece with a wide variety of reggae sounds. Members include American Rock heavyweights, such as Little Feat keyboardist Bill Payne and The Band's Garth Hudson, who were featured earlier in the keyboard madness drifting record series.

Musicians and albums featured this time

• Artists: David Lindley, Jackson Browne
• Album: El Rayo-X, Late for the Sky, Running On Empty

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