He'd been an engineer for a long time before he was a producer. But at the time when I was going to meet with Phil I wasn't really sure what he did. I can't list it off the top of my head where I knew him from right now. But some girls talked us into leaving it on the album.Ī. We almost left "Just The Way You Are" off the album because we really didn't like it that much. I don't really know what's going to be a big commercial hit. I didn't think at the time it was going to be a big commercial hit. We just went in to make as good a record as we could. they probably would have dropped me from the label. Can you imagine in this day and age somebody putting out four albums and not really having any commercial sell-through for a record company, and them not dropping the artist? I found out after the fact that had "The Stranger" not been a successful selling album. At the time it was not a seller for Columbia Records. It was just from airplay, not sales.Īnd even though "Turnstiles" might be considered a good album it was a commercial dud. Or people could call up and request a song and that's what would get programmed. It didn't sell all that well, it just got a lot of airplay because it was back in the days when the disc jockeys could spin whatever they liked. Even though "Piano Man" had been what they call a "turntable hit" it wasn't a sell-through success. "The Stranger" was really my fifth album. Geils Band, Yes, we opened for everybody. We had been an opening act for everybody, from The Beach Boys to The Doobie Brothers to Olivia Newton John, The Eagles, The J. We were kind of a midline act before "The Stranger" came out. That's how you learn your craft, you've got get up there and have a bad night and have people boo you or ignore you. She's playing all over the States, playing colleges, clubs. She's doing it the right way, which is the hard way. Look I've been through the mill and lived to tell the tale so I'm a good source of information, but I'm not a stage father. She'll ask me what I think of something, and I'll tell her "Well I like it." or "Something's bothering me about it," but I don't do anything for her except give her advice when she asks for it. She'll call me on the road and say "Hey dad I'm in Omaha, where do I eat?" "Oh, we've got a good steak joint for you." She's asks for advice sometimes when she gets stuck on a musical problem, an arrangement or rhythmic question. I'll give her advice whenever she asks me. Musicians' children, there's a credibility factor that you have to be aware of it. Children of actors usually have an easier go of it. I think there's a danger in me being too involved because people are going to naturally assume "Oh she's a rich kid, her dad's opening all the doors for her, she's riding his coattails." She's going to get a certain amount of flack just because of what her last name is, which is kind of a mixed blessing.
I said back then, "Oh she's got it, the genetic qualifications." Her mom is more of a cheerleader for her. She was singing since she was a baby and had perfect pitch. I knew my kid was going to want to be a musician. I don't want to be Jessica Simpson's dad. They said "No, we want to put it out." I said "Knock yourselves out." But it was really written from me to my wife and that was as far as I intended it to go.Ī. I thought they were crazy because it wasn't going to get any airplay seeing it's kind of a standard from the '50s. Columbia found out I was in the studio and wanted to put it out.
Then we recorded it around our third anniversary. It was really written as a gift for my wife on our second anniversary. "All My Life" wasn't meant to be released at all. When he came in and sang it, I said, "Yeah that's the right voice, a younger voice. Tommy Byrnes, my guitar player, had been working with this younger guy Cass Dillon. We were in San Francisco on, of all days, Veteran's Day, when we recorded it. I wanted a younger voice to be singing it. But I was 58 when I was wrote the thing, and a 58-year-old guy saying "I'm a soldier" just doesn't sound right.
Columbia Records would have liked it if I did it and I'm sure people who liked my old stuff would have liked a new recording by me. But I kind of knew I wasn't the right person to sing it. I've always maintained that even though I've said I'm not writing pop songs anymore, that if I get an idea, I'm not going to stop myself from writing it. "Christmas in Fallujah" just kind of popped out as an idea.
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