When you think of iconic Australian singer-songwriters the name Richard Clapton immediately springs to mind. Over the years he’s left us with some wonderful songs, many of which have a special part in the hearts and minds of the Australian music lovers and indeed music lovers worldwide. What you don’t think of is Richard covering anyone’s songs but he’s done it on ‘Music is Love’ – an album which really gets to grips with the music that inspired him at a time of great change in the US. The great news is that he’s taking it on tour – and this may even be your only chance to see Richard perform this magical set. We caught up to find out how it all came about and delve back into those early days when the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield roamed…
Mark: Hi Richard how are you?
Richard: Not bad Mark, how are you?
Mark: Pretty good. I hear there’s a Tour coming up, I remember those things! It must be exciting?
Richard: (laughs) Life’s exciting too!
Mark: It is, and quite dangerous sometimes too, when you wake up and read about the cases of coronavirus in Victoria.
Richard: And guess where I was yesterday!
Mark: Oh no.
Richard: Yes, but I was out of the CBD, and I’ve been vaccinated anyway so I guess we’ll find out.
Mark: Let’s get straight into the album, I’ve been listening to it for a good few weeks now and love what you’ve done. I read that it was inspired by your visit to Haight Astbury (a neighborhood in San Francisco) two years ago?
Richard: It was. The origin of it was that Terry Blamey who was Kylie’s manager for most of her career, he’s sort of recently retired and anyway he and I are mates, and he’s sort of taken me under his wing a bit. So I had a gig in San Francisco and I came back and had a night with Terry and about 2 O’clock in the morning Terry said “I Know let’s do an album of Hippy anthems!” So my first reaction was, “Nah, dunno, I don’t really do covers” But I just let that percolate for a few days and eventually I went back and said “What do you mean, give me a better idea of what you’re thinking?” So Terry started throwing a few songs at me and then it grew from there, and I think we made our way through about a hundred songs. So obviously a lot of culling went on and we ended up with the 15 we’ve got now.
Mark: It’s a great collection of songs but is there an odd one out? Because of the subtitle 1966-1970…
Richard: Yeah
Mark: The opening song by the Youngbloods…
Richard: Yeah
Mark: I think the Kingston Trio did a version of that a couple of years before?
Richard: Mark, you’d have to ask Terry Blamey that! (laughs) He’s the walking encyclopedia – you’ve got me there (Laughs)
Mark: (laughing)
Richard: Some of the songs were Terry’s idea and some were my idea, nevertheless Terry’s been following my career since the 70’s so he’s well versed in Richard Clapton so the songs that he was picking they really do suit me. He had this intuitive knowledge of what may suit me and what might not.
Mark: Well you’ve both picked well, you’re sounding great on there. It’s so hard to pick a highlight because they are all songs I grew up with listening to my parents play. I never realised before how wonderful it is to hear and album and know instinctively every song on it, and I guess your love of a few artists really shows through on here. I knew that you were a big fan of David Crosby, and Neil Young and bands like The Byrds and all those connections – it just shows what wonderful music we had coming out of The States at that time.
Richard: Oh yeah (laughs) I wish we had a few hours just to discuss that topic! (laughs)
Mark: (laughs)
Richard: I have friends who tell me that “Maybe all of the best songs have been written” (laughs). It is really my musical DNA and Terry had a really good feel for that. My musical ancestry started with Bob Dylan and as you know The Byrds started doing the Dylan covers – ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ etc. So it all started with those two for me and went on from there.
Mark: You can certainly see that. I love your songs myself so it was very interesting to see you come out with a covers record after 16 or so solo albums behind you and being known as certainly one of Australia’s greatest singer-songwriters. It must have taken a bit of persuasion?
Richard: It kind of did, but the guys are on the album have been with me such a long time, Danny Spencer the guitarist has been with me 22 years, Michael Hegerty the bass player has been with me for 42 years! So the band were really passionate about it as well and that helped, so it really became a labour of love. It’s not an album that’s about the money this was about the love, it’s the most fun album I’ve ever made because I’m not getting in the way of the songs. If anyone wants to tell me that ‘Summer in the City’ is a crap song they can (laughs). But to answer your earlier question the only track on the whole album, and I’m just bringing this up because it’s so ironic, and I do experience this in my career because you just can’t pick them, and that includes people like you good self, or guys at radio stations or record labels, so… Terry wanted to do ‘Riders on the Storm’ and me I just thought “No” but my reasoning behind that was that the song had been done to death. Then Terry pointed out to me that no one had done ‘Riders on the Storm’ and I thought “Get out of here” but had a look and there might be some versions out there but nothing really big. So I think that is the song kind of showcases how well the guys did as musicians, because it’s not an easy song to do, and the irony was it was the only song I was thinking “I don’t know” but it’s ended up being one of my very favourites, so there you go, shows you how much I know! (laughs).
Mark: A huge song, a huge band, I really loved the Doors, I think they had something that was so different that no one has ever really managed to capture again.
Richard: That’s right.
Mark: It’ll be great to see it live and I understand on the upcoming dates there will be two sets one featuring the album and one a ‘Greatest Hits’ set?
Richard: Yes I would not dare go and perform for people and ask money from them and not do ‘Deep Water’ or ‘Capricorn Dancer’ because I value my life too much! (laughs)
Mark: (laughs)
Richard: This is kind of a side-project for me and it’s probably going to be temporary which might be even more of a reason to come out and see the show. I’ll probably keep up this Hippy Project for another few months but then as you say, and as some of my fans so candidly or sometimes brutally say “What are you doing, doing covers man? Your own songs are too good!” And I’m like “Give me a break, I just want to have some fun for a while!” (Laughs)
Mark: It’ll be great, we’ve had precious few Eastern States artists over to see us so far this year and to see it especially at The Astor which has such a great sound will be great seeing the songs that inspired you and then your originals. It’s a fairly short tour, are you thinking of expanding it?
Richard: Not really, quite frankly I’d be too nervous to do a longer tour under the circumstances, we’re going to be pretty lucky to get away with this as things are. I know a lot of artists get nervous, we’re planning a tour that starts in a few weeks but after what’s happened in Melbourne you just don’t know. I mean on the Facebook page a lot of fans have been disappointed we’ve not been doing places like Rockhampton or Cairns, probably Margaret River as well (laughs) but I think a tour like that in this day and age is a bit of a worry.
Mark: It turns on a dime as well Richard, I caught up with Jon Stevens recently when he was over…
Richard: Yeah?
Mark: They were a few hours away from cancelling – if they’d been over to Bluesfest, they hadn’t flown in yet, they would have had to cancel their 5 WA dates. 24 hours just made all the difference between getting to play and not getting to play.
Richard: I know, it’s all so uncertain.
Mark: You must have some wonderful memories and moments over the years and I know that you’ve met and played with some of the artists that you’ve covered on the new album…
Richard: Yeah, here we go. Here comes the big question, I’m gonna cut you off! (laughs). One of the first interviews I did for this album it was radio program and they were asking celebrities if they had ever met a famous person. Did you want me to answer my own question? Neil Young!
Mark: (laughs) Yes, you’ll have a better question that me, that wasn’t what I was going to ask but we’ll go with it!
Richard: (laughs) Oh I thought you were going to ask me about the Neil Young tour because I’m getting asked about that nearly every interview! (laughs)
Mark: No Richard that would be lazy of me, but go on then, it’s a good story (laughs)
Richard: (Laughing) You’ve got me there – I’ve got to do it now. So originally it was a story that I just brought up off the top of my head without really thinking, it was fairly amusing story! So anyway after that build up I better tell you about the Neil Young Tour?
Mark: Let’s talk about the Neil Young Tour!
Richard: (laughs) The Neil Young Tour was in the 80’s – it was a 6 week Tour and Neil had specifically requested that I be his support. He also insisted that I get an hour on stage and I got paid remarkably well for an Australian support act. So anyway Neil Young and Crazy Horse arrived in Australia, I don’t remember where the first gig was, it might have been in Adelaide. So anyway after Neil treating me so well after three or four gigs I still hadn’t actually met Neil but Crazy Horse and I hit it off amazingly from the first night. So three or four nights in we were at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, I played my hour and I went right off stage and there was Neil Young, and he said “Man that was great, do another one” I said “I’d love to Neil but I’m not allowed”, he said “Sure you can, this is my Tour!” So I went back on to do the song and I came off and he was just standing there in the shadows at the back off the stage in that big fringed jacket that he and Crosby used to wear. So he’s got his arm around me and he says “Ralph, you’re a bad boy, you’ve gotta let my band go to bed man.” I just say “Um, sorry Neil” (laughs) And then he came out with this great line and said “I’ve renamed my Tour, it’s not ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ it’s Ralph Never Sleeps”. So there you go.
Mark: I must admit I do love that story. But I was thinking more about the stories where people aren’t quite how you imagine or hope. I remember reading your Rolling Stones story, and last time they were in Perth I bumped into Keith in the Hotel and he was lovely and I’d met Charlie before and he was just as cool, but the only time I ever saw Mick he just walked right past me almost as if he couldn’t see me, like he was on another plane of existence, which in fairness he probably is!
Richard: (laughs) My best friend from school Ross, if you’re talking about the first chapter in my book about meeting the Stones? Ross and I are still in touch with each other, he lives up in far North Queensland. We were on the phone the other day and I don’t even know why I brought it up, but I said “Remember when we met the Stones” and he said “Yeah, Keith Richards was the nicest human being we’d ever met” but Ross was such a Mick Jagger groupie I just reminded Ross about him running up to Jagger and of course on your polite Podcast I can’t use Jagger’s language, but Jagger was screaming at security to “Get these little $%@#**#’s off the floor!”
Mark: I love that story! They say never meet your heroes but most of them are pretty cool, or at least make a great story!
Mark: I guess I asked about the Stones to ask this next question. There’s all American bands on the record, was that intentional? It was a hugely influential scene but there was plenty of great music out of the UK at that time too?
Richard: Well, the other irony about this project was that I was actually a London Hippy and Terry has those London connections too, But when we started the project we started after a few months of Trump’s term and we were getting really fired up about Trump thinking “Someone’s gotta say something” so we were plucking things out of the air like “Street Fighting Man” and I would have loved to have done ‘Waterloo Sunset’.
Mark: Love the Kinks.
Richard: (laughs) But not ‘Tin Soldier’ I’d never attempt that one!
Mark: One of Steve’s masterpieces.
Richard: (laughs)
Mark: My hero Steve Marriott, you should do the UK record next I think Richard!
Richard: Well that’s what we don’t know because the late great Michael Gudinski just kept asking “What’s album two, what’s album two?” because he was really into this album and when Michael was into something he was really into it! Anyway to get back to what I was saying about British Music, I talked to Terry about this and told him that I felt if we added British Rock into this it looked like we were casting our net really wide and it started to worry me that if we didn’t have a sharp focus it was just going to be like any album of cover versions, whereas I wanted it to be more of a ‘homage to Hippy Music.’ So my rationale there was that I might have been a London Hippy sitting in London but I was listening to ‘After the Goldrush’ and David Crosby’s ‘If Only I Could Remember My Name’ and James Taylor, Joni Mitchell etc. etc. So I was always more attracted to the American singer-songwriters in that genre. So who knows if there is another album to follow this, maybe it will be British Rock but who knows? At the moment we’re having fun and what happens after this I don’t know.
Mark: So you must have new Richard Clapton material?
Richard: Yes, and this project sort of distracted me from that a bit.
Mark: Let’s keep everyone hanging. That’s the best way. I guess the easiest for me is the cheeky: ‘Who has done the best Richard Clapton’ cover over the years?
Richard: Oh Pigram Brothers without question!
Mark: That’s a great version. You’ve sort of alluded to the answer to my next question – Where did it all begin for you – when did you realise that music would be your life?
Richard: Well interestingly enough going back to my book and meeting The Rolling Stones when I was a kid and we were at school – we had to sneak out of school to get to that! But at that stage I wanted to be an illustrator which in 2021 is sadly a thing of the past and so last century! Because I was interested in graphic design and illustration, and when I met Keith I’d done – can you believe it – I’d done a drawing of Keith Richards which I showed him and he autographed it and wrote something really nice on it which I can’t remember and I lost it! I had a portrait of Keith signed by him and I lost it!
Mark: That is making me sad Richard!
Richard: (laughs) I’ve lost my train of thought now I remembered that!
Mark: We were taking about where it all began for you.
Richard: So Ross’ bigger brother was doing post-Grad studies in Belgium and he came back with these albums by this Bob Dylan guy. And I’d been into Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye and all these great singers so this was my first introduction to Bob Dylan and I was thinking “Jesus this is like fingernails down a blackboard.” You have to remember I was pretty young, so his brother gave Ross and I a good nip of scotch which worked really well! Anyway later that night the heavens opened up and I had the biggest epiphany of my whole life – it was ‘It’s All Over Now Baby Blue’ and all of a sudden as I said the heavens opened up and that was that! So anyway I went to London and I found getting jobs in studios quite good – Keith Richards had told me to go to St Martins in the Field which is right in the centre of London and so I was going to Art School and I was actually a Graphic Designer – designing for magazines and stuff in Fleet Street. And in those days on record players could stack discs and they would drop down and play and so for a long time I went to sleep with ‘Blonde On Blonde’ and end up with ‘Sad Eyed lady of the Lowlands’ and that’s how I would get to sleep. And then from there I don’t know, I just wanted to be that guy – simple as that! So I started writing songs and I sort of had Richard Clapton bands from the very start in London. I think I had three bands in London and one band in Berlin in the couple of years I lived in Berlin – I just drifted into music. And the odd thing is and my daughters ask me why I don’t do any artwork anymore and it’s a good question – it’s just one of those things in life – I got so involved in music that I lost my art and I really haven’t done much in the form of drawing, painting etc. I’ve just lived a life of 100 percent music.
Mark: That’s an interesting point – I started off as a Graphic Designer as well.
Richard: Oh did you?
Mark: Yeah, so I know exactly what you mean about losing your art and the industry passing us by.
Richard: Yeah.
Mark: So the final question and the one that seems all the more pertinent in these times – “What is the meaning of life?”
Richard: I think music is life, and I regret to say that I don’t know what’s caused this gigantic seismic shift – you know I’ve been ranting and raving about the ‘art of music’ for years now, because I just feel it’s just been slipping away now for years. Music has been devalued – if people don’t have to pay for music it just becomes disposable – it becomes a throwaway thing. We were in a car going up to Newcastle and Mick my drummer who is the gentlest most lovely human being (laughs), I’ve never seen Mick lose it before, and we’re in the back and Grace my daughter had commandeered the stereo and you know what kids do? They play like 200 songs. 20 seconds of 200 songs and after about an hour of that Mick shouts, “Grace can you stop doing that! Can you get past the intro” (laughs). But to me that’s a kind of insight into kids’ outlook on music – it’s bizarre!
Mark: It is.
Richard: Didn’t they used to do that in market research? Get them to listen to a few seconds of a song a few hundred times and pay them $200. It drives me nuts. Anyway what I’m saying is that people just don’t seem to be into music anymore and it’s a real worry. If the human race thinks it can exist without music then they’re wrong! (laughs)
Mark: They are sadly mistaken. It’s like a lot of things though with technology though Richard, we’re all being driven to consume rather than appreciate things and savor them. We could talk for hours just about that Richard it sound like we’d really get along!
Richard: I’ll be right over! (laughs)
Mark: (laughs) I’ll see you on the 27th June when you hit Perth!
Richard: I look forward to it. You’ll have a great night, it’s a great band and you’ll all have a great time!
Mark: I look forward to it, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. Stay safe and see you soon!
Richard: Thanks Mark! Thank you, bye!
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