A Conversation with Richard Julian (continued)

RJ: Well, those guys are like--her and Lee Alexander are both--well, they were, at the time, more new writers. Norah always approached things from more of a singer perspective. And she wrote some, but probably didn't really regard herself as a, quote, unquote, writer. And then Lee--the first tune Lee ever wrote, as far as I know, was "Lonestar." That was on the first record.

PM: Wow.

RJ: So they were looking to kind of reel it in and really write a lot of their own stuff. But then they had this huge monolith in front of them of following up the success of Come Away With Me, which had a lot of different writers on it.

PM: Right.

RJ: And when the deadlines got kind of tight, and they were making the record, and a couple of the tunes hadn't quite evolved or developed to where they wanted them to--it was a natural thing for them to ask me to come in and help her develop the tunes. But those are really their tunes. I mean, I would never play "Prettiest Thing" in my own performance, or anything like that. Those were Norah's tunes, and--

PM: You came in at the end and helped them finish and fix those tunes.

RJ: Yeah, helped them fix the tunes, basically. The tunes just weren't quite working, and they needed a verse here, a bridge here, a little structural help here and there.

PM: Yeah.

RJ: And it was natural for me to come in and do that.

PM: So you ended up on two songs or three? I forget.

RJ: I ended up on two songs. And then I've co-written with her subsequently in the country band. And those are more collaborative. Those are more like we just get together, talk about a funny idea, and then duke it out, as honest co-writers, the way they do in Nashville.

PM: Let's move right there. Let's talk about the Little Willies.

RJ: Sure.

PM: How did that begin?

RJ: Well, for me--I think it began with Norah and Jim Campilongo talking about how much they loved Willie Nelson's songwriting--

PM: [laughs]

RJ: --and how he's so regarded as a singer, but so often not regarded as a songwriter. And so they wanted to do a band that covered all of his original material and nobody else, called the Little Willies.

PM: Wow.

RJ: And they had started that group. And just in the--probably in the basic laziness that pervades all of us in this group--

PM: [laughs]

RJ: --the concept was just too hard to stick to. So we said, "Why don't we just do a Hank Williams song?"

[laughter]

RJ: Then it was "Oh, hey, well, do you know that Bob Wills song? Great. Let's do that." And so her and Jimmy started this band, it was a quartet. And their first gig, they asked me to sit in on this Waylon Jennings tune that I had just recorded with her for Waylon Jennings' tribute. And then I think it was Jim Campilongo who said, "Hey, why doesn't Richard just be in the band?" And I think that she really liked that idea, if for no other reason than she wouldn't have to do all the lead singing and have it be another Norah Jones extravaganza.

PM: Right.

RJ: I think she really wanted to be a band member and not be a leader.

PM: Yeah.

RJ: I said, "Sure, I'll sing some songs." So I showed up with my little trip, with some Kris Kristofferson tunes, Jimmy Martin. I got a bunch of my tunes that I'd already known from growing up with my mom. I mean, man, I know so many tunes, probably as many as her and Jimmy. And between the three of us, the repertoire was just like--it was really a matter of what won't we play you.

PM: Right. Just tons of stone country.

RJ:Yeah. And then the band just kind of established its identity slowly, over a lot of late-night gigs and drinking. And eventually this year we just got to this point where we're playing a lot of gigs and feeling really awesome in the band, and we started writing some originals together. So why not make a record, right?

PM: Absolutely. So who's writing together for the Willies?

RJ: I wrote a tune with Jim Campilongo. I wrote another one with Norah. I wrote another one with Lee. And then Lee wrote one for the band. Norah wrote one--ahh, God, there are a few, various combinations.

PM: Right.

RJ: My hope--I wanted everybody to write. I tried to get Dan Rieser to write a song. But he just said--I don't know if you know Dan, but he's got this sort of Marlboro man--

PM: [laughs]

RJ: "Hey, that's not my department."

PM: [laughs]

RJ: That's all you get out of him. That's all he's going to say. I said, "Dude, write a tune." I said, "Everybody has a song idea, everybody. My grandmother has a song idea. I know you've got one in there. Just bring it to me or to Lee, and we'll help you develop it." But he never did it. But in my heart of hearts, if we ever do a record totally of originals, everyone should be working with everyone.

PM: It's just great.

RJ: Me and Norah would write a tune, and Lee and Dan would write a tune. That would be like my dream record, where everybody is contributing on that level.

PM: So who's playing bass and keys in the Willies?

RJ: Norah plays piano. Bass is Lee Alexander. Drums is Dan Rieser. All of the lead guitar work is Jim Campilongo. I play acoustic guitar and sing. And John Dryden is sort of the George Martin of the group, who shows up every once in a while if he's in town and plays some organ on a fourth of our repertoire, and sits in the audience for the rest of the repertoire. Drops in with accordion here and there, too.

PM: He's scary. I've seen him with you in the City before.

RJ: He's an awesome, incredibly underrated musician. On organ, he's literally about the best that I know of anywhere. I mean, he's an amazing Hammond player, and I mean, man, on so many styles. That tune on my record, "If a Heart Breaks"--

PM: Yeah, he kills that.

RJ: Yeah. I was trying to get Brian Mitchell into the studio. And Brian didn't call me back. And Tim Luntzel was saying, "We should get John Dryden down here." I barely knew John, and I said, "You sure he can do it?" And he said, "Sure." He showed up. I played him the tune. He sat down and he played that track right then and there, and that's what's on the record.

PM: [laughs]

RJ: And he just killed it. I mean, man, what a sound. And what a great part. I mean, right there in the moment. He's an exceptional musician, one of the best.

PM: Wow.   continue

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