A Conversation with Suzy Bogguss (continued)

PM: I was really turned on by the jazzier take you did on the classic Peter Cetera song "If You Leave Me Now." It was just unbelievable.

SB: Oh, that is so great to hear. I didn't really know how people were going to take that. I've had other songs I've covered in the past that I feared a little bit that I was treading on some pretty thin ice. But this is such a beautiful song. And sometimes I stay away from a song because I just think there is a definitive version, it should never be touched, can't do it. But in this particular case my son was singing it in the back seat, and his beautiful young boy voice just caught me--for one thing, he hates to sing in front of me. And it was just so beautiful that he was sitting there and openly letting me hear him sing. And the second thing was I never really thought of that song as such a personal, intimate little conversation.

PM: Yeah, I mean, I thought it was so much more revealed in your version than it was in the hit version.

SB: And that's a time thing. That production was way in vogue at that time, and of course Peter Cetera's voice is really hard to compete with. So I figured if I drifted down to it being this more intimate thing, this a little bit whispered thing--I mean, the honest truth is I sang it lower than he did. I sang it a half step down from where he recorded it. [laughs]

PM: Of course you did, you sang it lower than he did, right, when I'm thinking of his chorus. Right.

SB: So in a way it's kind of wild because I was messing around with it on my guitar, and I put that little yodel in there, which has always been something fun for me, I always like to break my voice. That's always been a fun thing. And I thought, well, maybe this will help to make it different enough, the fact that it's a little meatier, and that I break my voice to bring it into the higher pitch. So by keeping it a little bit lower in the body of the song it's just kind of meatier that way for me.

PM: It's an amazing--like I say, it felt more revealed to me, and you saw what a great progression of chords it was, and what a beautiful melody.

SB: That is the thing, I mean, that's what I was getting from my son, was I was just hearing the melody. And that was the part of the quest in this record, was please give me some melodies I can hold onto. I think your kids teach you so much, and I think everybody knows that, even our parents. But by watching my son and his taste, and his friends' taste, and they love--you know, he's 12 now--but starting at about 10, he started getting into bands like Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Bob Seeger--

PM: That's amazing.

SB: --and Queen. And I kept just trying to figure out what is making these kids love this stuff--I mean, they like Weird Al Yankovic, too. But I know what they like about that. [laughs] But it's melody. There's so little melody for them to hold onto in the new songs. I just started going, "I have got to cling to the thing that made me want to sing," which was melody. And that's why I ended up writing so much of this record, is that I wanted to be in control of that, so I could take my voice where I wanted to, because I'm still learning about my voice. I mean, it's a constant [laughs] miracle to me that it just keeps going, and that I keep learning different ways to use it, and things to do with it.

PM: And of course like the rest of your body and soul, it keeps changing.

SB: It certainly does. And for me it's been fun to learn how to sing airier. I never really did that before. I always have been sort of a balls out kind of a--

PM: Yeah.

SB: You just sing like Girl Scout camp, that's just how you do it. [laughs]

PM: And it's an interesting dichotomy that you put forth, that "Give me tunes that are meatier, and a vocal approach that's a little airier."

SB: Yeah, I guess so. I didn't really think about that.

PM: Yeah, how things just keep moving. You know?

SB: Yeah.

PM: It's really amazing.

And what a fantastic hand-picked bunch of players, many of my favorite guys.

SB: Oh, my gosh, I know. I'm so lucky. [laughs]

PM: I mean, let's start with Will Barrow on piano, who first told me about this great disc when I saw him in the store; what a great musician he is.

SB: Oh, he is so amazing, and just such a dear. He really helps me a lot, because he tours with me all the time. And he is so forthright with his opinion when something isn't grooving, or when somehow we've strayed too much from the feel that we were going for when we initially worked it out, and things like that. And that was the way I felt--I felt like that in the studio with Will Lee. I felt like I had a bunch of big brothers in there that were being incredibly respectful, and trying so hard to make sure that I left the studio being exhilarated, but also feeling comfortable with what we had created together, like they were looking out for me. You know, "Is this what you want--are we giving you what you want here?"

PM: Wow.

SB: And it was such a beautiful recording experience--and quick, too. I mean, the whole basic recordings were done in three days.

PM: So many of our favorite records are done in three days. It's a magic number.

SB: It's true, it's true. And the continuity comes with that as well. I mean, we cut the first five tunes--in fact, we cut "In Heaven" at 1:00 in the morning. These guys were giving it all. They were like ready to bleed for me. I was like, "Well, I do have one more song." And they were like, "Let's do it! Let's get to it!"

PM: And that's a heavy tune to pull out at 1:00 in the morning.

SB: It seriously is, and especially in E-flat, which is not like--

PM: No one's favorite key.

SB: No, it's no one's favorite.

PM: Well, maybe horn players.

SB: Yeah. They do like it, yeah. And then I kind of went home with this handful of things that we had created, and I just felt like I really knew exactly how I wanted to finish out the album. I wanted it to stay having this feeling and this groove. And then it was just a question of getting together with the right people to make that happen. I pretty much knew who I needed to write the songs with. So it was pretty fabulous.

PM: Aside from Will, a few other keyboardists figure heavily into the record, including that incredible co-producer Jason Miles, and the late beloved Carson Whitsett.

SB: Yeah. And you know what, you should have seen the love between Jason and Carson. I mean, when Jason found out Carson was sick, he was sick. He just absolutely was so distraught because he had just lost his dear, dear friend, Michael Brecker.

PM: Oh, really? I didn't know he passed on.

SB: Yes, he did. He was battling terrible--just had a bone marrow transplant and the whole deal.

PM: Oh, Lord.

SB: So that just happened too. So it was tough on Jason. But Jason is so spontaneously beautiful. I wouldn't let him change anything that he played in the live tracks.

[laughter]

SB: And he'd always--like in a way he was going, "Give me a shot, I want to show you what else I can do." And then I was going, "I know that. I know that about you, but this is what you played for me right at that moment."

[laughter]

PM: "And that's what I want."

SB: "And that's what I want. I'm sorry." So he had to kind of lay down--which everybody does that when you collaborate, sometimes you just have to trust your counterparts and say, well, that's good, what you came up with is good.

PM: Yeah, right. "I wanted the first thing you said."

SB: Uh-huh.

PM: That's beautiful.

SB: And then when Carson played, we did it at his house. We'd written one of the songs together and he was so excited that he was going to get to play on that.

PM: The one with John Vezner, "One Clear Moment."

SB: Yes. And how odd that while we were recording this, Carson was having a really difficult time with his equipment, which he doesn't normally. I mean, he was having a hard time remembering what he'd done. And it was within a week that I heard the diagnosis. So I mean, it was so quick. It was hard on his friends because we miss him terribly. But he went quickly, and did not quit working. Just got really tight with his wife and family, and they just like said, "Hey, hasn't it been a great ride?" I mean, they had the best, most beautiful attitude you've ever seen. It was awesome.

PM: Wow.

SB: But Jason was just so knocked out with Carson's playing, I kept trying to get my brain to go there; he sat there and almost wept at how pure and how Carson was the guy--he's the guy who plays that kind of organ. And Jason doesn't play that kind of organ. So he just couldn't believe that I had brought those two together at this point in their life. And how lucky he got to be with Carson before he passed away. So it was pretty magical.        continue

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