Day two is the first day to really get into band mode with the campers assigned to the counselors.   AMP rehearsal in North Hollywood is a well known place for musicians in the LA area to get ready for shows etc.  The camp took over the entire facility as they have room for all 12 of the camper bands.

My room was not the biggest but actually has a great sound, so after plugging in thinking of what would be a good choice for the big day three visit of Steven Tyler, I made the executive decision for  ”Helter Skelter” to be learned.  Now all of you should know that the Beatles featured that on the White Album but Aerosmith did a fine rockin version that I have covered in my ESP band with Eric Singer from KISS.

So this song was a natural choice for me to teach them as I knew the entire band would make me proud with that songs arrangement and chord changes.  My band is a very diverse group of campers from all over the world. Tony is a Sgt. from the Army who was in Iraq defending our country for 5 years and is so excited to be here. He really has only a bit of experience on bass guitar but I promised to teach him how to rock on his axe. Jamie is from Toronto on guitar, and he comes from that metal school of guitar playing.  I know that, cause he can never hear me!  (well, to be fair, I mumble!).  He is good and I am whipping him into shape with my knowledge of power chords etc. My other guitarist Jordan, born in the Midwest, is a writer for Premier Guitar which is a great magazine for guitar collectors and lovers.  I am leaning on him for some lead work on his 70’s LP Custom.  He is my camp captain for when I have to leave the room for other biz.  On drums I have two to bang out the beats, with Greg and Ujesh, (which we call him HUGE for short). Greg helps out with vocals and he is a big Grand Funk fan, so he was so thrilled to meet and hang with Mark Farner.  On vocals we have Ally from Russia.  She is 24 and bright eyed and bushy tailed as we say, with enthusiasm for the camp.  She writes and plays some guitar as well.  On percussion and overall looking out for everyone is the lovely Francesca who is always smiling and helping me.

So we dived right into taking apart “Helter Skelter” and I proved the band that they were more than capable of performing this song.  A new feature at this camp is rotating some of the counselors with other bands, and I share that duty with Rudy Sarzo’s. So after about an hour of rehearsing with my band (called “WTF” !!!) I spent the next hour with Rudy’s band named “COTTONMOUTH”.  They were learning another Beatle song for Steven Tyler to hear, that he also made famous, “Come Together”.   I should be clear that when we were asked to get an Aerosmith song together for his visit, Aerosmith’s material can be quite challenging.  I am sure Steven will understand and in all honestly, those Beatle covers are quite amazing versions from the Boston rockers.

It was odd to jump into Rudy’s band after just getting to know my group, but it was boot camp style guitar lessons from me, as I gave the three guitar players in his band my best “what NOT to do and what you HAVE to do” to make the song work.  I love those songs and the Aerosmith versions are a bit more sleazy than the Beatle versions, so having it a bit rough around the edges is fine.

After lunch it was time for Duff McKagan from Gun’s N Rose’s and Velvet Revolver to visit the camper bands.  He is looking great and I could feel the buzz at the rehearsal studio about him being there.  After another look at my bands song for Tyler, it was time to learn and create an original song.  It is going to be recorded at the famous Capital Studios in Hollywood on Saturday.  I started to listen to the ideas my campers had, and when Ally played me a riff and this song idea about her love for music and excitement of being a camper, I knew I had the germ of our original to get to work on.  I worked out the riff with Jordan and then started to form a suitable chorus.  I wanted to keep it rockin and simple as the recording studio is not kind to sloppy playing or music not well played.

We worked on some lyrics with everyone jumping in with ideas. Even our Sgt Tony joined in with lyric ideas which made me really proud.  What the campers don’t know, is I get so much from them, even though of course I am their fearless leader in this weeks band experience.  Sharing my talent and seeing them absorb and improve is the biggest reward for me. All my campers know I am kind but tough in getting the best from them.

While we were working on the original song, Mark Farner came by to listen for a few minutes, and I asked him to help Ally with the chorus for the song, as Mark is such an amazing singer.  He jumped in on our chorus and really gave Ally the idea for the phrasing.  We took pix and he signed the programs. I thanked Mark for the help. 

At 5 o’clock it was time for Duff to do a Q and A with the campers at a theatre down the block from the studio.  He told jokes and answered the campers questions about his career. Duff is a great guy with tons of rock experience.  He finally got to visit my band afterwards, and we played the Beatle song proudly.  He said we sounded amazing and he loved the way our room sounded. Small but mighty I guess! 

After pix and autographed I was chatting vintage basses with him, as I am sure he has quite the collection.  What was really interesting was the surprise walk through from Steven Adler the drummer from Guns.  We spoke for a bit in the hall, and he was of course really impressed with what he saw from his visit.

Next (after a quick dinner) were the master classes and jamming.  I popped into Mark Farner’s and watched him share his thoughts about music and life.  Sandy Gennaro and I  were to lead a jam room for anything rock and roll, and we had some fun with camper singers and another camper drummer. Share from Vixen played bass.  Love her playing. We did Aerosmith, and Bon Jovi, and AC/DC songs. 

So quite a full day, and more soon from day three with Steven Tyler!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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