Peter Holsapple | The dB’s | Interview

Peter Holsapple has been an active musician for more than five decades. His extensive songbook of beloved tunes float somewhere between jangle pop and Americana. Holsapple formed the influential dB’s in 1978.

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The dB’s are often considered the logical bridge between Big Star and R.E.M., made influential albums like 1981’s ‘Repercussion’ that paved the way for later melodic and popular power pop bands like Nada Surf and Bully; supergroup Continental Drifters were among the forefront of a new wave of American roots bands, with legendarily powerful live performances and the award-winning Vermilion from 1998. Add to that a pair of beautiful duo records with dB’s songwriting foil, Chris Stamey, ‘Mavericks’ (1991) and ‘hERE aND nOW’ (2009).

In the midst of it all is Holsapple, a near-legend multi-instrumentalist who’s as at home on Hammond B3 organ as he is on electric mandolin, but whose prowess on a dozen+ instruments sometimes overshadows perception of his true passion: writing memorable, tuneful guitar songs that retain their character over time, as well as should’ve-been-hits from solo albums ‘Out of My Way’ (1993) and ‘Game Day’ (2018).

It’s really nice to have you. How’s the last two years been for you as an active musician?

Peter Holsapple: Pretty good, lots of online overdub sessions!

We are currently promoting It’s Karma It’s Cool, a group you collaborated with on several singles.

Jim contacted me and asked if I’d play some songs. Fortunately, they were great songs.

I hope you don’t mind if we start at the beginning? Tell us, what was your teenage room looked like, what kind of records and fanzines would we find there?

Wood paneling, acoustic ceiling tile, posters of T. Rex, the Beach Boys and Sophia Loren. My brother’s old stereo, a pair of Koss Pro-4A headphones, stacks of CREEM, National Lampoon, Fusion, Phonograph Record Magazine issues. Wild Honey, Smiley Smile, Friends, the first Left Banke and ‘Projections’ by the Blues Project, all given to me by my big brother. ‘Bare Wires’ by John Mayall, ‘Super Session’, ‘Shazam’ by The Move, ‘Mongrel’ by the Bob Seger System, all my purchases.

What were some of the bands you played with before forming Rittenhouse Square?

I started playing in 1964 with a group called Dana & the Blue Jays (2 acoustic guitars and a snare/cymbal). We learned from the Golden Beatles Songbook and Hit Parader magazine, but I was able to figure out stuff on the radio myself. First band with Chris was Soup in 1969, one show at a local church coffeehouse and we spent the proceeds on Cherry Cokes and grilled cheese sandwiches at the local department store snack bar.

Can you elaborate on the formation of Rittenhouse Square and what’s the story behind your sole album from 1972?

Rittenhouse Square was a band starting in 1969; the drummer, Bobby Locke, took the name through three incarnations, the recording band being the third (with me, Mitch Easter and Chris Stamey). We went to Crescent City Sound Studios in Greensboro over Easter weekend in 1971 and cut 6 songs (five were Mitch’s, one was mine).

Do you recall how many records you pressed as this was a privately released album?

Bobby had 500 copies pressed up in paper sleeves (no covers). Mitch and Faye Hunter silk-screened some covers, but only about a dozen.

Where all did the band play and what are some of the bands you shared stages with?

Again, mostly church coffeehouses and recreation center gymnasiums. Sometimes we got to play the “Kiddie shows” at the downtown movie theaters on Saturday mornings before the teen movie and bingo.

“We felt like we could get a few converts”

When Rittenhouse broke up, you joined future dB’s drummer Will Rigby and several other high school friends in Little Diesel. You were quite outsiders around your town playing aggressive proto punk… what was it like?

Rittenhouse Square had been plenty outside as well—we played Flamin’ Groovies, the Move, Mott the Hoople, the Bubble Puppy… in the face of audiences who wanted to hear Marshall Tucker Band and the Allman Brothers. Little Diesel took that a step further by playing glitter rock and Yardbirds for audiences who STILL only wanted to hear MTB and ABB. And we really, really did not give a shit. We felt like we could get a few converts when we played, and we did.

If I understand correctly you released an album ‘No Lie’ in 1984 on 8-track only?

Yes, about 25 copies.

Can you share some further words about the material?

‘Kissy Boys,’ our original, and our theme song. Two of my early songs. Mostly covers like ‘I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night,’ the Blue Ash version of ‘Anytime at All,’ ‘Barefootin’’ by Robert Parker, versions of ‘Slaughter on 10th Avenue’ (Richard Rodgers) and part of the ‘Dirty Linen’ medley from Fairport’s ‘Full House’. All over the place.

What influenced Little Diesel?

We mainly were inspired by Bob Northcott, our singer and spiritual leader. He sang like a cross between Iggy and Barbra Streisand, has a vast scatological knowledge and is a friend to this day.

What led to your move to New York from Memphis?

I moved to Memphis thinking some of the Big Star magic might rub off on me. We took an exploratory trip there in 1976 (we were early adopters to that band), saw some of the sessions for ‘Like Flies’ on Sherbert and hung out with Alex and Chris. But my several months in Memphis were pretty miserable. It was unbearably hot, the fire and police went on strike with National Guard snipers on downtown buildings and curfews…

You worked in New York with Big Star engineer Richard Rosebrough. Were you recording your own songs?

Actually, I worked with Richard in Memphis. He took me into Sam Phillips studio during his downtime there as engineer, and we cut a bunch of songs. We also got a visit from Alex who jammed with us. All of that got released on ‘The Death of Rock’ on Omnivore a couple years ago.

Can you elaborate how The dB’s got together?

Chris Stamey had moved from Chapel Hill NC to NY to play first with the Erasers, then as Alex Chilton’s bass player. Alex produced a single for Chris (‘The Summer Sun’ on ORK Records), and Chris put together a group to promote the single, first calling on Gene Holder who was living in Philadelphia at the time, and then Will Rigby who was still in NC. They played as Chris Stamey and the dB’s for some months before I moved to NYC to audition for the band in autumn of 1978.

What are some of the strongest memories from working on ‘Stands for Decibels’?

It was recorded at a studio in Soho called Blue Rock, and there were two sets of sessions for the tracking, as the money came in. Chris really was the producer of the sessions, despite Alan Betrock’s credit on the record. Alan usually started our sessions with a new joke.

What about ‘Repercussion’ and ‘Like This’?

We recorded ‘Repercussion’ in London at Ramport Studios, owned by the Who. (I think we borrowed an 8-string Kramer bass from the Entwistle collection at the studio.) We all lived together with Scott Litt, our producer, in a basement flat. Albion Records had decided that they’d prefer us to record in London, rather than at Power Station where Scott was a staff engineer.

‘Like This’ was recorded at Bearsville Studios in Bearsville NY for Bearsville Records. Chris Butler was the producer, and Chris Stamey had already left the band. So I was the only songwriter at that time. Albert Grossman, who owned Bearsville, rejected the original mixes of the album and ordered Gene Holder to work with Mark McKenna (studio manager at Bearsville) to finish the album. Once it was released, Bearsville lost its distribution with Warner Brothers. So despite being on a high-profile tour opening for R.E.M., our records were not available in the stores.

What were the circumstances around ‘The Sound of Music’, which later on led the band to break up?

R.E.M. had been telling I.R.S. that they should sign The dB’s. Eventually, after we were able to free ourselves from the draconian Bearsville contract, we did sign with I.R.S. Then R.E.M. left the label for Warner Brothers, and we no longer had our champions there. ‘The Sound of Music’ came out, reached #198 on the Billboard charts and disappeared. It has been out of print since 1988. I.R.S. then rejected all the demos for a second album on the label, and I ended the band after a show in Florida.

After the dB’s broke up in 1988, you worked as a full-time auxiliary guitarist and keyboardist for R.E.M. on the Green world tour. How do you remember your time with R.E.M.?

It was a privilege to get to play those beautiful songs every night for months. I also enjoyed recording with them back at Bearsville (using the same recording console which had been bought from Ramport).

Then you worked with Hootie & the Blowfish…

Again, a pleasure and honor to work with stars like Hootie. I was able to play keyboards, guitar, mandolin, steel guitar and accordion with them for about 26 years on and off, touring and recording.

What about your work with the Continental Drifters? The band included members of the Dream Syndicate, the Bangles, and the Cowsills.

Easily the best band I ever was a part of. Superb harmonies, top-shelf songwriting, and my favorite people on earth. We should all be so lucky to find friends like that.

Would you like to speak about your first solo album, ‘Out of My Way’?

It’s a nice enough CD, although nobody’s ever heard it.

How was it to work with dB’s again and what was it like to work with Stamey on a duo album, ‘Here and Now’?

Chris and I had actually done a duo album in 1991 called ‘Mavericks’ for Rhino New Artists; it is one of our most beloved projects, and people still seem to know the songs.

‘hERE aND nOW’ was the follow-up we did in 2009. It’s also pretty good but it didn’t make any commercial inroads.

I truly enjoyed your comeback with ‘Falling Off the Sky’ release in 2012!

You’re very kind to say that. It took a few years to complete the last dB’s album due to geographic disparity on the parts of the performers. Chris did the “heavy lifting” of building the record in his studio Modern Recording. He has some great songs on the record, for sure.

You released another solo album, ‘Game Day’ a few years ago. Tell us more about it.

For some reason, I thought there was a compelling reason to do a second solo record. I performed all the vocals and instruments myself, except for some horn parts. It came out but nobody bought it.

Are you planning to release something new in the near future?

No.

Looking back, what was the highlight of your time in the dB’s? Which songs are you most proud of? Where and when was your most memorable gig?

We headlined a show in 1982 at Gota Lejon in Stockholm, and we felt like rock stars. Our first album had made it into the Swedish charts, and things looked promising for a minute. Still proud of ‘Love is For Lovers’ although ‘Amplifier’ seems to be the song most people who knew the dB’s are familiar with.

Is there any unreleased material you would like to see being issued?

No.

What are some of the most important players that influenced your own style and what in particular did they employ in their playing that you liked?

Despite not being able to play like him, I was always very fond of Michael Bloomfield’s guitar playing with Paul Butterfield and with the Electric Flag. On piano, I guess my biggest influences would be Nicky Hopkins and Leon Russell on piano, and Lee Michaels and Ian McLagan on organ.

Klemen Breznikar

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Headline photo: Bill Reaves

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