Earl Slick joins the Rockonteurs podcast

Rockonteurs with Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt

Hosts Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt welcome legendary guitarist Earl Slick to discuss his storied career, particularly his pivotal work as a sideman for David Bowie and John Lennon.

Key takeaways

• Earl Slick reveals he learned early guitar by repeatedly moving a record needle over vinyl grooves to mimic riffs from The Stones and blues artists like Howlin' Wolf.
• Slick describes his Bowie audition as an unorthodox 20-minute session where he played along to Diamond Dogs mixes while hidden in a blacked-out control room.

Main topics

• Earl Slick's early musical influences and self-taught guitar journey
• Auditioning for David Bowie and the Diamond Dogs tour production

Notable quotes

"I just wasn't into that part of it. I just liked to play. There was no plan B."

Conclusion

The episode offers a vivid, insider look into rock history through Sli

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:00) If you like listening to Rock On Tours, then we would love you to subscribe to us permanently. So hit subscribe wherever you get your podcasts from. Hello, Speaker 3 (0:09) Gary. Hello, Guy. Right. Well, I maybe had a thing or two to talk about, but frankly, everything has gone out the window because all my Christmases came at once yesterday when I received my copy. of 1967, Brian Epstein and the Beatles, your book based on Brian Epstein's address book. And I did notice in that that I went from Brian Epstein to Epstein, and I'm not sure Speaker 4 (0:37) what's going on there. Brian calls himself Epstein. I Speaker 3 (0:41) can't imagine there is a single listener of ours who would not just die when they see this. It is everything Speaker 4 (0:47) you ever wanted. It Speaker 3 (0:48) is fantastic. Speaker 4 (0:50) Oh, thank you, my friend. Honestly, I take that very to the, I mean, I know that you don't hand out thanks that, you know, that often. I don't know what Speaker 3 (1:05) to say. Speaker 4 (1:05) You can imagine how much this Speaker 3 (1:06) hurts me. No, but it's literally everything. I mean, for everyone, just the stuff I've learned already. I just love, it's all the little things. It's the things like. on the Abbey Road cover that Paul, John and Ringo are all wearing Tommy Nutter suits. I love that. The fact that of all of the Who, he only has Keith Moon's phone number. And why has he got Keith Moon's parents? By Epstein, Speaker 4 (1:31) you're talking about, obviously, who the book focuses on. Speaker 3 (1:33) Sorry, sorry, yes. Speaker 4 (1:34) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaker 3 (1:35) And there's that great picture of Brian with Keith Moon and, what's it, it's not Kim. Yeah, Kim, at the recording of All You Need Is Love. Keith Moon is 20 years old then. I Speaker 4 (1:48) know. Speaker 3 (1:49) I Speaker 4 (1:49) know. It's extraordinary, isn't it? I Speaker 3 (1:50) mean, Speaker 4 (1:50) it's so much. So is it Speaker 3 (1:53) a Speaker 4 (1:53) surprise that he's got Keith Moon's parents' number? So basically, this is a book, for those who don't know, I bought about six years ago from Sotheby's, Brian Epstein's address book dated from 1967. There's 404 names in it. And I've written a book about... virtually everybody that I could find who was in it and that's maybe I think I missed about 30 and and tell Brian's story through all the contacts within the book and explain who they are as much as I can find because some of them are extremely well known as you can imagine and some of them are completely unknown and I would only find in very small places and strange places as it was you know like a local Chicago newspaper from 1965 where someone's accused of arrested for being abroad in the night and such things, you know. And I put it together with Simon Halfon, who's this great graphics designer who did Style Council and Wham and Oasis and did the Supersonic book and actually produced the Supersonic. documentary as well. So an old friend of both of theirs. And Guy, you received yours yesterday, didn't you? Speaker 3 (3:08) I only got it yesterday. I just loved Speaker 4 (3:12) it. And Speaker 3 (3:13) also, I must say, it does warm the cockles of my heart that my dad warrants a little mention in it, which is nice. Speaker 4 (3:20) Yeah, because Lionel Belt's in there, obviously. Yeah. Speaker 3 (3:24) But it's just everything you want to know. And it's that great realisation of how... you know, of how 1960s, London, 1967 was absolutely, it's kind of like the fulcrum around which everything has kind of spun, isn't it? Before and since. It Speaker 4 (3:40) was amazing. It's almost before the fall, isn't it, really? Everything had come to its peak artistically, it seems, in 1967. And the dream was still rather innocent. Speaker 4 (3:54) And of course, that's the year that Brian dies. And in a way, that's the beginning of many tragedies that follow in his footsteps after that, you know, and sort of culminating in Altamont in 69, really. So it's an extremely positive year for music and for the Beatles. But it's also a year that Brian struggles with a lot of sadness because he's... He obviously has drug addictions through uppers and downers, sleeping pills. And he's concerned about all of the deals that he's made with the Beatles that haven't worked out, the merchandise deal. He's got a new EMI contract to negotiate. He's got his own contract coming up with the Beatles very soon. And he's in and out of the Priory at that particular time. So highs and lows for him. Speaker 3 (4:47) Well, the Priory, I think, back then was probably slightly different to... kind of what it is now because the idea of addiction and addiction treatment didn't really exist then. That was, you know, that's Speaker 4 (4:57) why, Speaker 3 (4:58) you know, Iggy Pop, when he tried to get himself clean, had to check himself into a mental institute saying he was having some sort of breakdown because it just, there wasn't a thing. And you have to remember that this was, you know, there were the new wonder medicines, wonder drugs. It's like all these, most of the drugs that killed people back then. were given to them by doctors, not demons. Yeah, Brian Speaker 4 (5:20) spent many days with electrodes stuck to his head trying to work out what was wrong with his sleep patterns. It's funny talking about how you don't, some people are very small in trying to discover them. There's a particular doctor in there. The only single thing I could find anywhere on this guy was there's a piece of footage that is in a library of footage somewhere, sort of, you know. I don't know what you call that when, yeah. Microfilm. No, it's a piece of footage of a street, and it is the street that's the address in the book. And the camera pans, and it pans to this door, and a woman's going through the door, and you can just see, if you freeze frame, on the plate above, the name of two doctors, one who's in Brian's address book. and the other who is connected with addiction. So one assumes at one point Brian, during that year, was visiting people like that. But Speaker 3 (6:22) of course, Speaker 4 (6:23) there's the whole world of clubs and music that go right across to America and even Australia and Far East. Well, yeah, Speaker 3 (6:31) because what's extraordinary, a lot of it's sort of beautifully typed out. And this has to do with, there's Speaker 4 (6:34) a, Speaker 3 (6:34) you know, I don't want to give too much away because this is fantastic. His address book, yeah. His address, yeah. But then, and then there's the stuff that he's scrawled, you know, his writing is terrible and is completely illegible, Speaker 4 (6:45) all the addresses that he's done himself. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, the thing I love, Speaker 3 (6:48) my favorite thing is all the, the thing that really tells you where you are is the restaurants. I love that. Rules. Speaker 4 (6:55) And it was just the SW1. Yeah, like Speaker 3 (6:58) a priest. And Speaker 4 (6:59) the Speaker 3 (6:59) abbreviations, all the, you know, MAL4765. Speaker 4 (7:04) Yes, of course. And I end up discovering quite a lot out of those numbers. And as you will see when you get to the end of the book, Guy, I make a discovery that blew my mind and changed the artifact, which is the address book. It changed what it is entirely. I know exactly what you mean. Speaker 3 (7:26) I'm not going to say yes. I also think it might well have changed what you paid for it. Speaker 4 (7:34) Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there's lots of little discoveries on the way throughout and some rockateurs in there as well. I mean, Graham Nash brings to mind. Don Black is in there, obviously. And I haven't really thought about that. But yes, a lot of rockateurs. I'm going to be doing a book. tour with it uh if you don't mind me just doing a bit of that sort of um advertising if you don't mind um we are going to be henley literature festival on the 10th of october on the 12th of october actually up in liverpool um at walterston's um talking to frank cotrell boyce um And on the 13th of October, at Conway Hall, talking with someone who's got a podcast called The Rest Is History, Speaker 3 (8:19) which Speaker 4 (8:20) I've Speaker 3 (8:20) really not heard of, Speaker 4 (8:22) a guy called Tom Holland. We'll be talking to him. And on the 14th of October in Bath, Toppings, and the 20th of October down near you in Brighton at the Old Market. And on the 15th... 15th Speaker 2 (8:34) of Speaker 4 (8:34) November, we're up in Manchester for Louder Than Words Festival. You can buy those tickets through a link in my Instagram bio. I've done it. I had to do that. Sorry. Thank you for being so positive. Speaker 3 (8:49) Oh, no, no, no. It's fantastic. That's nothing, mate. Wait till my book comes out next year. Oh, Speaker 4 (8:56) yeah. We saw each other. We went to Johnny Marr's sale, didn't we? We spoke about that. We Speaker 3 (9:00) did, Speaker 4 (9:00) yes. I Speaker 3 (9:01) don't Speaker 4 (9:01) think we have. Speaker 3 (9:01) recording Speaker 4 (9:02) this in advance obviously and the sale hasn't actually happened yet in our timeline but uh we went to a lovely talk that johnny gave at christie's didn't we Speaker 3 (9:11) it was yeah yeah it was very beautiful actually georgie has made it because he kept what was funny was richard henry who i know well who i've dealt with a lot for buying and selling guitars who was johnny's tech for many years is in charge of them he's kind of curating them and what's funny is is so johnny would would uh ask for a guitar and he'd play the song he wrote on it or whatever. But it's just so funny seeing Richard being his tech and doing exactly what a tech does, only with white gloves on. Because they're not guitars now, they're artefacts. Georgie pointed out that every, like he played, he had the guitar he wrote this charming man on and he put on that Ricky 330 and he plays the riff on it. And Georgie said, oh my God, it's like watching someone say goodbye. He's Speaker 4 (9:55) being rather brave, I think, but there comes a time when you just have to have a clear out. of the attic, don't you really? And I think that's what he's also doing, a bit of that. I don't know. I wonder how Smith fans take it. Do they take that as the final sort of like farewell and it will never happen again? Because he, you know, is it part of that? Speaker 3 (10:13) I don't think it's like that. I don't think because Johnny's always been about different guitars. It's like when David sold his, you know, his things, they're guitars. It's not like, you know, it's not like I'm not going to have any guitars. Yeah, this Speaker 2 (10:25) is Speaker 3 (10:25) nice. And, you know, with those guys, it's just like, you know, Johnny's another one. I mean, it's his hands. It's not a guitar that's doing it. Well, it's Speaker 4 (10:33) like his Fender Jag. I mean, he never even played that, and he's well known for that. That's his signature. Well, that's his actual signature guitar. And he Speaker 3 (10:39) never Speaker 4 (10:39) played it in the Smiths. No, that's right. Never played it in the Speaker 3 (10:41) Smiths. Speaker 4 (10:42) That's right. So, yes, there's something else that popped up, which I thought was worth mentioning, because people are... talking about ai and it's it did you read this that it's it's it's entered its psychedelic period yes Speaker 3 (11:00) yes someone actually mentioned they mentioned his name didn't they they did they did so so basically they they got two agents as they call them it's terrifying already isn't it really uh Speaker 4 (11:12) uh and to talk to each other these two these um and their dialogue gradually changed into things that seem very Joyce-ian, you know, like a page of Finnegan's Wake, that suddenly AI are developing their own literary language. It's like, yeah, it's like Joyce meets tech, bro. And then, Speaker 3 (11:36) yeah. But then there Speaker 4 (11:38) was a line, it was, Speaker 3 (11:40) what was it? It was the cold hands. No, I've got it here. I've got it here. One Speaker 4 (11:44) of the lines was, paper that ate three cold hands and got more honest. I mean, you could say that whatever way you want. You know, you could say it like Sid does something, you know, I paid with my three cold hands and got more honest. And apparently Tony Thorne, who's the director of Slang and New Language Archive at King's College London, that's Speaker 1 (12:04) a Speaker 4 (12:04) job, isn't it? We should get him on. Speaker 3 (12:06) Yeah, Speaker 4 (12:06) yeah. And he said he thought, you know, apart from it being very Finnegan's Wake and Flann O'Brien, he felt that particular line reminded him of the rock god Sid Barrett. who was actually Speaker 3 (12:17) insane. Speaker 4 (12:18) Yeah, I don't like that. I don't know why he said Speaker 3 (12:22) that. Yeah, that's a bit much. It's like he wasn't well. Don't say he was insane. That's not nice. Speaker 4 (12:28) Yeah, yeah. I mean, I thought that the sort of like head of King's College of Slang would have said he was off his nutter or something. Yeah, exactly. Shall we talk about our guest, Earl Slick? I mean, he's been in my life a long time, you know, going back really to Bowie because he was... He was really the sort of guy that, you know, we all knew after Mick Ronson, really, wasn't it? You know, and Bowie's sort of sidekick guitar player, like, you know, Baloo and Ronson and Slick, you know, they always seem so important in his existence or Alomar or, you know. Yeah, Speaker 3 (13:03) absolutely. Playing Speaker 4 (13:04) on Young Americans, obviously playing on David Live and that. Speaker 4 (13:09) end of that Diamond Dogs tour that became the sort of Philly Soul tour, you know, that transition, he was with the team on that transition. So he went from being probably the only guitar player to suddenly having Carlos Alomar standing beside him. That would be interesting. Speaker 3 (13:24) And then, Speaker 4 (13:25) of course, you know, going up to Station to Station and then coming back and recording on Bowie's The Next Day and Heathen and, you know, and I think he was probably on stage when David had his heart attack as well, you know, which was... you know, a shock to everybody. And then, of course, Double Fantasy, John Lennon played on that. Speaker 3 (13:44) Yeah. And Milk and Honey. Speaker 4 (13:47) Yeah. And he's got some big show coming up, Bowie show. Speaker 3 (13:51) He has, yes. Lock Speaker 4 (13:52) Lomond. Speaker 3 (13:52) Yes. It's to do with the 10th anniversary. You say Speaker 4 (13:55) Lomond, I say Lomond. I've Speaker 3 (13:56) never heard Speaker 4 (13:57) anyone say it. Well, it's Lomond, isn't it? Yeah, of course it's Lock Lomond. And I've got a funny story because I actually spent a week working with him and Bowie's band Speaker 3 (14:03) 10 years ago. And it was quite odd. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, we'll get to it. Speaker 4 (14:08) We will. All right. Why don't you say it today so I can say the other end? Let's get them on. Welcome to The Rock On Tours. Speaker 3 (14:15) OK, guys, I'm ready. Speaker 4 (14:17) You know this thing about the 10,000 hours of experience? When we recorded Arnold Lane, we'd done about 50 hours. I Speaker 3 (14:24) love the fact he's dancing to it naked. Like, it's so hedonistic. What you're doing, my opinion... He's basically an oral history of rock and roll. I'm in a band now. It's called Speaker 4 (14:33) Roxy Music. He started playing that as his main guitar. So it was his main guitar, so I just said, you can have it. Speaker 3 (14:38) Thank you guys for still being around, still making music, still being into it, and doing this podcast. It's fabulous. Speaker 1 (14:45) Everyone in the band was completely disengaged from their partners. A while we made rumours. Speaker 3 (14:52) That's a big tune for sure. I actually wrote that originally for Tina Turner. The Rock On Tours Podcast. with Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt. Speaker 2 (15:00) Keep on rocking! Oh. Speaker 3 (15:03) Oh. Speaker 2 (15:04) Because it's too early. You don't Speaker 3 (15:07) let Speaker 2 (15:07) us down, man. You don't let us down. Yeah, Speaker 4 (15:09) damn Speaker 2 (15:09) it. Jesus Christ. Where are you? I'm up in Rhinebeck, New York. I'm actually getting ready to do some overdubs today. Great to see Speaker 3 (15:19) you, Earl. It's 10 years since we had that Speaker 2 (15:22) mad Speaker 3 (15:22) week working Speaker 2 (15:24) together. That was. You know it's getting weird. The older you get, like 10 years ago, it feels like a week ago. It's fucking strange. Yeah, well, that's great. Because we Speaker 4 (15:32) all got a week before we're in our 90s or something then. Jesus Speaker 2 (15:36) Christ. What Speaker 3 (15:37) are Speaker 2 (15:38) you doing up in Rhinebeck, Earl? You know Jim Law? He produces like the stereophonics. As a matter of fact, he plays bass in the band with me and Matlock when we were touring over there. Oh, right, right. Speaker 4 (15:49) Okay. Speaker 2 (15:50) Yeah, and there's a guy named Ron Lay. Local London. Everybody I work with is English. I don't work in this country. And even if I am working here, it's because somebody sent me files from fucking UK. I know. I know. Speaker 4 (16:01) Everyone thinks of you as the sort of the American in England. Speaker 2 (16:05) I'm the honorary. You think about everything that I've done since day one is open bridge. I mean, you start with Bowie, Ian Hunter, David Coverdale, Robert Smith. Speaker 2 (16:19) It's all Brits. But also, to be fair, if you don't mind me saying, Speaker 3 (16:22) the thing is, you do have that kind of absolutely classic Brit guitarist look, man. You've got that whole Woody, Jeff Beck, Mick Jones, Keith thing. You look like Speaker 2 (16:35) one of us. I'll take it. Now, if you said I look like Lenny Skinner, this interview would be over right now. No, Speaker 4 (16:41) I think you fitted really. neatly into our aesthetic and obviously you were validated by Bowie and there's none more English than Bowie. Well, Speaker 2 (16:50) you know what? I mean, I tell you what, man, I mean, before I got with David, I, you know, I, the only person I worked with of note before that was Tim Curry's another one that I worked with. I love him, man. Speaker 3 (17:04) But Speaker 2 (17:04) the only thing I had done before David that was of note was I did a session with Dr. John and the Neville brothers when I was about 17 or 18 years old. Tell us. You know Speaker 3 (17:13) who Michael Kamen was? Of course. I was going to bring this up. Okay, just for audience Speaker 2 (17:19) purposes, Michael Kamen was in a very successful New York rock and roll band, went on on his own, and then eventually became one of the biggest composers of movies in Hollywood, like a lot of big movies. Anyway, I met him through a friend when I was about 17, and he saw something in me, and he mentored me. uh you know every time i had a band he would help me make demos and if an audition came up i'd get the audition you know and he brought me into bell studios with uh dr john and the nevels on pops popwell was playing bass too these were all the Speaker 3 (17:55) serious new owns guys man uh Speaker 2 (17:57) and it was funny too because during the sessions it was the first time i met mac right uh uh dr john and this is this was his heroin days And every so often in the middle of a