Chris Robinson | Club Random with Bill Maher
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LinkedIn, the place to be, to be. The thing is, though, bad behavior is not only indulged in your industry. It was celebrated. I really envied the bands that got to build up to something. You leave Atlanta with one suitcase, and then 12 months later, you're worth millions of dollars. I know.

Chris, are you hiding behind that tall price? I'm just hanging out with the Supremes. How you doing? Oh, isn't that awesome? That's great. You know what that's from? Is it from the album or something? Correct. From the inside? I was trying to explain it to somebody who doesn't know about records. Yeah, because they saw it.

And she was like, that's so cool. Why is it? I was like, well, that was in the old days when there was an album, they give you posters. Yeah. I just had a bunch of them framed. I brought this for you. Where did I put? Oh, here. This was on my wall because I remember that album you had with showing the little pubic hair. I had to go through an explanation of that the other day during an interview. And I was like,

What was it, Amorica? Amorica, yeah, our third record. And that was an old Hustler cover from the bicentennial. People don't remember what we're talking about. It was just, it was awesome. And for its time, amazing, because it's the briefest of bikini bottoms, and it's not covering the very top, as I recall, curly black pubic hair. You just see the littlest bit peeking out through the top.

It caused a huge thing. And then I realized, of course-- Oh, it did? Yeah. Like, oh. They wouldn't run it in Rolling Stone. We had these giant-- there's people still-- they had these-- you know, in England, they would do the posters on the tube. They wouldn't play-- they wouldn't even show pubic hair in Paris.

- What? - The home of pubic hair. They have perfume ads that show that, and they did back when we were... Well, anyway, so this... When I was a kid, my father worked at a radio station, and we used to get Record World magazine, and it has a music... You know, like, you're a teenager, you're, like, crazy for music. It was, like, the greatest thing. And I cut this ad out. This is from, like, I think 1972. Mom's Apple Pie. I don't even know if this is... I guess that's the group.

I think it is. I mean, they got this through. For the people who are listening, it's this lady, right, holding a pie. A dripping pie. Like she's from 1900. If you think Warren's cherry pie was offensive, why do you... And it's like she's holding this full pie, but there's a triangle cut out of it. And they got this through because you know in 1972... I think in 1972...

I think people were pushing. You know what? Some people are watching this. What am I doing? Here, I can actually show. That's why you should watch this show. Look at that. Mom's apple pie. I think people would. I think there's a real history of putting pussy in things and selling with it. But you know what's funny about our record cover at the time? I was really making. And I realize in my naivete now that I'm.

much older, but I was like, to me it was just about 1995, '94 when that record came out. We made it in '94 and it was heroin chic and my whole point was it was just about the gratuitous nature of how Americans were. To me, I didn't really think, oh, we're putting this, it was more of a, I wanted it to be more of a like,

Counterculture statement about it. You know what I mean didn't like oh look sexy vagina people or whatever I gotta say for somebody who I know I don't know but I get this feeling you're always lived like a rock and roll lifestyle You don't wear it on your face. You look good Really? I mean you should look exhausted today. You should look a lot worse. Well, I'm working on it I mean, you know, I think I was told you know, I don't know if the cliches are

Okay. I would like, I mean, some of the cliches have to be legit. And then some of them I think I've avoided. Speaking of cliches, this is for you too. I brought something for you. It's about fucking time somebody brought me pot. Trust me. This is my new strain from Mota over there in Silver Lake. Oh, wow. The Mota boys. I'm an Indica guy, so I brought sativa for you. I'm an owner with Woody Harrelson of a pot store. Do you ever go to the woods? It's nice. It's awesome. It's awesome.

We should go there some night. They have those lofts. Oh, yeah? You know, those. I haven't seen that. Oh, I got to take you there. I'll take you there. It's fantastic. I always wondered when that was going to happen because, you know, I always loved that about in my first trips to Amsterdam. You know, it was so much more humane. Well. Until an English football hooligan threw up in your weed tray or whatever. Right.

But the woods on Santa Monica Boulevard, if you're here in the L.A. area, it's different than any other pot store I've ever been in because, yeah, there's the store in the front. In the back, there's this whole jungle. There's this garden with, I mean, you feel like you're in, I don't know, Tibet or something. And it's lush, and there's these lofts that they built up in the trees. So you can buy it, smoke it there. And they also have a...

a liquor license now another part of the clubs that was another thing i always wondered when that was i mean well try to get you know count the state of california to act quickly on stuff that's friendly to business why it's what bugs so many people me included about this state and you live in this state like you know it's like they're trying to make things difficult for you in a bureaucratic way that's just

To me, it bugs me because it's like it's easy pickings for the Democrats to fix this, I think. Well, maybe it's not easy, but it's something they should try to do. I was berating Gavin Newsom on my show about this only a month ago. It's like, Gavin, you know, like, it's just...

Common sense. Yeah, it's anti-logic. There's no pragmatism in any of it. People don't want to have to, ooh, I can't throw a Frisbee here. That's why we need old school gangsters again. People who could really get some shit done. You mean to run the government? Run everything. Well, there are people, and I wouldn't say I'm not one of them, who say Vegas was better when the mob ran it.

I mean, I don't think it was better. We were just there. You go all the time for your shows. There's a fucking billboard. My wife and I are going to, we played two nights and then got out of there for the Super Bowl.

But there's a billboard, and it's a lawyer, Larry Friedkin. I don't know who he is. But it says, if you've been injured, this is a billboard. If you've been injured looking for dead bodies at Lake Mead or whatever. And I was like, is this a movie? I was like, is this funny? And our driver goes, no, there's a lot of dead bodies out there. They're in barrels. I said, what?

- It's so true. - What, do I get a tetanus shot? - Right. - I'm like, but who, by the way, how do you, why are you looking for dead bodies? And who do you sue if you hurt yourself looking for dead bodies? And the guy's like, I'm the number one dead body, if you're looking for dead bodies and you hurt yourself. - I didn't know who you sued. - I was like, what, what, who, who?

and the guy goes no there's tons of dead bodies out there in barrels and stuff it's not really fair but you sue the sinatra estate it's not it's it's complicated but i know uh yeah that's what i was gonna say it's like yeah the the the town was better when the mob were in it unless you were in a shallow grave yeah yeah i thought it would be good if every body they found was siegfried and roy it was more fun you know what you know what that town needs and i love it uh i love playing there

but I can only take it in those limited doses, then it's great, I wouldn't wanna live there. But it needs lounges. There used to be lounge shows, which,

If kids don't remember, a lounge, it was in the hotel. It was like, you know, in the lobby. It wasn't the main room. It was somebody who was either on their way up or on the way down. Which is fantastic dynamic, though. You know what I mean? That's a cool way because not everything is built towards that superstar billing. And there's still people on the way up or on the way down who are funny. Great. Where do you think Don Rickles started?

He was in the lounge for years, and Sinatra and those people would get done with their... And go over there and have 38 martinis. Right. Slap a bunny on the ass. Also, the great thing about the lounge shows, they weren't at the same time. They were later on.

They were like at 11. Yeah, yeah. They weren't the main 8 o'clock. Or even 1 in the morning. So if you were like I am, somebody who works in that town, I can never see another show because we're on stage at the same time. At the same time. But you could go. And it's such a, you don't want to go to. Were you friends with Don, by the way? Don Rickles? Yeah. I met him, no. I mean, I only met him a couple of times. You didn't have like a. No, no, no. Some of the younger guys did. I spent a weekend with him. Really? Yeah.

In the early 2000s, the Kennedy Honors, they had a thing. We had made a record with Don Was, and he was the musical director, and Chuck Berry was being...

Yes, I'm not going to kiss you. You smell like piss, Chuck Berry. Right. Who's the king of rock and roll. But he asked us to come do this thing for Chuck Berry. Of course. But I didn't really, I wasn't that hip to it. But Don was there. And for some reason, you spend the whole weekend, you have dinner at the State Department. Right. Yeah.

Sure. And I was, as a kid growing up, I mean, Don Rickles was one of my heroes. And there I am having dinner with him. And you're at the State Department, Madeleine Albright, whatever, all these people. And everyone has red or white wine on the table. And that's all you can get. If you wanted a beer, you couldn't get one. And Don Rickles is like, I want vodka. Right. And he was like,

hey, sweetie, like, we're the only fucking table with a bottle of Grey Goose. He got it. I mean, he was like that and he was the most wonderful man. Did he insult you? Yes, of course, the whole time. But what would he say about you? What would he say? The hair? Yeah, you know, yeah, you know, I mean, he insulted everyone. You smell like a hippie. Yeah, all that shit, you know. And,

But my ex-in-laws, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, he was all over that. You stick with these guys, kid. But he was this guy, too. He's the old Jewish. Yeah, a lot of this. You know, Chris, you know, and I'm like, you know, my grandfather was a first-generation Atlanta and a Jewish person.

Schicksal lover. Whittled it down to my father. Right. Schicksal lover. So I've been whittled down to about 20%, but there was a lot of the... I have something I say to people like that. Make your points verbally. I've said that on more than one occasion. I get this is emphasis, but it's not working on me. But did I...

I remember being once at Goldie's house. Yeah, you came to Kate's house. Kate's house. Yeah. What, after we... So I didn't dream this. No, you were there. Right. We were in your... I lived there, but it wasn't my house. Right, but... But we were there together. Remember sitting on the couch? And I seem to remember my date falling asleep. Yeah, well, it was that action-packed. I mean...

I guess we had been in a party. Yeah, there was some... It must have been late. It was late. Right, okay. All right. But the reason maybe you thought it was Goldie's was because that had been Goldie's house. No, no, I remember. And Kate bought Goldie's old house and then lived there, yeah. I think she still is in that... Perhaps we won't say where it is, but... No, she actually...

bought the house next door and has both houses. Oh, same street, though. I remember the name of the street. I remember where it is. But yes, you were there. We were there together. Right. Wow. We're old, huh? I'm older than you. Damn it. I'm probably not that much older than you. We're mid-century products. You know what I found out about how kids look at this? Remember when Leno and Conan were going through that battle for The Tonight Show? It was like 2009.

and it was kinda ugly. And I remember-- - It was the last time late night TV was interesting, really. - Well, thanks. - Just kidding. - Regular TV. - I guess you don't consider my show-- - Regular TV, you've had the freedom. - And also, I'm not even-- - You've also had the freedom to do what you wanna do. - That's why I'm not late night.

I mean, we were always on at 10 o'clock on HBO. Yeah, but not the network talk show thing. What you do is completely different. It's completely different. You're right. I'm the one who's always trying to make that point to them when they lump me in. But I remember I had a girlfriend at the time. She was 25. And I remember saying to her, she was asking about this. I'm playing. Well, it's part of it's a generational thing. I said, Leno's 59 and Conan's 45. And she said, yeah, that's the same thing to me.

Yeah, probably. Well, when you're 25, it is. You know what I mean? That's when I got it. Like, it really doesn't matter. I mean, I'm 68 now, but I could be... Oh, no, you are much older than me. 40. Really? I just turned 57. Yeah. But we could be 40. It's kind of the same thing to them. I think it is. I tease about the being...

It is being a 20th century product. I mean, we spend a lot of time in the 20th century, you know? Right. And that, I think, singularly, culturally, I mean, that's what all the culture wars are about in a lot of instances. You know what I mean? If I was born in 1866 and it was 1924, I'd be like, whoa, submarine or whatever. You know what I mean? Right.

I wouldn't even know what to do. Like, what? They're underwater? I wouldn't know. Everything would be so different. Now it's obviously so much more intense because of, you know, technology makes that move much faster. But you know what? You still go to the airport and take your fucking shoe off. You know what I mean? Like, whatever. And if you're, you know, 20-something, you always did.

We remember it as a disruption. I remember. They just know it as something that people do when you go to the airport. You know, people wonder, you know, I remember when the government took great strides to protect our health on airplanes by letting people smoke cigarettes in every other seat. I remember being able to. I was like, fantastic. Remember going up to the gate?

no security at all, and being able to buy a ticket with cash right at the gate. I used to do this bit about, let's start fly-at-your-own-risk airlines. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think it would be very popular. You can bring your shampoo on board. You can bring a fucking gun on board. Just fly-at-your-own-risk airlines. The price is right. Right. I bet you it would be very popular. You know what else is really...

always like really me up is like you don't think about it just because of the way the world is in rock and roll but there's pictures of like the grateful dead in 1968 and this is before the world would be you know mechanized the way it is you go on tour you play houston dallas new orleans then you know there's a a science to it you still do don't you yeah yeah but back then and like there's famous stories about jimi hendrix

You see, there's a picture of all the Grateful Dead and every piece of their gear on the runway loading it up on a fucking Eastern Airlines flight or whatever. And they have to load up all that shit that would go on semis and...

That's how you went. They would have their whole entourage, all their shit, guitars, amps, fucking maybe you would get a keyboard. You mean a band that didn't have their own plane? Yeah. Right. And you just went to just the thing. Right. And Jimi Hendrix would have his amps on the runway. Right. I've seen those pictures. And they would...

You know, Jimi Hendrix day, you know, that 60s era, he'd be like, I play Seattle tonight, then I fly to L.A., then we do New York, and then I'm in Miami, and then I'm in Chicago. Just like the, you know, wonder like how. So Jimi Hendrix, let me ask you about that as a great guitarist, about another great guitarist, because there is, it's funny, like. I'm a horrible guitarist. You are? I play guitar, but I'm in the Black Crowes.

I don't even attempt to play guitar anymore. Oh, it's your brother who's the guitarist? Rich is, yeah. Okay. I'm the song and dance man. I know you hate him. Oh, that's right. I know you hate him, but he's a great guitarist. Jimi Hendrix? Your brother. No, I love my brother, and he is a great guitarist. Oh. He's a very unique guitarist, very different in what he does. Well, it's funny. I mean, I am a big music fan. Like, when I, and this, you know, music is very much about your mood. I have a playlist of,

Crunch. I don't know why I picked that word because it's like the crunchy sound. There's a certain... Like a guitar sound. Yes, definitely guitar. And sometimes I'm in the mood for that. It's a little teeth-grinding. Like what would it be? Like what's on the playlist? Like a lot of your stuff, your band. Yeah, we're very... Right. I mean, our guitar sound has always had that. Yes, you are Pearl Jam,

Crunchy. Look at my lighter. Pearl Jam lighter? Eddie Vedder gave me that. Nice. Yeah. Is that someone surfing or something? Yeah, well, he's a big surfer. You put out that, I guess it was an EP. I don't know. It wasn't like a full album, but it was just covers. The 1972s? Yes, yes, yes.

All covers from 1972. Yes. How original. No, no, it was a great idea, actually, for it. And there was, three of them were like big favorites of mine. Rocks Off, which was... I don't know if that, was that a hit for the Stones, or was that just... It wasn't really, you know, Tumbling Dice was the only real semi-hit on that record, but X on Main Street is still probably my top rock and roll record. But, you know, people forget, how you see that record is...

the stones at their greatest. It was maligned up until the last decade or so. - It was never my favorite stone topper. But that song was my favorite song on it, "Rocks Off." - Well, for Stones people, it's a huge one.

Then you did, you wear it well. I don't know if that was a hit for Rod Stewart. That was a big hit for him. Okay. That I always loved. I had dinner with him once, a few other people, and I asked him, and I was interested when this came out, if you would use the same name. Because there's a line in there, Madame Onassis got nothing on you.

And he wrote that song. Yes, he's very... I told him that when he was... And he's a great lyricist. I told him when he was on in real time, I said, you're very underrated as a songwriter. I don't think most people even know you are a songwriter as well. Maggie Mae, you know, a song without a chorus. All of those great lyrics on those Faces songs. Yeah, I mean, he went on to do... Was he fun? I've never met Rod Starr. Oh, yes. I met him one time, and it's a funny story because he...

He was my dear friend, Ian from the Faces. He was the keyboard player and he played with the Rolling Stones. And Mac was like, we had played a, it was a big concert at the Munich Stadium where they had like the 1972, the hostage thing and the whole thing. They had a big concert. And I, so it's a giant place. We're sequestered on one side and then like,

With Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, because we were like in their world. And then Rod Stewart and like- You did that whole record with them. With Jimmy. Yeah. Oh, with Jimmy, right. But Rod Stewart's on the way on the other side.

And Mac was like, all right, man, let's go say hi to Rod. You never met him. I was like, fuck it. It's a long way. He's like, come on. He'd love to meet you. Oh, he'd love to meet you. And I'm like, all right, I'll go meet him. It's like two miles almost to walk to this thing. And I walk over. And they're all getting ready for the show. They're like kicking soccer balls around. And they're like these pastel suits and stuff. And he has like the coif and everything. Right.

And Mac walks me up to him, and Rod's standing there like this. And he goes, hey, hey, Rod. And he turns, he doesn't, you're me. And he turns and he goes, I want to introduce you. This is Chris from the Black Crows. He goes, hmm. And then I did read it. And Mac goes, did you see what he did? And I go, yeah, did we have to walk two miles for that? But, you know, he's a very nice guy. I would really like to meet him. I think he's got that side to him. But anyway, the question I had for him was. That was amazing, by the way. Was, yeah.

your line, "Madame Onassis got nothing on you." Okay, when you wrote that in 1974, it made sense 'cause she was Madame Onassis. - Yeah, yeah. - And now she's gone. She's been dead for a long time. - And she ain't coming back. - Who, if you're redoing the song, would you put in there? Now you just still use that name, but it was like super dated. Like if we had to put somebody in there, who would you put in there?

And of course, now people start fighting on the internet. Taylor Swift. No, Beyonce. Michelle Obama. Oprah. The mom of the Kardashians. Yes, right, exactly. Kardashians.

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Visit gcu.edu. So Jimi Hendrix, if I may go back to that. I'm just curious. Like, I don't have a lot of Jimi Hendrix in my, you know... Is it? Why? Why do you think it's too... Like, are they good songs? I know he was a great guitarist. Are they really great songs? I mean, like...

I mean, "Little Wing" is pretty strong composition. Don't know that one. Or maybe I do. You would know it if you heard it. And I would say-- I know "Hey Joe" and-- Which is a-- he didn't write that song. OK. I mean, everyone was doing that song in LA at the time. The Byrds do "Hey Joe." I think the first one. And please, someone who would-- I mean, I think the Leaves from Los Angeles,

maybe did the first to leave that was a band believes. So it's like they're begging for a joke to be. What do you think of the leaves I did. I mean we left. Yeah leaves leaving us. But know that he I think it's different what and then you know it's also he does that a lot of different things he's young people fucking say people

they really dislike Jim Morrison still to this day. I fucking love The Doors. No, I love The Doors. And I love Jim Morrison. See, The Doors, I don't know why we're comparing them to Jimi Hendrix, but The Doors have songs I really like. Great songs. But we're also talking about...

Like, you know, the 27 Club or whatever. They died at 27. Right. So there's not a lot. Okay, so what if Jim Morrison, and by the way, I was dear, dear friends with David Crosby. Wow. And David fucking hated Jim Morrison. But he'd say, he told me, I goes, I'll tell you why I fucking hated him. But everybody hated him. I know. Everybody. He even says it in his documentary. Everybody. He was rough, I think. I don't know. He owned it. I got a pass with him.

we just got on. Well, he was much older when he met you. True, true. You know, but in his heyday, everybody must have been some sort of monumental prick. Yeah, I mean, that's what they say. You know. But, you know, he told me, like, you know, you'd be at a party, like, and...

It'd be the most beautiful chicks and the best drugs and everyone's like feeling it. And then Jim Morrison would show up, shove someone down the stairs and then go lay in the street until the cops come. He goes, that's bullshit. You know, he's like, fuck up the whole scene. And I was like, it's kind of cool. I mean, it's kind of punk, but, but, but my, my thing was he's and Jimi Hendrix, this doesn't, it's just because they both died at the same age, but Jim Morrison, uh,

You said he got older. And I knew David, I mean, I knew him for 30 years. So, you know, he was my age when I met him or something, a little younger. But he was, Jim Morrison died, he's 27 years old. He didn't have a chance to rail it in and one day be the elder statesman. Right. Exactly. You know, we didn't get to see that. Oh, I don't want to think about how I was in my 20s. I mean. I don't want to think about it.

I might... Oh, fuck.

Yeah, the thing is, though, bad behavior is not only indulged in your industry. It was celebrated. I mean, let's face it. But wasn't that part of it? I mean, that's another thing that I think is weird about... I mean, I think there's so much great music, and there will always be talented people in music. There will always be people that we connect to on an emotional level, through our experience, through things.

but i think the main difference what i don't see and i work i have a i have this record label i work with lots of talented young people and they're all they're all beautiful but

And I get that the culture has changed, but we were defiant in our attitudes and everything about art to us if we were going to put it in rock. We're going to be-- we're rock and rollers. So I understand that Jerry Lee Lewis is like a real artist, you know? Is he someone you went over for dinner? You got to have the right mindset. Right, and put the kids away. Yeah, and all the guns, you know?

It'll shoot you. But the idea that if we, part of our stance was defiance, right? You know, like against whether it was, we used to smoke weed because we were outlaws, not because we were patients. But now it's all compliance.

because people, you can't say something bad about a band. Back in the 80s and 90s, what T-shirts you wore, what bands you rapped, it was everything. It was serious. Rap artists are really serious. Do nothing but rail on each other. There's a giant feud going on now between...

Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, I think. Well, I mean, I think they're the kind of rock and roll people now, the rap people. Of course. That's where it moved. You know, they can bring that attitude. Yeah. Oh, exactly. But you know what's funny about that is what is also the thing that kind of derails some people in that world, at least from my adjacent view, is what one thing we always are obsessed with, or at least the records I like, the

films i like the comics that are there's an authenticity correct what they are absolutely and and it's funny because rock and roll did it too all of a sudden there's a lot of people who are like you know not they're not on stage drinking jack daniels it's fucking tea or whatever and they're like you know that kind of stuff i have a friend uh i was living in uh my wife and i we were living up in colorado for a little while now yes yeah oh

Remarried for the second time. I mean, after Kate. I was married after that as well. Oh, the third. Yes. It's the charm. I'm not afraid to love. Not only is it preferable to settle down or find the person who's really right for you later in life, it's almost a necessity. When I think back, what an idiot I was about my own self. Of course.

course how could I know who was right for me yeah when I was 30 because I was just like I was making decisions like fucking Trump I mean they were pulling things out of my ass and just going by emotions and I mean it was just it was a wild ride right I can imagine what that must be if you're also a rock star and all of this is being thrown at you that must really fuck up a mind

Well, in one thing, it's just funny. When I was single, whatever, I'd be a single man in the world. Happens to be a successful musician. And the lead singer. Really good. And how far can he coast on charm, truly? Not with these looks. You know what I mean? I hate it to be judged by my looks. You're fine. Your looks are fine. But I truly, in my...

I prefer the intimacy of a single partner, of daily cohabitation. You know what I mean? Like, it's that intimacy. Yeah, it's easy to see. It's important. And I would give it, I gave it a good try. But I usually have always been in a relationship during my tenure. Easy for a rock star to say, after he's had, like, innumerable flowing reams of pussy. Now I know.

I'm fine, but yeah, you, of course you are. What about all the other regular guys like us out here? Mine was more like stumbling onto the perfect vintage pants or something. You know what I mean? I don't know what you mean. It wasn't a stream. I don't know what you mean by that.

I do not. It was more of somebody who does, what do they do? A lot of vintage, go to the antique store and occasionally I would find something I like. I mean, rock, from my knowledge, rock stars always get married.

I know very few rock stars who've never been married. It's not like that. I'm the one who never got married. No, comments don't get married. Well, you practice the dark arts, sir. You know what I mean? The dark arts. What you do is traverse. Well. And which is funny because I think that's another really, you know, it's one thing to say, oh, people say rock and roll is dead or whatever. It's totally ridiculous. It's not the same, but.

Comedy is the thing that now you start to see that people, now you're not allowed to say whatever you want to say. And comedians, you know, are always, isn't that the fucking job? I'm on the front lines. Yeah, and you have been even before this sort of cultural shift. If I don't think, I mean, I'll never get my due from the people who don't understand this, but if I don't see myself

as the tip of the spear, I'll leave. Like I will leave this business. You know, somebody comes along and is like, can still get an audience, not anybody can say really crazy shit and get some, but to be reasonable, but also gutsy about something. If somebody can come along and do that better, I will get out. By the way, I also understand like when you do that at a certain level, when you do that with a,

talent and you're in your, you know, you're in what you have to say. You're at one with it.

When people do come, and the great comics that can do that, and you know, there's different comics that do different things. Yeah. Of course. Do I know? Yeah, yeah. I started with all of them. Yeah, yeah. And you know, but again, that's like anything else. But if you're going to be that person, if you're going to be a part of the spearhead at all, then the ones that really are heavy-handed and, you know, that's...

That kind of stuff that people get so mad about, like, let the people say who's funny. Don't fucking tell people say who's funny. We'll tell you who we think is funny, and you know what? Like, and then some shit will come along where people get mad, like, you know.

Let them, it's going to go away. The ultimate proof of that was, and I'm not, I'm stealing the thunder of a number of people who wrote about this, but there's a comedian, comedian, oh, I don't know if we even say that word anymore, and she's trans or a lesbian. I don't know. I'm fucking it all up. But Hannah Gadsby. Funny mammals are good. They're funny. You don't have to worry about any misgendering. I know this funny mammal.

Bipedal mammal. Anyway, Hannah Gadsby, and I must admit, I don't know her work, so I'm not going to pass judgment on it.

Everybody I know has one opinion on it, and that's across the board, but, you know, it could be wrong. I haven't seen it. No, exactly. Anyway, her net, I mean, well, it's a different kind of comedy that a lot of the younger generation does. It's not so, I don't want to sound snarky about this, but like,

You know, it's not really about the jokes. I mean, there are jokes, but it's like there's feelings and story and, you know, my victimhood. And a lot of these people, it comes first. Okay, maybe that's where the society went, and fine, I'm going to stay old school. But anyway, her Netflix special. So really, they don't want to be funny. Let me just finish this point. The Netflix special, the critics loved it. Like, their score was like 95%.

And like the people was, you know, I don't know the numbers, but it was like, you know. Not good numbers. It was exactly the opposite of what the saintly priest cast of the media thought this was appropriately wonderful. And the people were like, come on, man, we just came to laugh or whatever it is. Again, I don't want to pass judgment because I have not seen it. Maybe it's the funniest thing since the Three Stooges. Pfft.

But that's just, that was the story. Netflix numbers. You know what I mean? We laugh. The real laughing and the stuff that makes us go, is the stuff that is the most painful thing too, right? Singing is pain in a way, right? Well, a lot of it is about pain. Yeah. I mean, that's where it's born. That's why I call it the dark art. Some of it's happy. Some of it's funny. I mean, you know. Well, some of it's everything. What is that thing Mel Brooks says when someone asks me what's funny, what's not funny? I'm in my office.

I'm opening a letter. I cut my finger. I get a paper cut. I say, Jesus Christ, that stings. And that's not funny. But if I'm standing on 57th Street and 6th Avenue and an old lady steps off the curb and gets hit by a bus, that's funny.

And I was like, I mean, that's funny too. He's kind of paraphrasing, I think, what it is W.C. Fields said. Who's also very funny. Okay, I think this is where the origin of this, and I think it's a purer version. He said, if someone dressed as an old lady falls down a manhole cover, people will laugh.

But to make a comedian laugh, it has to really be an old lady. It's unbelievably funny. And it's kind of true. I mean, yes, that's the nature of like the deviant nature. Well, you know what? Your early 20s, you had, I'm sure, an amazing time. You're young. You can come back from drinking and drugs and still do shit the next day and girls and blah, blah, blah.

We didn't have that as comedians, but we did have some amazing camaraderie. Yes. Like, probably your thing was better, but I wouldn't... No, I don't think so. ...for anything give up. Like, those three years when I lived in New York right out of college...

the you know working in the clubs and with being in the clubs every single night of my life seeing the same people was your whole world my whole world and my Social world and you know, there was bumps here and there but basically you're hanging with a bunch of funny people who you like a lot some Uber competitive it was

I wrote a book about, I wrote one novel in my life and it was about my early days. And the epigraph at the very beginning says, they loved each other because they shared a dream. But they hated each other because there wasn't enough of it to go around. And that kind of sums it up. We loved each other, but we knew it was kind of like the army. Like a lot of us going into battle are going to get shot, meaning not going to make it.

I mean, of the guys I started with. Do you still have that group, core people that are? Well, I mean. That you would feel that way even with everyone's changes and fame and success? Some, but it's just the truth of the matter that people just don't feel comfortable on either ends of it when they're hanging out with someone who's on a very different level of success. Yeah. The person who isn't as successful, I guess, feels bad that they're not.

the person who is doesn't feel necessarily I'm better than you, but he knows you think. You can't cut through that. Well, then some people turn that inward and start playing out those archetypes or whatever right there. And they behave that way. What do you mean? I think they, you know, I agree with we shared a dream. You know, the one thing about like, that I remember like the 80s in Atlanta being in a band and, you know, bands were really important. It's not like...

now, you know, like bands were... I know. What happened to bands? It's amazing the way the culture... It was your gang, it was your, you know, we're like, you know, we had to escape the horrible angst of suburban Atlanta. Back then, like, music was guy bands, and the rarity was the female rock star. Now, all the female rock stars are women singers.

I'm not complaining about it. I'm just saying this is where the culture... Yeah, yeah, it's tipped. And it's very hard to find 20... I mean, all the great bands are older, like you guys. Yeah. I mean, and...

Well, you know, I think that... It just went out of vogue. It was a style that went out of vogue, like the novel. You know, people used to read novels. Then TV came in and they went, whoa, these are very slow TVs, these things. And, you know, if you sell 50,000 copies of a novel, that's like a huge hit. They're like...

Have you seen Rhoda? Rhoda? Wasn't that this TV show? What I'm saying, instead of sitting around, you're like, oh, Nelson Algren. Wow. Walk on the wild side. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Rhoda's on. The fact that you would choose Rhoda, I love that. It's just so, like. You said TV comes along.

Yeah, like when you have a TV shows here in 2024, of course the first one that comes to my mind is "Rhoda," right kids? Listen, you know what I mean? Do you watch TV with your wife? Is that like a thing? You know, we never watched TV until-- Really? --until the pandemic. In the '90s, I never saw any TV ever because we were on tour constantly.

And my tastes run towards hanging out. I do, I read a lot of novels. Yeah, novels are great. I read a lot. And so, yeah, our life is... I'm going to give you mine. But we do watch TV. And there's some shows that I think are, that I really liked, actually. Oh, TV? I couldn't live without TV. I love movies.

Kids today, they don't even have, it's like a typewriter. I like YouTube because as a dork, it's like I want to see. Sure, anything. Yeah, I want to see the fucking faces on French television in 1971. Oh shit, there they are. It can't be good for the human brain or really I feel like the development of the species that everything that was ever interesting

is available at all times. And why am I so bored? Well, no, I'm kidding. But I mean, like, I don't even do it. But that, you know, my thing with that is, but half of the people are still like looking at people falling down or, you know what I mean? Like, I get that, but there's so much information that maybe you would think is interesting or important to know or that I would. And like the average person, like they could give a fuck. But they just want to watch the same shit over and over, right? Don't you think that's a part of it?

Yes, but I also think this, and I'm not even someone who often even looks at Instagram. It's just that, you know, God bless. I'm on no social media. On the occasion, right. I don't very rarely tweet, but I do sometimes. It's nice to have that as, you know, outlet. But Instagram, but every time I like, you know, when I was first on it, it was just pictures.

It was good. It was like Playboy on your phone. You just follow 10 hot models. Then it changed into more like TikTok. It's just videos. And okay, I don't do this a lot because I'm busy and I have a life and I respect myself. So I'm not going to let myself go down this rabbit hole. I have a

shit to do. But I can see when I do do it once in a while for like 15 minutes. But you have to do it just to be aware. I'm scrolling through this thing and a lot of it is like dog stuff because I guess they know that's what they know about me. I like to see dogs being adorable. But there's some of it like, you know, like guys doing crazy athletic things in an amazing like, you know, pinchu machu temple that I never saw. And I was like, as I'm scrolling, I'm like,

No, you're not wrong. This is very interesting. No, you're right. That's interesting. Yeah, that's fascinating. It's like, okay, yeah. Oh, a squirrel water skiing. And I'm like, yes, you're right. You're not wrong. These things are interesting. And I could just do this all day until I died of starvation. I feel like that's the ultimate. It's like Richard Pryor with his crack pipe. Remember that thing about he had in the bedroom and he was always talking to the crack pipe? That's his best friend. Oh. I don't know. I mean, to me...

Ultimately, like you said, one thing I love about playing music is I work very hard.

But to work very hard, you kind of have to be in it all the time. So when I do, I watch dumb shit. Like, I like English comedy. I watch old episodes of The Young Ones. I watch The Mighty Boosh. I watch stuff from, you know. It was weird. I didn't know this, really. I was watching the Monty Python documentary because I still think the best of that is unbelievably funny. Oh, yes.

And I'm interested in that show, the kids' show they did. They had the Bonzo Dog Band that did all those amazing songs and really funny mix, really futuristic almost. But they did it.

I guess Eric Heidel said, you know what? Outside of us doing this, we weren't in each other's lives. We weren't friends. I'm like, that's unimaginable that that is so nuanced and sophisticated. I feel like, first of all, you hear this with all bands. You're famous for...

fighting with my brother. Correct. Which is like common, the Everly brothers, and I'm sure you've heard the list of brothers who like the kings. Oasis and the kings. Yes. And it's like, wow, that's stronger. You know, they say blood is thicker than water. Yeah, and apparently this shit, whatever it is, when you're in a band together, it's thicker than blood. I tell you what it is. It's just something weird, man, that you grow up

First off, the Everly brothers. They take a lot of their style from the Leuven brothers. I don't know if you listen to the Leuven brothers. I've never heard of them. From Alabama, and they were kind of a duo, Charlie and Ira, and you should read a book about these brothers because they don't get lumped in in the rock and roll stuff, but they easily had the tale of the most fucked up shit people could do to each other. But they sing this close harmony together that is...

They're most famous for a song called "The Knoxville Girl" about a guy who kills the young. ♪ I met a little girl in Knoxville, a town I know well ♪ ♪ Every Sunday evening in her home I dwelled ♪ ♪ I took her for a little evening stroll about a mile from town ♪

I picked a stick up off the ground and knocked that fair girl down. Why? Because she's really brutal. He's just crazy. He's a murderer. There's a lot of murder ballads in that era. But so they sing like that. And then the Everly brothers sing like that. But then they're like been in show business together since they were like on the radio on their dad's like chicken feed shit or I don't know, dentist and he sells eggs or something.

It's a weird trip, you know? Do you remember Tom Jones? But, oh, by the way, before I forget, it would be weird, too. Like, you guys are great. You do this together, and you make this magical sound. But then if they go off on their own, they could still be talented and good. And, you know, that's really something I learned about me and Rich. Like, he's talented when he does his thing. I go do much different music than the Black Crows. But until we got back, I was like...

And again, you change your perspective, whatever. And I'm like, fuck, what we do is kind of cool. That's what I like. There's that. There's that element. Then there's also the element that people who come to your music, anybody, any band, are coming to it at such a formative time in their life, teenage years, whatever.

their first feeling the pulsation. - That's what my wife says, when you're teenagers you feel the, like there's no-- - Everything. - Yeah, it's the most raw. - Good and bad. - It's the most raw that you are. - Right, so the music they encounter at that age is gonna have this emotional resonance with them that stays with them forever.

So they're going to always put that in the mix. That's why-- Yeah, of course. That's why when bands break up, the fans' attitude is like, why are mommy and daddy fighting? Because it's important in my life to think that Simon and Garfunkel like each other. Because they played it by prom. This is Robinson, or whatever it is. You can't separate that emotional element.

which is a double-edged sword. Of course. Especially if you throw into the mix like you asked me earlier. We made this record in 1989. Rich was still living at mom and dad's. We have no idea what's the Guns N' Roses is the biggest thing in the world. We're this band who don't sound like anything. We sound enough like things that because we have the same influences of stuff before that it was like, "Oh, they sound like old music."

Even though we felt we were pretty modern. I mean, except for the bell bottoms. But then that record, you leave Atlanta with like one suitcase and then 12 months later, you're worth millions and millions of dollars. It's on, you know what I mean? You went from,

and we didn't you know we were one of those bands that had i really envied the bands that got to make like a record and then another one and got to build up to something i would never take it back and we get what we get and we're happy and thrilled and blessed to have this but that would be a cool dynamic like we didn't have to just jump in with the sharks initially you did great because you put out things that that

You have a sound that not everyone is a fan of every kind of sound, but if you're a fan of that kind of sound, I'm a fan of many kinds of sounds. That is one of them.

You always satisfied the customer. You know, it took something that... I think we made some weird turns. I mean... But that sound, like when you want that... I hear you. When you want that sound, I want it done right. You guys did it right. When you want an egg salad sandwich, you want an egg salad... You can't really ask for more than that. Well, and I think it's funny. I'm sure they get around to where we are today because... And actually brought...

This is the first one. I have one, but that's the first one to a person other than the person who made that one. I don't have this. This is the new record. Oh, it's new. This is the one coming out in March. And if you look-- Happiness bastards. Wow, I feel like I'm Jay Leno in 19-- But if you look closely, you maybe wouldn't recognize the book. You'd be playing me at Pentagis Theater. My wife did the artwork. But if you look, this is Southern Harmony, our second album. She painted all the new art on old album covers. Oh, wow.

That's like an egg. Is that what they call an Easter egg when they hide something for the fans? I think it's just, in our case, we want to celebrate the past and we're into vandalism. And once again, I saved my pussy poster from the 1970s. Not poster, ad. Ad in Record World Magazine. What kind of pie did you want? Just that dripping pie, please. What's in a dripping pie? I don't know. I wonder if I have to...

That could be your solo album for your crunchy guitar band. But you're happy now that you're back with your brother and you don't fight about the shit you did when you were kids? Yeah. I mean, it took me a long time to kind of get out of my own fucking bullshit. I say that on every show, but like, of course, would we like to be 30 again? Yes. But I still wouldn't trade it if I had to have that stupid...

mind I had knowing now that like life is easier and better when you're not a fucking idiot. But you have to take those lumps and you have to learn the lessons. You have to get older. Especially men. Men need to get older. They just don't get it quickly. Not that I'm telling women anything they don't know.

No, of course not. But that's why you're not fighting with your brother because you're older and smarter and you see old age is a process of seeing things come up and up again. It's a pattern. And then the third time they come up, you go, okay, I know what that is and I'm not falling for it this time. I'm not taking the bait. It's also, I singed myself once and not again. Or many times, yeah. Or many times, yeah. Acceptance is a big thing. That's the key.

everything and that's really where I think you and I found ourselves at a different time in our right and if a shrink was playing word association and he said why did you say wrote and he said age I would go accept it yeah that would be my like that's what I demand it and I give it and I give it and that's just what you just do don't do that when you're young I think this is also

How we handle adversity when you get older dictates a lot of the attitudes and a lot of the way that you can communicate and, in my case, not be in a dynamic group of people and make it fun and work and interesting and soulful. And I don't know in my youth... It's also that... Okay, so back in the 90s, there were no therapy catchwords. You were just like...

fucking do it. There's another band who wants this spot behind you. It's very competitive. Now, you know what I mean? And you want to stay on the ride, but you don't really realize that every band that has ever been any band, I think, success or not. But the success brings a certain intensity to the thing.

If every band will say, if we had just taken six months off one time, and you never, no one ever does. They never, you never stop. Because. Until you can later. Because it's a hamster wheel that if you don't stay on, someone will eat your lunch. And I think you just get, I don't know about other people, but I think you just get it in. Well, first off, you want the, you.

It's a good time, you know, when everything's new, like I'd only written 30 songs. Now I've written 300 songs. You know what I mean? Like the process is different. As someone who has no musical ability but is a great fan, I feel like they're misreading the public unless I'm not like other fans. But to me, if a band or any artist puts out an album and I like it, I'll never forget it. If they put something out...

40 years later, I'd be like, oh. We started by saying the Supremes posters and your parents were in the radio and you had shit tons of records and stuff. So records are really important to that. If you grew up around a lot of records, it changes the way you think about music. The average family didn't have a lot of records. Since we're doing a show and tell, I'm going to get this. For the people who are, oh, I guess they got it on one of these cameras, but I've never actually showed it like this.

This is from, I don't know what album it is, but I was smart enough as a kid to know, I think I just loved it, but that is the Supremes, and I have some other ones like this. It's so good. It's so good, and yes, this is of course the size of an album.

I used to love it. Perfect visual size. Do you remember cleaning pot on a double album? Because there were seeds. And you had to shake them out. And that was the perfect thing to do. That's why every P-Funk live album, Mothership Connection is all balled up. No one ever listened to both. Parliament? Yeah, yeah. Parliament, Mothership Connection live record. It's a double one.

That's why that record, that's always fucked up when you see one. If you can find a real good one, let me know. You still have your vinyl? Oh, yeah. It's thousands of records.

I'm obsessive, so is my wife. I'm sure. Well, because-- It's horrible. We just moved, and it's like a nightmare. I'm like, oh, here, come move my anvil collection. We won't give away exactly, but you live in this area? Yeah, I'm in Los Angeles. Oh, so everybody lives here. We're very close. You and I. You had no idea. I'm going to take you to the woods. Yeah, let's go. Oh, we've got to do that.

Okay, so and how long have you been in California? Because you don't betray any Georgia accent. No, I mean, sometimes. If I'm in the South, I like to prove that I was from there. But I'd be like, oh, yeah? That sounded gay, not Southern. Oh, yeah? But Southern and gay are very often similar. We are English, you know what I mean? We're very English on my side. Yeah.

I just think I really like the Southern plus gay accent, the Southern plus gay character that I've seen many times. I'm not going to try to do it. I might catch the vapors. Well, something like Tennessee Williams, was he not a homosexual? And do we imagine that his characters, like in Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche,

Really, he's really writing about a gay relationship. Well, it's very dramatic. What are we saying? We're certainly not saying that gay people are dramatic in the best kind of way, Chris, in the best kind of way. Of course, of course. I'm just saying it's a very dramatic story. If you think Angels in America is one of the funniest...

place ever to run on Broadway. I hardly think that's demeaning. I fucking love you because I know. But it is. It's highly dramatic scenes. But see, that's my world that I live in. Always having to shoot down the people trying to shoot down things that are innocent, but we can find something about it that'll get the people on the internet very mad. You know, it's also, I love...

You forget how many people are so shocked about books being banned. They didn't want you to read one. They banned William Burroughs. Again, the problem is that it keeps happening. And don't you know, they ban books all the time. You mean throughout history? Yes, and especially in this country, and even in France or whatever, in the real era of all this kind of... Yes, I mean, they banned Playboy. I mean, they were banned.

Huffner fought in the 50s, was constantly in court and stuff for just Playboy, which is a pretty tame magazine. Ulysses...

was, I think, not allowed to come into this country. This is 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses. I read it in college. It's, whew, I'm glad I did that kind of work when I was young because I couldn't get through that now. We had a day afternoon in Zurich when the band was there, not this fall, the last fall, and I took my wife to James Joyce's grave. Wow. There's a statue of him. It's in Zurich? Yeah, he's buried in Zurich.

He lived out the, he loved it there. - Oh. - Yeah. And he has the, it's the coolest, he's like, you know, it's a little bit abstract of himself and he's like, has his pipe and it's really, it's one of the coolest, we've done a lot of simulators. - Did you ever read Ulysses? You said novels. - I attempted Ulysses and I couldn't, I didn't, I have to go back. I think I could maybe get a better grip on it.

But it's funny, when we were kids, at Emory University, there was a club across the street, and we played there and worked there. And one of the girls that worked there, her father only taught Ulysses as a class, and he was old. And I remember he used to come in and only want hot water and lemon.

But I was like brave enough to add, he goes, maybe one day I'll unlock the Ulysses. He's this big guy studying it his whole life. And that kind of intimidated me. I can unlock it for you in 30 seconds about the basic idea, which is brilliant, I thought, and many people did. I mean, Ulysses is Odysseus, the Greek, and this is the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundation of literature in the West anyway. And...

Ulysses is a man who cannot get home. He wants to get home. He has fought the Trojan War. That's the Iliad. The second half of that thing is the Odyssey. And that's his Odyssey. She's trying to get home. All these adventures and the sirens and all the people captured by pig people. And he's trying to get... And James Joyce took this metaphorically to be a guy who was trying to get home spiritually, basically, is what it is. So it's

the the uh odyssey is 24 books ulysses is 24 books it mimics it on every right which is kind of a genius thing this is 1922 and and deep you can you can understand ulysses you know there's read it with the monarch notes or whatever did you read finnegan's wake as well but that's the one you can't finnegan's wake is the the hardest one yeah that's like i don't even i don't know what you're doing

The ramblings of a man. And that's okay. Maybe I'm just not smart enough, and I don't even want to be that smart. I read a fairly interesting book recently about the French decadent poet, so it's, you know...

Baudelaire and Rambo, you know, the Goncourt brothers or whatever. And it's funny, it's called The Horror of Life. It's this funny book I got. But everyone... Of course it is. But inevitably, every writer in the book, about three pages in, we don't know if he had syphilis, but we're pretty sure. And I was like, let me tell you something. Some of my favorite poetry is, you know, the ravings of a lunatic...

It is interesting to think about so many of the things that caused people so much pain, you know, that they did not have any sort of cures for, any sort of monuments. You're saying just wiping mercury all over yourself. Right. That was the best they had. Yeah, whatever. People went through a lot of stuff that caused them just a lot of pain. How much of that pain is what inflected their work? I mean, that's the horror of life. I mean, I think a lot of it.

But again, isn't it funny? Because the work is cathartic in the idea of what I was saying, adversity. That's the thing that pulls you across, crawling across the dark cave floor of that kind of life and stuff. But they're all pretty wealthy too, as a matter of fact. I mean, there's the old analogy of the...

oyster that produces the pearl. You know why a pearl is produced? Because a grain of sand... It's an irritant. It's an irritant. The irritant is what produces the pearl. And yeah, it's like you've got sand in your ass. And every time you scratched your ass, it caused your brain to have a really smart idea or something. But...

Yeah, look, you don't really have a choice in life because you're going to go through the pain anyway. I always think you might as well get a receipt for your pain. That's what art is. It's kind of a receipt for pain, you know? It's like, yes, you went through this pain, but you wrote the song about it. You know, we wouldn't have this play. It's funny, too, because you never know. I mean, I...

I have people all the-- you know, one of the things I love, and I'm very lucky, and we had a type of music that, you know, we were-- Rich and I started off as songwriters. That's what interests us. That's-- we knew-- we had some sort of inkling that that's maybe what we would-- we would be better at that than learning how to play "Stairway to Heaven" or something. You know, like, we weren't really that-- we weren't like that. And we liked all sorts of different music and--

And that's kind of the thing that starts us into-- made it different. And then I meet people and they're like, you know-- and it happens a lot. And it makes me happy whether it's-- you know, "She Talks to Angels," famous-- is our-- like a famous song. But I wrote that song before I knew anything about real, you know, relationship with drugs and--

Leading a certain late night lifestyle or whatever I was into. I wrote that song out of some dark romanticism of what it might be like because I was adjacent to it. That happens a lot. But that song is the most poignant one for people that I meet all around the world. It's amazing how young musicians, poets, can channel that.

like very old thinking. You know that Simon and Garfunkel, Old Friends? It's like... Well, you know why I think. I mean, I think it's... I mean, this sounds weird, but the song has always been sung. There's nothing, even in their most ancient form, I imagine Neanderthal probably wouldn't be too different.

The human voice is only the human voice. It's the same scales, the same range of things. Nothing is really the worst of the worst and the joyous of the joyous are still part of the same experience. And if you express that through music, you're singing the same song. And it's the same poem as well. You know that talking about Ulysses and the Odyssey, they were not written

They were sung. Yeah. That's how, I mean, they think that the Odyssey and the Iliad were written around 800 BC. When someone finally did it, wrote it down. Homer. Well, I don't know if that, well, that's a good question. I don't remember. That's 800 BC is the night, I'm sure that,

is right about one of the two. I don't know whether that's when they wrote it down or that's when he lived and wrote it. I think it's that's when he lived and wrote Homer they're talking about. I think it was sung for hundreds of years before somebody wrote it down, probably in 5th century Athens. Were they even writing a lot? Yeah, they were writing. I mean,

I mean, but that was back pretty far. It was an oral tradition. But I mean, yeah, this is before TikTok. So people, that's all the, it's all the Brahmin and Indian things too. And those things they would maybe say are even older and they've been reciting them really like forever and forever. But I mean, that's a long book. Can you imagine singing that and having people remember it over centuries?

Yeah, it's like Roger Waters, you know what I mean? And The Wall. No, I'm just kidding. Why? Why? Can you imagine singing this for The Wall? It's going to be going on forever, forever. Why? Because that song goes on forever? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or just like, you know, something that is like, can you imagine singing that? That's what I mean. Do you love Pink Floyd?

I love Pink Floyd. I especially love the very early Pink Floyd and the, you know, up to Uma Guma kind of times. And I love the live things of like when they, when like early 71, Fat Old Son and all that kind of stuff. There's like some great John Peel BBC stuff. But Sid Barrett is one of my heroes and musical... I think he was the early leader of Pink Floyd. Yeah, who like had, you know, kind of...

fell into mental illness and then that also cumulated with his excessive amounts of LSD and stuff. But he makes these really beautiful records that are really special to me. - I probably like the wrong Pink Floyd era. - Oh no, there's a lot of Pink Floyd. That's another thing. - No, I am, you know what-- - Look, you're wearing Chelsea boots. - Okay. - You know that's what that's called, right? - I don't. - That's a Chelsea boot. - I thought it was a Beetle boot. - Beetle boot is a Chelsea boot as well.

But by the way, this would be in the first Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett would wear these. - But I am a good one to talk to about music. Not because I do know about it, because I don't. I always say, I am just a young man in the 22nd row

who sees you as something more than just sexual, just our Marilyn Monroe. But really, and I love being that, because I don't want to think... Music is a pleasure for me. Like, for you, it's always a bus mentality to a degree. No, no, are you kidding? I told you, we have...

Music is, besides my relationship with making music, I'm obsessive. I collect records. We listen to music. I wake up in the morning. I have to keep it, keeping my world. There's something like Spotify has like 2 million new tracks a month or something. It's like, I'm all for egalitarian, but I feel like there needs to be a little more gatekeeping involved.

Not that it really is going to affect me that much, but like, I'm telling you. Well, I'm torn with that because one reason, I do like the idea of it, of everyone being able to

And again, I let people, you know, there's a whole world outside of the shit we do. Like tick. I don't, people tell me about it. There's like tick tock music stuff. And they'll like, these kids will be like doing some tick tock shit in their house. And then they're like in a stadium and then they go away forever. You know what I mean? Right. Well, that I'm telling you, the most prescient thing anybody ever said was Andy Warhol. Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.

I don't know when he said it, but a long time ago, before everything. He saw it. And he saw that, and that's sort of what it is. He saw a lot. The character and the look of Andy Warhol, I think, sometimes overrides what was really... His contribution in art maybe isn't in the physical art as much as it's the ideas around it. Isn't he the one that...

John Lennon said about, because he had these factories, Andy Warhol did, right? The factory was one of the famous spaces he worked in. But people were, he wasn't physically himself making all the art. Not all of it. He made some of it. But I think his whole thing was he had to have this kind of...

John Lennon said, it might have been about him, but it might have been about this artist, Kostabi. He did kind of a Warhol-y thing for a while. I remember he was on Politically Incorrect in the early 90s. And Lennon said, oh, I see. He doesn't make anything. He just signs it. And, you

Yeah, but that's John Lennon being super snarky. I mean, that's amazing. But I'm not sure. I'm not really sure about the concept of not doing it yourself and having other people do a kind of a, you know, you tell them, you delegate. Delegating art is what that is to me. And, oh, I don't give a fuck. You know what? What am I talking about?

I just like, it's something I, I'll put this fucking thing in the Supremes that I had when I was 12 years old or something. Andy Warhol's cousin painted this, by the way. I would rather have this than a Picasso. It just means something to me. It's cool. But you know what's funny? They're cute. I think the, you know, that's the idea in a way of,

But it's there for everyone, that's the point. And so much art today is just driven by status. You know what I mean? Like you really only ever hear about things because they have generated a certain amount of commerce around it or whatever. You have to really be out in the trenches, I think, to find the real interesting things. I feel like of all the bullshit in the world, there is nothing more opaque than art. Well, I'm talking about like paintings and sculptures.

like why like three people in the world decide that this is and then when I see the things that are like oh I'm like

yeah, okay, it's different. And it's like, I have no idea why you think this is better than a thousand other things or things I can see on the street at Venice Beach. You know, it's like, it's so fucking subjective. I'm a classicist in the way of a lot of the things I like are antiquated, but also the idea of, uh,

the hours of the craft. You know, that's one thing like I-- It's about art. Yeah, the painter who really-- you know, like the amount of hours that went in to make this. It's like music is different but the same. Like one thing when I talk about what's really interesting is writing songs. And it's like Rich and I, this guy-- you know George Tricoulias by any chance? You ever met the wondrous George Tricoulias? Who's that?

He does a lot of movie music now and syncing music supervision. But he signed us and produced our first record. And the one lesson that George taught us that continues 30 whatever years later is like, when we wrote that first record, a song like "Jealous Again,"

He heard a little bit of it, Rich and I did it, and we taped it and sent it to him in New York. And he called back and goes, "Pretty good. Why don't you get in there a little more?" And then we would do another, and it did that.

We still do that. We're obsessed with the craft of it and making sure that we have to really think, this is good. You know what I mean? Me too. I mean, that's one reason I still love my job is because I work all week on writing an editorial at the end that's

eight minutes long, but I could spend 20 hours. Yeah, but you know the significance of when it really hits one. I love that I have Monday through Friday to get it right, that I can rewrite it every night until it's just perfect. Yeah, I love the process. I do. You almost have to. That's the craft, you know. Some people don't. Some people just want the result. Do you think that's what you're talking about with some of the new things that you see? There's a lack of craft, like with the comedy that's not comedy, now it's feelings or whatever? Well,

Don't you know I'm funny because I can't access my feelings? That's the fucking point. Why are you so funny? You know what I mean? Who said sarcasm is the lowest form of social learning? I'm like, you're an asshole. Are you kidding? How far can we get in life without the sarcastic person? Yeah. It's sad. They have a word now. I can't remember what it is for when people...

It's like political laugh or something that there is a type of audience, liberal audience, which is a large part of my audience. But there's a part of them that just really puts, I agree with this point of view about whatever this issue is, more importantly than I want to laugh.

So that to me is going backwards about things. You should want to laugh first. And then if you laugh at it, that's when you know it's true. Even if that's not how you thought about it maybe at the beginning. Yeah. So that's what I'm always trying to do is like put that. No, let's give this a laugh test. If you laugh at it, then you're going to have to ask yourself, oh, okay.

Is there something true in this? But isn't it-- I mean, we live in the same-- we've seen it a million times with bands, with comics, TV series or whatever. Nope, you can't say that. You know what I mean? Or whatever. It's like, well, I just always thought it was funny that you can't say things, but that the world is full of atrocity and the most horrible things. Like, that's acceptable, but this Puritan-- There were many weeks.

When my producers said to me, I was mulling doing something and my producers said, you can't say that. And I would tell it to certain friends and they would say, oh, you got to say that. The exact opposite. Well, that's what I mean. And that's where, you know, you trust in your, you manifest. It's a tightrope. And that's, you know, that's why they pay me the big bucks.

Comedy's, I think, been a tightrope at least since... Yeah, I mean, it's funny when you look back at what people used to be able to say, but pretty much anything. I mean, I don't know any comic over 40. I don't know any comic at all. Maybe I'm wrong. I haven't talked about it with all of them, but none of them want to play colleges.

Oh, God. What an argument. There's a certain type of... There must be comics who do that circuit, but it must be the most excruciating kind of comedy on these...

Because somebody did an article about this and they said like the comic had to like take a sort of a test or answer a bunch of a questionnaire about what he was going to talk about. Cultural appropriate exam or something. So before he went on stage and it's like, wow, is that where we are? They used to have Charles Bukowski go to a college and like be shit-faced and telling, you know, like saying things about fist-fucking people and stuff and drunk and he got the fuck out of here.

You know, I want a ham sandwich. You know what I mean? Like, that's a good night on the campus. Is that true that Charles Bukowski did college speaking engagements? Or are you making that up? He did bookstores. But yes, he did. He did some, I believe. Right. And it would be full of young people. And he's like this lecherous person. That would be a good movie. Just him doing that to us instead of a- Somebody did a movie about him, didn't they? Yeah, Mickey Rourke plays him in Barfly. Barfly.

Right, that was kind of a big movie. It was a big movie. Isn't Lauren Hutton in that film as well, I believe? Oh, Lauren Hutton. And...

Yeah, Mickey Rourke and Lauren Hutton. It's hard to believe they're down and out drunks. You know what I mean? It's like, she doesn't even have a black eye. You know what I mean? Is it just me or this is no simple verite? What year was that? Because they always have to get beautiful people to get the money to make a movie about people who weren't actually physically gorgeous. But everything is gorgeous. What year was that? It must be like 87, 88 maybe. Something like that, yeah. Wow. And I forget who made it.

Because that was Mickey Rourke saying, oh, my friends. Oh, my friends. And he fell drunk. And then, I mean, I feel like before that, people weren't too aware of Charles Bukowski. That kind of made him a folk hero because Mickey Rourke played him. That was definitely, he was having a big moment then. But is he a good poet?

I mean, you know, we look at the world now of a guy who said some nasty things and had some nasty behavior, but I think, again, he comes from a great...

poetic nature. His happens to be violent and sometimes brutish in a masculinity that escapes us in this era, but I'm not looking... But he was a drunk, right? I mean, that's the big part. Yeah, but he's also a writer, so I think he was loudish in those ways, socially and with people, but his writing is... I mean, read Ham on Rye. I mean, it's good. This is my theory about Bane. Like, in years past...

People were just in a lot more pain. So you got more people like this who just were like, "Ugh, and I hated a bad drink, "and I kept a drink to survive." - I've had a crisis recently.

And that's funny. Have you ever read 120 Days of Sodom, the Marquis de Sade? Have you ever actually picked up the book and read it? I may have read it. I certainly remember the look of the book in college, but I don't remember if I read it. I feel like we did. Yeah, that was sort of...

You're like, did I read the abridged version, Handjob and Schenectady or whatever? Oh, no. Tin Handjob and Schenectady. No, but. No, it's funny because I picked it up recently because it kept coming up and I've been reading, you know, I get on these things. So a lot of decadent French. So the Marquis de Sade, let's set the stage. 18th century France, right? Yes. Aristocrat. Aristocrat. He is jailed. Jailed, yep. And he begins to write. For sodomy. Well.

He's in jail because he's an aristocrat, but I think they also brought him in, which is pretty funny in that class of people to get arrested for anything. He was a libertine. It's where we get the word sadist, right? Well, he's real, but that's the thing. He gets really... And he also, I believe he wrote... It's a long book. He writes all the book in little pieces of paper and stuck them in the walls. I remember they made a movie of this. Yeah. They stuck him in the walls. Yeah, stuck him, right. So I'm reading all of this stuff, and I read...

And I'm like, you know what? It keeps coming up in different things that I'm interested in. I'm like, I've never bought the book. I never picked it up. I go to the bookstore.

By the book, I take it home, and I get about 80 pages in, and I'm like, I don't think I can do this. It is fucked up. This is fucking... Really? I don't... And then... And I've been asking people. Why? Like really weird... Disturbing? To me, it was disturbing. Because he suggested... It's not just... Is he hurting people? Oh, yeah. Hurting people and...

I can't, you gotta check it out. But the like children, ass stuff, butt play. There's a lot of weird, but it's also an unbelievably, you know, it's diabolical and it's a my imagination of what's happening. But I had this crisis of like, do I can, you know, who am I now in my late 50s,

I should have read this book when I was 18. I would have, it wouldn't have, you know what I mean? I don't think it would have been as jarring. I don't think you would have understood it.

- Yeah, maybe. - Definitely. Sometimes I watch a movie that I remember seeing when I was really like 14 or something, and I remember it as good, and I watch it and I'm like, this sucks. I was 14 when I saw it. - I will do that with, and I'm lucky at 57 to grow up in the golden age, the best thing about Suburbia was the local video store because they always had the one midnight movie, foreign films, you know.

you know something like the tin drum or something like I'm watching the tin drum and I am Oscar the drummer the kid who throws himself down the stairs the Gunter grass novel because he doesn't want to grow up in the horrors of war and there's a scene where they pull this horse head out of the ocean they've been fishing for its covered eels or other and I'm like if my my parents just were I mean I imagine they were just tired and didn't really like each other anymore but

They had no idea that I'm like 14 watching like anything I want from the video store because the people at the video store, they don't know. They never watch those movies. You know what I mean? I wonder what kids today think. I mean, I'm sure they're aware of it because they may have seen it in a movie or something. But like I remember that era and it was going to the video store was like, it was also that era when I was like, you know,

in relationships with a lot of girlfriends and so that was a thing you did with your girlfriend. - Like what movie do you get? - Yeah, it's like what are you doing? Let's go to the, you know, we'll just stay in tomorrow. - I took a date to Blue Velvet in Atlanta. It was like she looked at me about, by the time they show the ear, you know. - Oh yeah. - She was like who, why are you bringing me to this? And I was like because you know what? We missed out on Smokey and the Bandit 3. You know what I mean? We were too late.

Cannonball Run. We missed it. Blockbuster. I mean, the people who remember the Blockbuster days, it's a different... But it was amazing because it was also before you had access to everything, anything strange and anything bizarre and dark that wasn't presented in the normal world was interesting. And that was... Record stores, that video store and bookstores always contained things of great interest, you know?

I just remember, I don't know why, of course, every generation you think, you know, we're so cool, we can actually rent movies. Our stupid parents couldn't do that. So there was always a giddy feeling I had when I left the blockbuster. And I always rented three in case the first movie

one or two sucked. Yeah, of course. It was like, hey, it's just another two bucks. I can afford it. There's still someone paying off their Blockbuster today. Then we had to rewind it and then put it in the slot to make sure it got back. If you didn't rewind it, they took another couple bucks. It was just crazy primitive, and we thought it was fantastic. What's crazy primitive are people, I'm sure, if you have records. Not only did I...

buy lots of books, lots of records. When the DVD thing was going, and I was like, this is my DVD collection. And I was like, that is, you know, they're like, it's nothing now. You know what I mean? It's just like, oh, wait, here it is. You know what I mean? Like, they got me. They got me for a big, big paycheck on that. I want my receipt. Wow. And do you have kids? I do. You do. How many kids? I have two. How old are they?

My son, Ryder Robinson, is 20. 20. He's at NYU. So you can talk to him about anything. Very proud of him. You know one thing? My daughter's 14, and she lives on the East Coast as well.

You know, one thing that I wanted to cultivate that was not available because of the nature of our world with my parents was a level of intimacy with my kids that, you know, the world is weird. And, you know, you're just little people and I love you and I'm here. But you don't have to, you know, you can tell me whatever you need to tell me. You know what I mean? And I know that that doesn't mean everything, but I know it means most things.

Yeah, because I think it's the right thing to say to a kid, especially that old, because you're always going to be the father. So you, you know, you can't unwear that, which is good, because then you can say that you have the license to say this other thing, which is tell me anything, because they're not going to want to shame, make you feel ashamed of them. They want you to be, I'm sure they want to make you feel proud of them. But you know, I mean...

Again, it gets back to the way you handle... Does it look like a normal family? No, but we... And then you have a daughter? My daughter's 14. 14, wow. But you know, the one cool thing is...

We, I, Ryder, I don't talk to every single day because he's in college, but I still talk to him three or four times a week. And I'm on FaceTime with my daughter maybe two times a day. And are they like woke? Like are they marching for Hamas and shit? No, but they're cool. My daughters, they don't care about...

who you sleep with, what bathroom you want to use. They care if you're a cool person, you know? And I think, as an artist, I've never been uptight about who... Well, that's... Yeah, I mean... But their generation, like, they... I mean, maybe even my daughter, Cheyenne's kids, those kids, they really don't care. They're like, whatever, you know what I mean? And I think they're probably the ones that could, you know, at some, you know, at some point...

it will really be the future. We won't be the ones dragging our feet on the bumper of the spaceship, you know, to like take us back, you know what I mean? And I get it. I, I, I'm,

But I've always been weird. I like old stuff. You know what I mean? I hate technology. I don't care. That's why we listen to records. You know what I mean? It's like I read books. When I write songs, I write with a pen and a notebook. I don't do it on a computer. Some people my age have done a lot better with it than I have. I'm certainly not going to cripple myself completely by being a Luddite like some people have.

But it just doesn't come naturally to me. I'm just not native to it. I always say it's like anything technological with me is like doing something left-handed. I'm telling you, I'm dyslexic and it's always been a little bit, I have to do it by rote because... I can do it, but, you know, like, you know, my friend was showing me, you know, he has Alexa in his house, you know, and it's like...

or whatever he calls her, and like, hey, computer, add socks to my shopping list. This is what people do. Yeah, but I mean, didn't we all see 2001? It's not going to go good. Did we see that movie? Don't we remember what happened when you talked to your computer all the time? I mean, Hal has an agenda. To me, the cost-benefit ratio of like, okay, as opposed to just...

writing down on a pad socks on a list, right? Or looking at my watch to know what time it is. You know, just that, okay, maybe she's a little faster, but at the price of having this bitch in my house who's spying on me and hears everything,

And it's just creepy. You know what? You think you're better than me, and you won't auto-spell fuck when I want it on my phone. You know what I mean? So who are you? Don't tell me what to do. I think it's important for me, but I have to do it out of habit to write things down and cross them out. Yeah, I think there's something actually physically...

neurologically beneficial in the brain hand connection when you actually write like on a piece of paper I think I have a I have a feeling in the subconscious yeah it's out of my head going back before our brain I'm but I do think it's rudimentary a guy with a piece of chalk in one hand I think it's on a cave yeah they didn't go by the way there's a lot of other think about I love that too is thank you Warner Herzog for going into the back of that cave

But the thing that because of that time goes back so far, there was lots of art. It just wasn't sacred art in a place like that. It wasn't like that was the only art. Of course. Well, I mean, I forget. I think it's Harari who makes the great point that

Everything from the Stone Age is not representative of the Stone Age. It's just that others... That's what the stones are left. That's what's left. It's just the stuff they did on stone. And they keep having to change the timeline so they find something else. I'm not sure that, you know, it was... The great stuff was on wood, but that's gone. You know, and...

But it doesn't mean that they weren't doing it. No, no. I mean, art, I think we trace art back to 32,000 BC, something like that. The figure from Germany, the lady, that's where a lot of people would say the first human figure that they found or whatever. Not human, but the first thing that they say...

is sort of this departure is it's not a creature that they would have seen in nature. It's like a human body with a lizard head or something. It's a way to know that, oh, this is when human beings were using their imagination.

And relating to trying to make answers of the natural world around them. But that wasn't literal. They knew literally there wasn't that. What do you think about the people who throw paint on paintings and fucking glue their hands and shit? I'm like, that really upsets me. Well, it's so counterproductive and...

I did an editorial about it. Throw a rock at a gas station if you're mad. Leave the Mona Lisa out of this. Years ago. And the theme of it was, look, I don't know what the answer environmentally is, but I know it doesn't work. And what doesn't work is shit like this. Yeah. And counting on people to do the right thing and be good. That's not going to work.

I hate to say it, but all these individual things we do. No one's ever done that. You think we're going to do it today? That's my point. Humans are just, you cannot help being seduced in the near term by convenience and consumption and now Indian. And you know what else? Syphilis. It was a big thing. Well, sex. Well, that's twisted everyone for a long time.

You can't tell all these people in India and China who now for the first time are getting cars and air conditioning. You can't have that. We used up all the environment. So you have to go, sorry, what terrible timing on your part, China. We forget that China is like the oldest civilization. You know what I mean? Yeah, but they're not the ones who used all the energy because they were poor up until recently. It was the Belgians. It was not the Belgians.

Well, yes, it was Europe. It was some Belgians. It was Europe, the United States. It was people. I mean, mostly the United States. We are amazingly big as consumers. We just consume and fart out a lot of shit. I'm from the deep south where, like, every house is a morgue when you walk into it in the summertime with the air conditioner. And I'm like, Jesus Christ. Oh, right. Yeah.

Yeah, and we are not going to, I don't think we're going to win this battle by shaming people. You know, I'm all for doing all the things we're doing, although I do feel like a fool when I find out, like, I've been separating plastics out for all these years, and then you read, like, yeah, 94% of it winds up in the ocean anyway. Then what the fuck am I doing? Well, my point is, it's like, okay, yeah,

You know what you're doing? You know what we're doing? We're trying to do our best because we know that we like the ocean and we know this is a problem. But no, you know what? Hey, Gavin Newsom, why don't you just say if you're going to tell everyone what to do, take all the plastic fucking bottles away and deal with glass again or whatever. Who cares? I'm still doing it. I know it's not that easy. Restaurants can be more responsible, I think, especially since the pandemic when you order shit more like

Like, come on, guys, man. You can do better with the fucking mountains of shit that comes with your food. Amazon. I mean, the amount. You get like a shoelace and it comes in this giant box. Because sometimes a guy needs a shoelace. And also, like if something doesn't fit, they just send it back. All this sending your pants all over town. Where are they going? It's costly. Go to the store. Put on your pants. We are not serious about the environment.

People are serious about talking about it. They're serious about talking, exactly. And like I said, I think we're trying to do our best. And I think by recognizing it is like... We're plainly not doing our best and we're not going to come close. Why have trains? Who cares? Like in Europe where people can go anywhere they want. During World War II, that generation on the home front did their best. There was rationing. They didn't complain about it. Do you know that during the World War II...

The auto companies stopped making cars. That's their business. They didn't make a single car, except maybe a couple of cars for the generals to ride around in. They just completely turned over, like on a dime, to make planes and tanks. They didn't have sugar or meat. You had to get a ration.

They were fine with it. That's doing their best. You know what else was going on? We're not that generation. The guy's brother-in-law was sleeping with his wife while he was away fighting. God's selfish. Yeah.

Now, this, these are even-- - No, I hear you. I thought that about in my own way, like, you know. - But we have to accept that that is the fact. We have to deal around that fact. These generations, which only get worse and worse, I mean, they called our generation fucking the me generation. Everybody gets softer. It's just the way of a civilization. But we're not going back to that. So what are we gonna do

It sounds to me like somebody's going to have to fucking figure out some technological... Should we have some sort of Manhattan Project for figuring out from a different angle? Because I just don't think people are going to conserve their way out of this. And then you get to other places where it's truly...

You know, poverty speaks for itself. And, you know, I'm trying to feed these kids and I'm trying to not get stabbed in the place. And I don't care where I sit this plastic bottle. You know what I mean? I don't care if I throw my shit on the road. People have much bigger immediate issues. Real things in their lives that are... And another weird thing is, you know, and we forget because...

But we're still people who are just trying to survive every day. You know what I mean? Yes, it's changed. But truly, that's our function. You know what I mean? It's to survive. There was an environmental-friendly bill that Macron tried to pass when he was first president of France. And, you know...

did not go over well with the working class French. And the great line, one guy said, yeah, Macron, he thinks about the end of the world. I think about the end of the month. I watched it. I'm flying in from New York today. I watched a horrifying documentary called Utopia about the

This pastor in South Korea who helps people defect. Right. And it's, wow, wow. Did they get footage from North Korea? Yeah, I mean, their footage is really spotty. They have footage more when they cross into China and they're on cell phones and they follow this family. No one can get out through the South because of the amount of landmines and shit. It's a smaller... Of course. And they have that, like, you just can't do it.

So people go through China, but if you get caught in China by the government, they send you back and then they'll kill you. And the Chinese, the people who broker the sort of defectors,

they end up just wanting to take your wife or whoever there and sex traffic them or whatever. So it's really difficult and really treacherous, but they have to go through Vietnam and Laos and then get to, they're not safe till they get to Thailand. And it was a really intense movie. What's the scariest country you ever played? Mississippi. I mean...

- Come on. - I'm kidding. - But you know the Beatles history, right? - No, I played Chile at the end of Pinochet's regime and it was-- - Wow. - It was-- - Hairy? - It was weird. It was very strange and somebody somewhere in our entourage, we were playing with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and this is January 1996.

And this is and I come to find out because the Black Crows just recently visited Santiago for the first time since then. And I met the kids in the opening band and they were really nice and they had a really cool band and the show was great. And I invite them to dress and they're like, oh, do you realize all kids are everyone was at that concert through the whole country was the first rock music concert.

And I didn't realize that. But I have a picture, like, El Comandante, this guy in full, like, Banana Republic, like, regalia. With all the medals. Yeah, and he comes backstage, and he has, like, armed guys, and he goes, I want to take a picture. And we started taking pictures, and then the guy holds his gun, and he's acting like he's killing me. And, like, I took a picture. It was funny, but it wasn't kind of funny. And then we went, we climbed on the stadium, and somebody...

I've never seen this. Somebody said, let the crowd in. So they opened the stadium gates and kids start to come in. But whoever, that guy maybe had said, wait a minute, I didn't say do that. So they tried to close those gates and we were on the top of the stadium. And they had maybe, I don't know, 10, 12 guys on horsebacks with these huge horses.

like canes, like really long. And they rode these horses into these kids and just started whipping them and whipping them back. And that's like one of the most violent things I've ever seen, except for when we played Moscow with ACDC and Metallica in 1991. That was wild. That was the weirdest, surreal trip. And it was like at the end of that stuff. So like,

There's nothing it's I don't know what was going on. You know like we were in the middle of Red Square this thing We've seen it's 3:00 in the morning or this is where 91 91 the Soviet Union in Red Square drunk the Soviet Union fell in 91 Yeah, it was right after right after so it's right after the whole thing falls. What a moment and it was Yeltsin was the president I think so yeah, and they you know the tanked the building or whatever and

And we get there and the gig is like... So we're on first, of course. I think Pantera went on first, actually, and then us. They were on that bill somehow. And...

We went on, there were 300,000 people there. They say there was a million people there for ACDC and Metallica. But at one point, I don't know, they were trying to, I guess the same thing, they were just trying to, within the morass of people, they wanted to form like some areas. So how did they do that? Just riot police beating people with clubs till they could like, both sides like fighting, like digging holes towards each other.

And that day I got kicked. There's 600,000, 700, there's millions of people on the other side of this fence. There's millions of people backstage, soldiers for miles and policemen. I couldn't find a bathroom. So I go all the way around to this, there's 38 semi trucks back there.

I go around to where I don't see anyone. No, you're not going to see me. You know what I mean? I'm not peeing. I go back there. I look around. I'm not getting my stage clothes. I pee behind this truck, and I look up, and a guy with a rifle and that long green shirt

Russian jacket, he started yelling Russian. I'm like, I don't know what you're saying. And he just comes up behind me and he kicked me in the small of the back so hard, my face up against the thing. I'm like peeing, you know, still. And he like is yelling at me and holding his rifle. And I pulled up my pants and I was like, I'm, you know, he let me go. He was screaming at me.

- That was like the worst. - He didn't know who you were. - No way. - Right. - It was just some dude and he said, I guess he was saying you don't pee over by those trucks. Like there's 700,000 people here. Someone's gotta pee sometime. That was like, that was, it hurt too. - And how was the show?

The crowd. I thought it was amazing. And Chile, too? You liked the crowd? Oh, my God. The crowd in that, it was amazing because Chile seems like a place that hasn't really rebounded or found it. You know, it seems a little, there's a melancholy or...

- Yeah. - Shame maybe, or something that's collective. But the show was outrageous. I mean, I didn't expect it and it was like, they were amazing audience and so joyous that you came back after 26 years or whatever. And then to talk to the guys from the band and I didn't know about the cultural significance of that concert for them. So that was... - Do you know the band Blood, Sweat & Tears from the 60s?

Do you remember that? That buzzer. Yeah, of course. That's their voice. No, they had a couple of good ones. You've Made Me So Very Happy. Great song. Great song. Great vocal, right? You could do that one. I could find my way around that one.

that would be great that'd be a fun one to do for you i didn't really see the blood sweat and tears okay but i'm saying that was your rota no no because it connects okay because they did a documentary on them recently no i'm pretty sure it was them and i think it was rob reiner who did it and they went on a their it's about how their career was on the upswing and was sort of derailed because they went on a

they agreed to like a goodwill behind the iron curtain tour like in 71 this is before the early days this is this is cold war brezhnev you know straight up cold war nixon okay and they went in 71 yeah and they went to and they said because artists did it like count basey did it and stuff or duke ellington did stuff like that yes

Okay, so I think he said our first stop was Yugoslavia, which, you know, Yugoslavia was behind the Iron Curtain, but it was not a Soviet satellite. It had its own dictator, Tito. He was independent, Yugoslavia. He also had his own freeway. He had his own lane. They all did. All those communists did. That's all Elvis wanted. Elvis would still be alive if he could have got that. Yeah.

So, and then they said, "Oh, this isn't that bad. We saw kids with jeans on and stuff." It's like, then they went to Romania and they were like, "Oh fuck, I see what they mean when they say the iron curtain shut behind you." Because like they were watched every minute, drab, dreary, like, and here's the great story. The guy says- - They obviously got paid to do this. I mean, why would you do this if it wasn't some-

Well, I am the wrong one to ask all the details about this, but I think it was just like the patriotic thing to do or whatever. Whatever the gist of it was, when they got home, they caught shit from both sides because of it.

I forget what the, why the hippies hated them for like, I don't know, selling out or doing the government's work and the other people were like, how dare you? No, the hippies hated them for their last Ed Sullivan performance. They were like, guys, I mean.

So here's the great story about how bad Romania was how bad communism is they're having they're in a cafe and they suspect that the guy few tables over is What happens in those communist countries somebody watching them foreigners are just watched constantly by okay So the guys really can run amok. I mean why a couple guys he's the guy who's reading a newspaper on

on the table while he's... With the holes cut out. Well, no, he's just sitting at the table drinking his coffee, reading the paper, and they suspect he's watching them. And a certain way he gets up and another guy sits down and starts drinking the same coffee and reading the same newspaper. You know, when we landed, it was cool. That was the first time I was ever on a private plane and we were with Metallica and we were on...

paul mccartney's plane wow yeah and we but we didn't go to the main international airport we went to like a local airport and they none of the paperwork was done for the concert so we were like the black you know we were starting out metallica had just put out the black album they're like the biggest thing in the world and we're all like on the runway and uh but when i went in and went to the bathroom and stuff and like saw the roads and everything i was like oh man you know i mean like

these guys this country's a little long in the tooth man you know what i mean like look like america now the bridge is falling down and big humps of concrete on the road and you know what i mean it's like but at the time i was like like oh yeah what we see isn't really what this looks like and of course we knew that would be the case but to really see it for the first time as a young man

But it is a good time to be doing it when you're young because you just don't get scared by it. It's, ah, fuck it. You don't know enough to be scared by shit. The more you know, the more you have to worry about it. Death lurks behind every corner. Right. Not exactly. No, I know what you're saying. All right. Speaking of the road, I am going to plug my dates. March 2nd at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. I'm sure there are no actual hobbies going on there because I'll be performing.

There'll be a guy with balsa wood in the front row. A big Etsy sign in the back. That's in Houston. March 3rd, my mother's birthday, performing Arts Center in El Paso. And March 23rd at the Jackie Gleason Theater. Oh, that's one of my favorites. I did my last special there in Miami. What's your favorite city to play in America? To play in? I mean-- In America. In America. America. America.

Good old America where-- You know, it's hard. I still-- I'd like to go back to Atlanta. I think we all-- I think when we go back, it's exciting. And we were really-- Yeah, we-- We left there really quick. --stomping grounds. Yeah, and it's just-- and like, it's cool to be-- and we're-- this time, we're-- we've been in two bigger places now. We're-- for this next tour, this Happiness Bastards tour, we're in the Fox-- the great Fox Theater, which I'm sure you've played. Let me plug that one more time before I go back to my day job.

Here, look at that. I feel like I'm so professional. Happiness passes. But people don't bring shit here. If they did, I would plug it. I'm not like other guys. You're not like other guys. You're a pleasure. I could do it all night, but I have this other show I've got to fucking work on. I hear you. But thank you so much for doing this. Cheers. Fantastic. I was so thrilled when I heard that you were coming by and that you wanted to do this. Thank you.

You did not let me down. Excellent. I hope I see you at the woods. Thank you, kind sir. Anytime. You know, when you're not constantly working, come see the Black Crowes. I would love to see the Black Crowes. Take care of you. Bye.

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