Pete Anderson VG Story PDF

D
etroit native Pete Anderson made a name
for himself in the ’80s, playing a ton of
twang while Dwight Yoakam sang. In
the last 20 years, though,
he has become known as an
player who can adroitly back
virtually any act, a first-rate
music producer, and a
record-label head.
A disciple of ’50s rockand-roll and the blues,
his guitar style was partly
affected by the country
music played on the
family turntable by his
Southern-born father.
Just 16 when he first
heard Muddy Waters
on the radio, he later
attended the initial
Ann Arbor Blues
Festival, where he
absorbed heav y
doses of B.B King,
Muddy Waters,
Howlin’ Wolf, TBone Walker, and
Lightnin’ Hopkins.
The event turned him
into a blues devotee, and
Another big part of that future involved his then-new label, Little Dog
Records, and a new recording studio
Anderson built with his wife, who is a
recording engineer.
Those who have followed his career
know Anderson’s solo work has always
fallen on the bluesy side.
“I played a lot of blues as a kid – I was a
’roots’ player who had quite a career
playing country. I constantly
studied music, even while I was
playing whatever was appropriate for Dwight’s records.”
Birds Above Guitarland he
adds, is the type of music
that comes most naturally
to him. “It’s the majority
of my influences. And now
more than ever, I’m trying
to be cognizant of playing
like me; guitar players are
often infatuated with other
peoples’ playing styles –
it’s intoxicating to hear
different stages of B.B.
King, Albert King, Freddie
King, and Robben Ford, and
go, ’Man! What’s he doing?’ or
’What’s his technique?’”
Pete Anderson
his new album, Birds Above Guitarland,
reflects that background. More important,
though, he says, “The record is an extension
of the previous one, Even Things Up, which
showed me turning a page; I didn’t want
to be a side man anymore, and I wanted
to simplify my life. I was asking myself,
’What do I want to do?’”
That query first struck him in the mid
’90s. Whenever Yoakam’s schedule included time away from music, Anderson
would assemble a band to record and do
short tours. But, “That solo work ended up
being something I didn’t want to simply
dust off every six months. I wanted to focus
on it, because it was really my future.”
Disciple
of the
Hook
By Ward Meeker
Vintage Guitar
100 December 2013
Well before this newfound musical
focus, Anderson had re-trained his professional efforts with Little Dog and began
to groom the careers of unknown artists,
serving as producer, co-songwriter, guitarist/musician, engineer, etc. – whatever
needed to be done. The move helped
him steer clear of being pigeonholed as a
country picker.
We started our discussion with a brief
look back.
What year did you start with Dwight?
We started working clubs together
in ’82 or ’83 and tried to make Guitars,
Cadillacs, Etc., for two years, borrowing
studio time and all that, and finally got
it done as an independent EP in early ’85.
It’s funny, the band that recorded that
album – Jeff Donovan, Brantley Kearns,
myself, Dwight, and J.D. Foster – had been
fired from every gig it had in Los Angeles
(laughs)! Every club gig! And, pretty much
every label had turned down the record.
Given your musical background and
Dwight’s style, did it help at all that
you were right there as the “cowpunk”
surge began on the West Coast?
Yeah, we lied (laughs)! We’d tell the
club, “Yeah, we’re cowpunk! We
can do that.” But you have to
understand, we were guys who
made music for a living. We
went into honky tonks and
played four hours a night for
40 or 50 bucks. But it seemed
if we lined up a four-night
gig, we’d play two nights
then get fired. If it was two
nights, we did one. Playing “I
Sang Dixie” got us fired!
music. But yeah, we got fired from every
club – every one.
What turned it around?
Going to play for nothin’ – clubs in
the Valley didn’t pay – and we created a
product. We called ourselves cowpunk
– which, as far we could tell was all these
young bands that had become bored with
playing punk and said, “We’re gonna do
country music, but like punk, ’cuz we’re
revved up like hot rods.” Okay, well... rock
and roll started with guys playing really
loud in the garage while their parents were
Given your background and attitude
toward playing guitar, were you going
for anything specific stylistically, as a
player back then?
When we made Dwight’s first record
(the 1986 smash Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc.,
Etc.), I’d play Albert-Lee-styled stuff. But
after that album, I thought, ’I’m
not gonna do that anymore,
because I’ll only be secondbest. I’m gonna go down my
own path and figure out how
I want to play.’
As you started to put
together the songs for Birds
Above Guitarland, were there
any significant changes in your
approach as a producer?
Well, the biggest plus for me
is it’s the first time I said, “Hey,
are the vocals loud enough?”
(laughs)! I’m really happy with all
of it, but very proud of the vocals.
I approach making a record as
“songs come first,” then try to be
creative with the guitar. I never
play to impress as a guitarist;
I’d much rather create a likeable
song and play something within
it. And that’s a slightly greater
challenge. I think the ultimate
example is “Midnight At the
Oasis,” by Maria Muldauer. It’s
a cool song and Amos Garrett
played a great solo that fits but
is also completely jaw-dropping. I follow players who play
within songs –
Steve Cropper,
Cornell Dupree,
Amos Garrett.
James Burton
always gave you
a hook or something cool.
Did audiences just not react
to what you were doing?
Well, when you walk into a bar
and there’s a Pac-Man machine
and a pool table and a TV, you’re
the distraction. The club is just
covering its bets and bar owners
didn’t know what they had. I’m
not casting aspersions – they’re
not talent scouts – but in every
“country” bar, we got fired because, “You don’t play enough
Alabama.” We were playing Bill
Monroe and Hank, Sr. – country
(LEFT TO RIGHT)
This ’56 Fender
Telecaster –
refinished in red
sparkle – is the
primary guitar
heard on Dwight
Yoakam’s Guitars,
Cadillacs, Etc. Etc...
Anderson wrung his
share of notes from
this ’59 Fender
Stratocaster on
the Yoakam hits
“Fast As You”
and “Long White
Cadillac.” Pete
made heavy
use of this ’59
Fender Tele
Custom while
backing Yoakam.
in the living room listening to Hank, Sr.,
hollering, “Turn that s**t down!” So, we
went to Hollywood, told everybody we were
cowpunk, got onstage and played what
we play – loudly – and the press started
writing about us.
Did you also
h ave to g i ve
some thought
to your technique?
Yes. I realized that most
b lu e s g u y s
played with
their fingers,
except for B.B.
December 2013
101 Vintage Guitar
King and maybe Muddy
Waters. Freddie King used
to thumbpick. When I
worked with Dwight, I
started palming the pick,
and eventually started
playing completely with my
fingers. That was a big step.
Then I started to focus my
left-hand technique on the
blues side of the page, which
is kind of deliberate and
slow. So, I’ve been conscious
of taking what attracts me
or fits comfortably, while
still being conscious of what
people like, what I have that’s
a little different, or what
might make somebody say, “I
want to hear Pete play!” That’s
the goal, instead of being
the second-best B.B., Albert,
Freddie, Robben, Derek, or
whoever.
When I’m working on melodies and harmonies, I try to
create a certain intensity and
fidelity. The biggest example
of that would be Elmore
James. I can pick up a guitar,
tune it to open E or open D,
grab a bottleneck slide and
play (hums a melody). But
I can never, ever, ever play
like Elmore James (laughs)!
Take that intensity and add
the stylistic complexity of,
say, Wes Montgomery, who
played the most beautiful
stuff you’ve ever heard in
a fashion you never heard
before. That’s what I’m
thinking.
won’t be able to tell the difference. So that’s what I use
for the most part, direct.
My engineer, Tony Rambo,
lives to re-amp guitar parts,
so we did some of that
through the Silvertone on
the bluesier, Chicago-style
stuff. We fired up my old
blackface Deluxe and mixed
and matched cabinets.
What’s the story behind
the blackface Fender Twin
you bought from Jody
Maphis – the son of Joe
and Rose Lee Maphis, who
is now a guitar player and a
drummer in Nashville.
I don’t remember how we
started talking about it, but he
goes, “I’ve got an old Twin.” I
said, “Really? I’m looking for
one.” And he said, “Yeah, it’s
a blackface something. So, he
brought it out and it was all
beat up! I asked, “What do
you want for it?” He said, “200
bucks. Everything works.” I
was on the road at the time,
so I had him drop if off with
my road manager, and as I
was getting on the bus, he
was laughing, “Hey that piece
of junk Jody Maphis brought
over is [in the luggage hold].”
He thought Jody had pulled a
quick one. But I cleaned it up,
gave it the once-over, replaced
tubes and stuff, then put it
in a new cabinet. I also did a
mod created by Jim Williams
(a renowned amp tech in the
L.A. area) where you change
the value of the Bright switch.
What are some personal
highlights on the album?
There are a lot, like the
solo on “Red Sunset Blues.”
I played the melody with a
baritone with tremolo, kind
of spaghetti-western, then used
my Reverend Eastsider for the solo, and
played stuff I had never played before –
complex, exotic playing that was completely
different. I also love the solo on “Out of the
Fire” which is sort of an updated honkytonk/Bill Doggett/multi-interval thing.
Which amps do we hear on the album?
Well, for the most part, I play through
a very old Line 6 Pod – first-generation.
In the early days of that company, Tim
Godwin was their artist rep, and he got me
involved. We modeled two of my amps – a
What was the motivation
for modding it?
(TOP) This Silvertone 1472 sees a good bit
of action in Anderson’s recording studio.
(BOTTOM) Anderson’s modified Fender
Deluxe Reverb is fitted into a taller cabinet
to house a 15" Eminence Speaker.
blackface Fender Deluxe I had used in the
Dwight era and I beefed up with a Twin
transformer, and my Silvertone 1489. And
they did a great job on both. If you put them
side-by-side through a cab with the same
speaker, some air around them, and a bit
of noise, like beer bottles clinking – you
Vintage Guitar
102 December 2013
When I was touring early on,
I’d use two Deluxes, but they
just weren’t loud enough. So I
figured I’d get a Twin. Thing is, a Twin
doesn’t sound much like a Deluxe, so I
asked Jim, who is a brilliant designer-type
and a Deluxe freak, and he said, “The
Bright switch is wrong – it’s not the value
of a Deluxe.” I said, “There is no Bright
switch on a Deluxe...” And he goes, “Yes,
there is. It’s just that Leo saved the money
and didn’t put the actual switch on it, but
instead he gave it a value and shorted it
(across the Volume potentiometer).
I run it with the Middle on 10, Bass on
4, Treble on 5, put the Volume on 2 or,
dozen prototypes
and a year later,
we nailed it.”
Naylor’s efforts
made it easy
when, later, Anderson
wanted something...
more “traditional” and
very familiar to those
who may have first
caught him playing
with Dwight Yoakam.
Guitars of The Big
Dog at Little dog
“Pete has a strong
history with the Fender
Telecaster, but we
tweaked it with a lot
of covert features to
create the Eastsider,”
Naylor said, adding.
“We’ve enjoyed a great
working relationship,
and his signature
models have been some
of our best sellers.”
1) The PA-1 has a laminated, hollow maple body,
korina neck, Uni-Brace asymmetric bracing, Reverend
CP90 pickups, Bigsby B70, roller bridge, and locking
tuners. 2) The PA-1 RT uses Reverend’s Revtron
pickups. 3) The Eastsider T has a chambered korina
body, maple neck, and Reverend Talnico pickups.
4) The Eastsider S has a chambered korina body,
maple neck, Reverend’s Talnico bridge and Salnico
middle/neck pickups, and a Wilkinson vibrato.
he unique relationT
ship between Pete
Anderson and Reverend
Guitars – builders of his
two signature models –
started when Anderson
saw a Reverend ad
featuring rock-rapper
Kid Rock – flippin the
bird! Anderson got a
kick out of the fact a
fellow Detroiter was
sporting the appropriate
attitude.
“A few years later, he
called looking for a signature model,” recalls
Reverend founder and
designer Joe Naylor.
“Apparently, he approached several companies, but no one could
do what he needed.”
What Anderson
needed was a new type
of hollowbody – one
that looked and sounded
like an old pawnshop
prize, but of course with
modern playability and
reliability. “It also had to
resist howling at stage
volume!” said Naylor.
“I told him, ‘Yeah, we
can do that, no problem’
and I think he was taken
aback – maybe even
suspicious. But, half a
1
2
December 2013
3
103 Vintage Guitar
4
3 – which is really loud for a Twin. I put
two EVs in it, hit the Bright switch, and
it’s like a giant Deluxe. Every steel player
that comes in my studio wants that amp.
Do you ever run a boutique amp?
I have a Zinky Tonemaster, and it is one
of the greatest amps of all time. It adds real
punch, sort of like an old-school blond
Bandmaster – killer, beautiful power, just
a muscular amp. We use it whenever we
want something a little more husky.
Which guitars did you use on the disc?
You now have two signature models
from Reverend...
As a label owner and record producer,
what are some of your best memories
of the last 20 years?
Well, we got in on the ground floor of
what’s now Americana. Its needle has
been up and down, and now it’s up again
because of Mumford and Sons, acoustic
guitars, and people are coming around
to that being a viable musical “style” for
lack of a term.
I couldn’t be more proud of the records
we’ve made on Little Dog, and I’d go into
any label-head card game and say, “Here’s
my Joy Lynn White, here’s my Adam
Hood, here’s my Moot Davis.” I’m very,
very happy with our catalog and I’ve never
made a record that I was not completely
enthralled with.
And now, of course, it has become a digital world. I’m reformulating my distribution and making sure it’s locked down. I’ve
been handling distribution internally, and
it’s very difficult on top of simply running
the label, my career, the studio... So we’re
getting ready to jump into the digital thing
really hard. One thing about that is you
“I constantly studied music,
even while I was playing
whatever was appropriate for
Dwight [Yoakam]’s records.”
can do compilation records very easily. In
the digital world, you come up with some
art and a sequence, so I want to start doing
The Roots of Americana Volumes 1-12 or
whatever, and expose more people to the
artists who are or were part of Little Dog.
It’s funny how the paradigm has shifted.
It used to be if you didn’t have a record
label, you weren’t in the business because
record companies controlled the studios,
the distribution chain, access to the media,
and access to record stores. Now, the last
thing you need is a record deal. Now, the
recording studio is your laptop, distribution is your web page. The majority of
what a record company offered is now
irrelevant.
What are some of the harder lessons
you’ve learned from running a label?
Well, I learned that I can’t love what an
artist does more than the artist themself
does. That was a big lesson. When you
see somebody’s talent and want to make
Vintage Guitar
104 December 2013
a record and help them be successful,
but they don’t want it as much... I can’t
be more excited about you than you are.
And that’s tough, because I see some stuff
where I go, “Geez, this is brilliant!” I’m a
sucker for great songwriting and talent,
but I can’t work with someone with a
lack of will. So few people have the same
intensity and concentration that Dwight
and I had.
That sort of ambition is pretty rare?
I hate to say it, but I think it is. It’s just
not something I see every day. The story
of Pete and Dwight is about two guys who
literally came from nowhere and willed
themselves a career, hearing “No” at every
turn. “We don’t need you. We don’t want
you.” I stood there from day one with a
song called “I Sang Dixie” – one of the
greatest country songs of all time – thinking, “What am I missing here?” But we
kept going and that first album, against
all odds, sold two million copies.
Photo: Will Seyffert.
Yes, I’m so happy with the Reverends
that I used them on the whole record,
except for the Tom Anderson baritone
on “Red Sunset.” But all the soloing and
other parts were my Eastsider, which has a
korina body, two pickups, a multi-radius
fingerboard with 6105 frets, an Earvana
compensated nut, and locking tuners. I
also used my PA-1, which is the first one
we did together. It’s a hollowbody with a
Bigsby, and on my personal one I installed
a set of Seymour Duncan vintage-style
humbuckers on a P-90 chassis, so they fit
in the guitar comfortably.
On “Empty Everything,” I might have
also used the Epiphone Joe Pass I completely tortured and that served as the
prototype for the PA-1. The song has a
very Chicago-blues feel, and I wanted to
use the old-school Harmony pickups in
that guitar because they’re really, really
distorted.