The Heartbreakers keys man debuts - with a little help from his friends... As a member of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers and a busy A-list session player, Benmont Tench is a master of the art of getting the job done without drawing undue attention to himself. This quintessential sideman is also an eminent presence in the LA musical community, egolessly blending in with his fellow players, who revere the 60-year-old veteran for being both a musiciansโ musician and a disarmingly laidback dude. Long one of producer Rick Rubinโs guns for hire, he always shows up when a friend like Ryan Adams or Ringo Starr calls. Both are on Tenchโs first solo album, part of a veritable supersession that also includes locally bred guitarist Blake Mills, expat drummer Jeremy Stacey, bassist Don Was, multi-instrumentalist Ethan Johns, singer/guitarists Gillian Welch and David Rawlings and Petty himself. Ethanโs dad, legendary producer Glyn Johns, first broached the subject of Tench making a solo album 20 years ago, and took his chair behind the console when Benmont finally decided to go for it. Computers were absent from the control room. With its organic arrangements, live-off-the-floor performances and painterly detail, You Should Be So Lucky is very much an old-school Glyn Johns production, cut in the same room and featuring several of the same players who appeared on Adamsโ similarly timeless 2012 LP Ashes & Fire. Thereโs nothing flashy about this record; itโs totally in character for the resolutely understated Tench. It opens subtly with the melancholy ballad โToday I Took Your Picture Downโ, which recalls Warren Zevon at his most stoic. โOn this track you can hear the players really listeningโ, Tench notes in his track-by-track breakdown, but he could just as accurately be referring to the album as a whole, which is about simpatico players locking in with the material and each other. Tench sings his lyrics much as he plays, with restraint, feel and unforced emotion, not letting himself get in the way of the song yet still fully inhabiting its nuances. The title of โVeronica Saidโ signals Tenchโs debt to Lou Reed (another singer who made the most of a limited voice). The sublime โWhy Donโt You Quit Leaving Me Aloneโ (recorded by Rosanne Cash for 1987โs Kingโs Record Shop) wouldnโt be out of place out of place on a Randy Newman album; the tender love song โHannahโ inspires Tenchโs most heartfelt vocal, its melody pushing his voice to the top of his narrow range, with poignant results; and โBlonde Girl, Blue Dressโ knowingly captures the emotional state of the other guy, the one who doesnโt get the girl โ presumably a common occurrence with sidekicks and sidemen alike. Bob Dylan, whoโs done more with less than any singer, is Tenchโs primary touchstone, and he honours the bard on the albumโs two non-originals, a luminous take on Dylanโs rendition of the folk standard โCorrina, Corrinaโ and a rollicking barrelhouse cover of Tempestโs โDuquesne Whistleโ. You can also pick up his influence in the torrid title track, which comes across with the hellbent ferocity of Highway 61 Revisited, as Tench unleashes his inner Al Kooper and Adams, playing rhythm guitar as if his life depended on it, practically tears the strings off his acoustic. โEcor Rougeโ, one of two instrumentals, is a watercolour landscape, while the other, โWobblesโ, swings New Orleans style, propelled by the dual drumming of Stacey and Ethan Johns. As different as they are, both capture lightning in a bottle, and hearing them, itโs easy to see why Was, after playing on the record, was inspired to release it on the iconic label Blue Note, which he now heads. Much like the classic Blue Note albums of the last century, You Should Be So Lucky is tailor-made for connoisseurs of musicianship at its headiest and most tasteful โ the kind of record youโre proud to own, matching the pride of all those who participated in its creation. Bud Scoppa Q&A Youโre known around LA for your willingness to play with anybody. I hope I use a little bit of taste when I go out [laughs]. โHeโs no pushover, but he can be had.โ But the Heartbreakers have a lot of downtime, and I love to play. If you play with other people, youโre gonna learn something. You blend everybodyโs dialects and you find a common language. This record strikes me as an extension of that impulse. Everybody on this record is a good friend of mine. Iโve played with these folks in my house; we cook some food and talk, break out some instruments and play. So making the record felt like my house. Thatโs exactly what I wanted and what Glyn wanted. Hell, we just wanted to have some fun and do something good. But if I hadnโt been surrounded by friends, it wouldโve been too intimidating and overwhelming. You made the record in 10 days, soup to nuts. Thatโs impressive. Thatโs the amount of time that we could have all of the musicians, Glyn and Sunset Sound. But I like limitations. Limitations make you work in a different way, and you get a different result. INTERVIEW: BUD SCOPPA
The Heartbreakers keys man debuts โ with a little help from his friendsโฆ
As a member of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers and a busy A-list session player, Benmont Tench is a master of the art of getting the job done without drawing undue attention to himself. This quintessential sideman is also an eminent presence in the LA musical community, egolessly blending in with his fellow players, who revere the 60-year-old veteran for being both a musiciansโ musician and a disarmingly laidback dude.
Long one of producer Rick Rubinโs guns for hire, he always shows up when a friend like Ryan Adams or Ringo Starr calls. Both are on Tenchโs first solo album, part of a veritable supersession that also includes locally bred guitarist Blake Mills, expat drummer Jeremy Stacey, bassist Don Was, multi-instrumentalist Ethan Johns, singer/guitarists Gillian Welch and David Rawlings and Petty himself. Ethanโs dad, legendary producer Glyn Johns, first broached the subject of Tench making a solo album 20 years ago, and took his chair behind the console when Benmont finally decided to go for it.
Computers were absent from the control room. With its organic arrangements, live-off-the-floor performances and painterly detail, You Should Be So Lucky is very much an old-school Glyn Johns production, cut in the same room and featuring several of the same players who appeared on Adamsโ similarly timeless 2012 LP Ashes & Fire. Thereโs nothing flashy about this record; itโs totally in character for the resolutely understated Tench. It opens subtly with the melancholy ballad โToday I Took Your Picture Downโ, which recalls Warren Zevon at his most stoic. โOn this track you can hear the players really listeningโ, Tench notes in his track-by-track breakdown, but he could just as accurately be referring to the album as a whole, which is about simpatico players locking in with the material and each other.
Tench sings his lyrics much as he plays, with restraint, feel and unforced emotion, not letting himself get in the way of the song yet still fully inhabiting its nuances. The title of โVeronica Saidโ signals Tenchโs debt to Lou Reed (another singer who made the most of a limited voice). The sublime โWhy Donโt You Quit Leaving Me Aloneโ (recorded by Rosanne Cash for 1987โs Kingโs Record Shop) wouldnโt be out of place out of place on a Randy Newman album; the tender love song โHannahโ inspires Tenchโs most heartfelt vocal, its melody pushing his voice to the top of his narrow range, with poignant results; and โBlonde Girl, Blue Dressโ knowingly captures the emotional state of the other guy, the one who doesnโt get the girl โ presumably a common occurrence with sidekicks and sidemen alike.
Bob Dylan, whoโs done more with less than any singer, is Tenchโs primary touchstone, and he honours the bard on the albumโs two non-originals, a luminous take on Dylanโs rendition of the folk standard โCorrina, Corrinaโ and a rollicking barrelhouse cover of Tempestโs โDuquesne Whistleโ. You can also pick up his influence in the torrid title track, which comes across with the hellbent ferocity of Highway 61 Revisited, as Tench unleashes his inner Al Kooper and Adams, playing rhythm guitar as if his life depended on it, practically tears the strings off his acoustic.
โEcor Rougeโ, one of two instrumentals, is a watercolour landscape, while the other, โWobblesโ, swings New Orleans style, propelled by the dual drumming of Stacey and Ethan Johns. As different as they are, both capture lightning in a bottle, and hearing them, itโs easy to see why Was, after playing on the record, was inspired to release it on the iconic label Blue Note, which he now heads. Much like the classic Blue Note albums of the last century, You Should Be So Lucky is tailor-made for connoisseurs of musicianship at its headiest and most tasteful โ the kind of record youโre proud to own, matching the pride of all those who participated in its creation.
Bud Scoppa
Q&A
Youโre known around LA for your willingness to play with anybody.
I hope I use a little bit of taste when I go out [laughs]. โHeโs no pushover, but he can be had.โ But the Heartbreakers have a lot of downtime, and I love to play. If you play with other people, youโre gonna learn something. You blend everybodyโs dialects and you find a common language.
This record strikes me as an extension of that impulse.
Everybody on this record is a good friend of mine. Iโve played with these folks in my house; we cook some food and talk, break out some instruments and play. So making the record felt like my house. Thatโs exactly what I wanted and what Glyn wanted. Hell, we just wanted to have some fun and do something good. But if I hadnโt been surrounded by friends, it wouldโve been too intimidating and overwhelming.
You made the record in 10 days, soup to nuts. Thatโs impressive.
Thatโs the amount of time that we could have all of the musicians, Glyn and Sunset Sound. But I like limitations. Limitations make you work in a different way, and you get a different result.
INTERVIEW: BUD SCOPPA