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willie alexander and the boom boom band
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1971 In 1975, I put out “Kerouac”/”Mass Ave” on Garage records and started performing these new songs with Third Rail ,Fox Pass, The Mezz, Reddy Teddy, The Boize and Marc thor. The manager from Fox Pass said “Hey Willie, when are you going to have your own band?” And so, I borrowed Billy Loosigian, Sev Grossman and David Mc Lean from a band called “Wild Honey” and we rehearsed my songs in Reddy Teddy’s cellar, and when I heard the first tape, I knew we had something. A sound. The, we won the battle of the bands at the Club in Cambridge. Billy , Sev and David decided to stay with me. It was my first band where I was the lead singer/ songwriter. We got a deal with MCA and toured the north east , Canada and the west coast. I saw all my rock n’roll dreams come true. Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band play their first gig on march 10th 1976 at The Club in Cambridge, Massachussets. We broke up in 1978 after recording for Garage Records, Rat records ,MCA and Bomp records, and did not reform until 2002. In april 2001 , I sent some live tapes from 1976 to Captain Trip records in Japan. The band feels “vindicated” after all the MCA and bootleg CDs on Tendollar and Demon records. When “Loco live 1976” comes out , the band start visiting me on sundays and we start jamming and talking again after 25 years at my house in Gloucester. “You guys are all still alive, you should do some gigs”, someone told Billy. So, we play our first gig at the Middle East on Mass. Ave . It was like walking on water. We don’t remember why we broke up on the first place. “ Artistic differences” , It was weird getting messages from Sev & Dave & Billy on my answering machine again. It was like hearing from ex girlfriends and dating again. Sev said we have a sound and are in charge of the music again for the first time since our big record deal. It’s like waking up an old monster. It’s back to the original primitivo vision of our first tapes once again. I am seduced by the loud guitars after almost a decade of playing with saxophones, drums and piano in my Persistence of memory orchestra. The last guitar rock n’ roll I made was “ The dragons are still out” on New Rose records in 1988. So, in October of 2002,we start recording at Wooly Mammoth Studios, near Fennay Park, home of the Red Sox. David Minehan will be our producer. David from the Neighborhoods who backed me up when I left the Boom Booms in 1978. Those cats didn’t even shave yet ! Now David has his own kids and is running a studio. It is like a dream working with him, and we start doing Boom Boom versions of some of the songs I wrote after I left the Boom Booms. We start doing Boom Boom versions of some of the songs I wrote after I left the Boom Boom Band, and then, we do some brand new songs we created in the studio, and we call it all “The Dog bar yacht club” The we broke up in 1978, and did not reform until 2002. We have done about 5 shows. We never played outside of North America yet. WILLIE ALEXANDER in traffic,in front of CBGB'S.Four guys full of themselves in the big apple with arms around each other,trafic lights behind them.Very clear memories of the moment.We were about to play,Roberta came in and asked us to pose outside.We ligned up in front of trafic stopped at a red light she took the shot and we beat the light before it changed.The music however was our early live shows in Boston,before we were signed to MCA records.It was wild, spontaneous,full of abandon.It had the qualities i most value in rock and roll;it sounded like a train wreck about to happen.One kept expecting it to derail,it almost would,then back on track. Wheeuh!!!!!Although there was a general structure this stuff was improvised at the moment and would rarely be played the same way again.My job(were i to accept) was to locate Billy Loosigian and David Mclean and give them their copies.As I did I wondered what we would sound like in the new century.After all none of us had stopped playing.I put this idea to the others and we began to play together again.Tentatively at first but then it felt good,fun.A gig was booked and went well.Creative juices were flowing.At one of these sesions someone sugested we book studio time and see what would result.Billy picked up the phone and called David Minehan at Wooly Mammouth studios.We knew that he had a rock and roll heart and felt safe recording with him.Over the next two years the tracks for this cd were recorded.But make no mistake, that time was not spent on endless overdubs and multiple mixes and remixes.On the contrary;the bass and drums for the most part were the first or second takes as were Willie's vocals.Billy layered his guitars the same way.The same philosophy was applied to the mixes.It took two years because the four of us live fairly far apart.Billy lives in New Hampshire,David on Cape Cod,Willie on the opposite side of the state in Gloucester and I in Brookline.To get us all together at the same time was not easy.We recorded when we felt like doing so, summers and early spring were out.The pressure of the major labels fortunately did not get in the way and there were no managers worried about the commercial viability of "the product";this felt great,liberating.Some of the songs existed in multiple versions. Sambas turned into rock songs as did Willie's poetry.Ideas were freely exchanged and everyone got their say.David Minehan helped with the production and was the fifth Boom Boom.Much of the spontaneity of this record is due to his recording style.The songs are mostly about Gloucester,the town Willie calls home now.Approximately twenty years since our last recordings Billy's sound has evolved as has David's.Willie turns in his best vocals ever.I feel privileged to play with these guys.It feels like i'm with my gang again,safe and somebody's always watching my back.The train is back on track. SEV GROSSMAN  |
