Quincy Jones Interview

Buddy Holly: "Jazz is strictly for the stay-at-homes."

Ringo Starr was considered by some (many? most?) to be the worst musician in The Beatles (not true; John was ;-), yet he had a fair number of defenders who were themselves well respected by their Jazz peers. One such was Gregg Bissonnette, the drummer in Maynard Ferguson’s Big Band, who is one of Ringo’s most vocal defenders. Some people get, some don’t.

Who cares what people think? I mean, come on!

I was at a party in the early 70s after working on a Delaney and Bonnie show in Honolulu. Delaney wound up sitting next to me and we talked for a long time about stuff…amazing guy…he said he thought Ringo was the best rock and roll drummer in music, period, and he'd recently been hanging around with the English dudes. I thought that was pretty cool, although hey…those sort of statements are taken with a grain of salt of course, but to say that the Beatles weren't good musicians is ridiculous…I've been a professional musician for 50 years and remain astonished by Beatles music, and I mix live concerts with the best musicians on the planet. John wrote songs that still resonate everywhere and although he couldn't play like John Scofield or Joe Pass, who cares really? Get the Hollywood Bowl concert recording re-mix and ask yourself if they play well during incessant screaming (did they have monitors? I wonder)…they did play beautifully, utterly kick ass, and that's sort of what defined them in the early years. Jazz geniuses often perform Beatles stuff because it's simply great music, and if people don't agree with that I don't think it matters.

Okay regarding Jimi Hendrix being scared or afraid I have to laugh, that isn’t true and that is not what happened. Quincy FAILED to mention that Miles Davis loved Jimi’s playing and wanted to play with him. Miles when asked about Jimi Hendrix was quoted "That mothefucking Machine Gun"! The issue was that Miles wanted $50,000.00 up front to play. Guess what, it didn’t happen. You have to remember that Jimi’s manger Mike Jeffrey didn’t want any group except for the original Jimi Hendrix Experience with Noel redding on bass. Rumor has it that he Jeffrey broke up the Band of Gypsys with Buddy Miles on drums. Many Jazz musicians were barely making it and saw how much Jimi was making as an performer. There was no afraid in the story. Also remember that Miles attended Jimi’s funeral which says a lot right there. Where was Quincy jones then? Chasing Peggy Lipton around the room most likely! Jimi did play with various musicians including John McLaughlin who we know became famous later on. Jimi had a scheduled jam with the Grateful Dead but blew them off that evening after meeting up with a girl. Quincy is a great producer but is spinning tales of BS now.