0:05

Hey, Sonja, do you settle for ordinary in your own

0:07

home? No. No, you kind of

0:09

do. Anyway, with Flora Decor, you don't have to put

0:11

up with rooms that just look meh. You know what

0:14

I'm saying? Yeah. Meh is kind of

0:16

a phrase these days. Flora Decor doesn't just have a couple

0:18

of aisles of options. It's an entire store

0:20

with the largest selection of tile, wood and

0:22

stone in stock and available in job lot

0:24

quantities. That's what I need, job lot quantities.

0:27

And if you're a pro like me, Flora

0:29

Decor also has a job site delivery along

0:31

with all the brands pros trust for installation.

0:33

There's also design experts in the store to help

0:35

you find the right look at the right price.

0:38

And guess what? It's free. It's

0:40

my favorite price. Free is the best price,

0:42

isn't it? Yeah. Unless it's for

0:44

food. And then I'm like, oh, I'm about to pay a little.

0:47

No, I like free food too. Well, it can be scary.

0:50

Anyway, we got off track. You can resist the

0:52

ordinary and find more ways to wow with

0:55

Flora Decor. March

1:01

into spring with this unbeatable deal

1:03

from Breezeline. Get reliable fiber powered

1:05

500 megabits internet for $39.99 per

1:08

month, plus a $100 gift card and

1:10

price lock guarantee. This deal gets even

1:12

better with a free modem, free installation

1:15

and free Wi-Fi your way home. Safeguard

1:17

your network from cyber threats and manage

1:19

user access for all connected devices with

1:22

this amazing offer. Act now. Terms

1:24

of Condition Supply offer expires May 6, 2024. Learn

1:27

more at breezeline.com. Hey,

1:34

this is kind of cool. Recently

1:36

I got to sit down with one of my

1:39

heroes. As you may know about

1:41

me, I'm a kind of a

1:43

rockabilly fanatic and I love Brian Setzer.

1:46

Turns out he was in town and we got

1:48

to sit down for an

1:50

hour long conversation, which was

1:53

just a blast for me. We talked

1:55

about a lot. Brian committing to always doing what he

1:57

wanted to do as a musician. That guy has stuck

1:59

to his head. his guns and it's worked out beautifully

2:01

for him. Having a guitar lead

2:03

a big band was something

2:06

he had never done before, which

2:08

is massive. Guitarists did not

2:10

lead big bands, but he did it.

2:13

How Rockabilly spoke to him, as it did to

2:15

me at a very young age. Meeting

2:18

George Harrison in Ringo, but never

2:20

Paul. And Brian and I talk

2:22

a little bit about living on a tour bus and

2:25

how it can drive one

2:27

quite insane. Anyway, it was a

2:29

really fun conversation. If you

2:32

want, you can listen to the episode with the songs

2:34

included by searching Conan in

2:36

the new SiriusXM app, or

2:38

you can listen to the conversation here and cue

2:41

up the songs on your music streaming

2:43

app of choice. Check it out. Here's

2:45

my conversation with Mindsetter. The

2:49

message of my

2:53

career is dreams

2:56

do come true. And

2:58

I've been a massive

3:00

fan and huge admirer

3:17

of a gentleman known

3:19

as Brian Setzer for many years. And

3:21

he's been an influence on me in

3:23

all kinds of ways. And I adore

3:26

him. And over

3:29

the years, I've had the pleasure of

3:31

Brian coming on my

3:33

shows and getting to perform

3:36

live with Brian. And then we heard

3:38

that there was a chance that he might be in

3:40

town and might have a moment to

3:43

sit down with us and appear

3:45

on Conan O'Brien words and music

3:49

with my friend Jim Pitt. And

3:51

so we did everything we could to get

3:53

him here. We kidnapped

3:55

him about an hour ago, and he's here

3:57

with me now. And I could not. Be

4:00

happier Brian. Thanks for being here. Oh

4:03

seriously. I'm just like And

4:06

I've told us too many people that

4:08

I can kind of do the hair If

4:11

I could play guitar like you and

4:13

sing like you no one would

4:15

ever hear me tell a joke again I'd be gone

4:17

I'd be out on the road because you're living the

4:19

life that I would like to live

4:21

so and then to find

4:23

out Years ago that you're also an

4:25

incredibly nice person was this

4:27

nice gift Yeah, I remember being afraid the

4:30

first time you came on the show What

4:33

if he's an asshole? Yeah, you never know.

4:35

There's gonna be a fight. Yeah, exactly from

4:37

your music there's just you know, there's a lot of people

4:40

fighting and He

4:43

might pull a knife on me and

4:46

then you could not have been a nicer

4:49

guy and so many of my favorite memories

4:51

of doing late-night show over the years was

4:54

When you would come by when you would bring the

4:57

Brian sets our orchestra and

4:59

people knew on days when

5:02

you're coming with your orchestra Don't

5:04

bother me meaning don't give me a

5:07

lot of comedy that day that I have to rehearse Don't

5:09

try to have a lot of meetings with me Don't

5:11

have the accountants in that day leave me

5:13

alone so I can go downstairs and sit

5:15

in the audience and watch you guys

5:18

Do your thing always a joy.

5:21

Oh, yeah, you loved the big band. I know

5:23

you did Yeah, and I remembered sitting this is

5:25

one of my favorite memories. I'm sitting in the

5:28

audience And you play the set that you're gonna

5:30

play What

5:33

you're gonna do for the late-night show And

5:36

then you said hey Conan anything else you want to

5:38

hear And I'm just sitting

5:40

there in the audience Like with Jim

5:42

Pitt who sitting with me and maybe a couple of

5:44

other people and I said Are

5:47

you guys do the Hawaii five-o theme

5:49

and you went guys one two? I

5:52

know you just did it and

5:54

it when it was over my

5:57

clothes had been blown off completely naked It

6:00

was absolutely incredible. And

6:03

how just, I mean,

6:05

first of all, I know this is one of the things

6:07

I've heard about you and it's something I've thought about over

6:09

the years, which is some

6:12

of the best music ever made

6:14

in America is television theme songs.

6:16

Yeah. And we

6:18

grew up with them. We're the

6:20

same vintage and we grew up with this

6:23

stuff. Right. Hawaii Five-O. I

6:25

know you're a big, I've heard you talk

6:27

about the Mannix theme. Oh, God. I

6:29

think about the Wild Wild West.

6:34

Yeah. There are all these incredible songs.

6:37

Bonanza. Great orchestration. Yeah.

6:40

Great music. And it was television

6:42

themes. Yeah. You know what happened? So

6:45

those were jazz guys, right? That

6:48

once the big band Dinosaurs went away,

6:50

they became extinct. They had nowhere to

6:53

go. And they started doing that for

6:55

TV. So

6:57

we need something big and bold that

6:59

sounds out west. And it

7:02

was four guys in New York City in

7:04

the Brill Building writing about the Wild West.

7:06

It's the funniest thing. And

7:08

it's the best stuff. And

7:11

they wrote Bonanza and Hawaii Five-O

7:13

and all that. Just

7:16

fantastic stuff. So when

7:18

I actually got the big band together, heard that back,

7:20

it was my favorite stuff to play. It's

7:23

amazing. I love playing that. James Bond.

7:25

Who could do the James Bond theme?

7:27

No, it's incredible. Like that music is

7:29

so iconic. And

7:31

because it was a TV theme, it was

7:34

easy for people to, at the

7:36

time, probably dismiss it. Like,

7:38

oh, it's just some song on television. It's not the

7:41

real thing. Until you go back

7:43

and listen to it and realize this is some

7:45

of the best music recorded.

7:49

It didn't surprise me. But

7:52

when I was a kid, one of

7:54

my favorite cartoons was Top Cat. cat,

8:00

but it was this

8:02

cartoon sort of like a Sergeant Bilko who's

8:04

a cat and he's got his gang and

8:07

they always pull one over on somebody. It

8:09

was very funny. I think it was a

8:11

Hanna-Barbera cartoon that the Top Cat theme was

8:13

an inspiration for you. Top

8:15

Cat theme because it was bad ass. They

8:18

were mixing, trying

8:20

to mix rock and roll, but

8:23

their roots were in that 50s big band stuff.

8:27

It was just sweet. Somebody

8:29

had hit upon it and I had the idea,

8:31

why don't I lead a big band with a

8:33

guitar? That's never been done.

8:37

Everybody tried to talk me out of that one. They

8:40

were saying, oh, it's going to be an embarrassment. No one's

8:42

going to want to listen to this. You just won't be

8:44

able to pay them. Yeah, who's going

8:46

to come see that? They

8:49

said that was rockability too, but

8:51

I've always just done what I've wanted to do. That

8:54

big band just kept taking off. Take it

8:56

off. It got higher and higher

8:58

and higher. I

9:00

paid the band out of pocket the first couple of shows.

9:04

I remember all of a sudden the

9:08

Greek theater won't yet. The Greek, we just did

9:10

the House of Blues. It

9:12

caught on and it stayed there at

9:14

this point. We

9:19

ended up with the Hollywood Bowl. A lot of

9:21

people feel the way we do. That's

9:25

the field of dreams phenomenon.

9:28

If you build it, they will come. My

9:32

whole career I've thought, if this is something

9:35

I really care about comedically, I'm just going

9:37

to keep doubling down on it. If

9:39

no one else cares, at least I did what I wanted

9:41

to do, but I think other people are going to care.

9:44

If you just keep putting that thing about, and it's

9:46

a little bit of almost a religious thing, spiritual.

9:50

I'm going to double down on this and put this signal

9:52

out of there. I'll show them. Going

9:57

back is interesting because it's hard to do.

10:00

explain, time goes

10:02

by and then people lose the context. But

10:05

when Stray Cats first comes around, when

10:07

you're first playing this music, 1980, 81, it is the exact opposite, late

10:09

70s, early 80s, it's

10:13

the exact opposite of what the music scene

10:15

is completely, diametrically

10:17

opposed. Nobody's

10:20

got a three piece playing

10:23

stripped down rockabilly standup bass,

10:26

snare drum, 61,

10:29

20, Gretsch guitar. No one's piling their

10:31

hair up like that. It's

10:34

the cars. I mean, we could go on and

10:36

on about what it was, but it was not

10:38

that. But

10:42

I think it was

10:44

just musically so undeniably

10:46

amazing that it cut through and

10:48

became a sensation. And I think a lot of

10:50

people were hungry for it when it came. Yes,

10:53

we found that out. But when we

10:55

first started, first of all, the band

10:57

was right. Me, Jim and Lee, we

10:59

had a chemistry. We're just

11:01

three guys from almost the same block on

11:04

Long Island. And we

11:06

just believed in this sound

11:09

because without mentioning other bands' names, we

11:11

had had enough of the big pompous bands

11:13

with the gongs and all that stuff. And

11:15

I said, you don't need all this stuff.

11:17

You don't need the half

11:19

a million dollar less Paul. You don't need

11:22

that. I'm picturing the Stray Cats going

11:24

out with just you guys and a

11:26

gong. And I'm on gong, and every

11:28

now and then you signal me and

11:30

I gong. And a G-string. I'd do

11:33

it. I'd do it. But yeah, so

11:36

it was a reaction to

11:38

what was happening. And you did

11:40

that. And then of course, later in your career when

11:42

you did the big band, that's a reaction because I

11:44

think when you came out with the big band, it

11:46

was grunge was what everybody

11:48

wanted. That's right. Absolutely. I've got

11:50

this massive orchestra and

11:53

I'm going to do Louis

11:55

Prima and it's going to be

11:57

huge. And it was. did

12:00

become huge. The idea

12:02

for the big band, you know, I learned how

12:04

to read and write music. And

12:07

Johnny Carson asked, and he didn't have rock bands

12:10

on yet if we wanted to be on the

12:12

show. We're like, what? Who's

12:14

just kids? And then he said, do you

12:16

want each Doc's big band? And

12:18

that's where the idea started. Did you do

12:20

it? Do we want- You didn't have a

12:23

song. No, it didn't work out. Johnny did

12:25

that a lot. Invite people on, did show

12:27

up, and he wouldn't let them in. It

12:29

was an old Johnny trick. That's pretty much

12:32

how it happened. We didn't get the show,

12:34

but they were talking about it. But that

12:36

idea remained. What if I put that big

12:38

band behind the Stray Catch since I could

12:41

write all that stuff? I just, I wanted

12:43

to hear it because the two had never

12:45

met. A guitar player had never

12:47

led a big band. And like you said,

12:49

we were influenced by all that 50s

12:52

and 60s television theme

12:55

stuff. So I at least had

12:57

to try it. And believe me, it was hard

12:59

to get 17 guys to

13:02

do this, to write all that music out. People

13:05

would yell out songs, and I

13:07

would say, well, but we don't have the charts. What?

13:10

Play, you know, Rock This Town. Well,

13:12

I didn't have it written out yet

13:14

for the big band. I hadn't reimagined

13:16

it yet. So it was

13:19

an idea that I had to follow through with.

13:21

But from the very first one, it was like,

13:23

wait, this is not like Sinatra. This

13:26

is something different. It's a

13:28

hybrid. Yeah, it was my idea

13:31

of rock and roll,

13:33

but not a

13:35

swing band. People thought we were swinging as

13:38

well. And the swing bands had three or

13:40

four horns. This is a full big band.

13:43

So that's what started that idea. And

13:45

then it caught fire pretty quick. I

13:48

have to say, for me personally,

13:51

I think one of the reasons

13:53

I grabbed onto you and what

13:55

you were doing immediately is I had

13:57

this experience. I was born in 63. So

14:01

I'm in college and everyone's

14:03

listening to what people are listening to in

14:05

the 80s. And

14:08

you know, I'm a freshman year, Soft

14:10

Cell is really big and

14:12

Pattainted Love. And

14:14

you've got all this stuff happening in the 80s. And I

14:17

remembered it was fine,

14:19

but I wasn't grabbed by any of it.

14:22

Then I think they did some reissue of

14:24

the Sun Session albums. I

14:27

started to hear early Elvis. Because I had only

14:29

known Elvis hits that we were all... The

14:34

stuff that your mom played. Right, exactly. The

14:36

stuff that was on RCA or especially the

14:38

stuff that came later on in the 70s,

14:40

late 60s, 70s. And

14:43

so I start to hear, I hear

14:47

Baby Let's Play House and

14:49

I can just feel something

14:51

happen to me. It's so primal.

14:55

And I'm just listening to it and it's,

14:58

you might go to college, you might go to school,

15:00

you might drive a pink Cadillac, but you know, but

15:02

it's... And there's a real passion behind it. It's very

15:04

simple. And then obviously

15:06

that's all right, Mama. And

15:09

I'm listening to all this stuff. And the next thing

15:11

I know, my dorm room, I

15:14

have an early Elvis poster, but

15:16

I also have Jerry Lee Lewis from

15:18

High School Confidential on the back of the truck

15:21

playing the piano. He's on the back of like

15:23

a pickup truck. It was still from the movie

15:25

High School Confidential. And I'm

15:27

listening to Jerry Lee Lewis and then

15:29

I'm listening to Lil Richard. And that's

15:31

the stuff I'm listening to. And my

15:33

friends don't get it. They're like, what are you doing? Why

15:36

are you doing this? And of course you

15:38

guys come around and then

15:41

suddenly it's cool. It feels like it's,

15:43

you know what I mean? I

15:46

could understand it because to me it was,

15:48

I still explain it

15:50

as this is the

15:52

music that still like

15:54

reaches right into my chest and grabs me.

15:57

And for me, it's like for Buddy Holly,

15:59

it's Ray Vaughan. Like the kind

16:01

of insistence of it, you know

16:03

that in its driving and it's

16:05

very simple but that

16:08

was why what you

16:10

were doing and everything that you've done throughout your career has always

16:12

kind of Made perfect sense to

16:14

me Because other stuff. I

16:17

don't know when it was I'd love and admire

16:19

a lot of the other stuff, but there's something

16:21

so Like

16:24

I was just go back to primal about I

16:26

know You either get

16:29

that or you don't I feel the same

16:31

exact way I went through the same thing

16:34

and I Think the first

16:36

I heard any of that real stuff

16:39

was my dad was in Korea He was you

16:41

know, and he came back with some records. This

16:44

is what the guys were listening to, you know I like it

16:47

and I put on you know, Carl Perkins and

16:49

I couldn't tell him I liked it But

16:52

to me it Rivaled

16:55

it was the it rivalled that energy

16:57

that punk rock was just starting with

16:59

but but the guys could really play

17:01

Yeah, you know and it just spoke

17:03

right to me, you know That that's

17:05

the hardest thing to write is the

17:07

the simplest stuff You

17:10

know with the direct lyrics the direct

17:12

chords I mean because it's all been written,

17:15

you know that that's the hardest stuff to come

17:17

up with Yeah, but I had the same exact

17:19

feeling as you did. It's not funny. I didn't

17:21

know everybody's gonna do their hair like me That

17:25

was for stage. Yeah, but I stuck with it

17:27

for the longest period and people when I was

17:29

this right Oh, it's you still got a good

17:31

head of hair I was on there when I

17:33

was a writer on The Simpsons I had this

17:35

giant pile on my head and you know I

17:37

had sideburns and and and people were just like

17:40

you're a comedy writer You

17:47

feel comfortable yeah, yeah, yeah You

17:59

know 20 minutes And so your check

18:01

engine light comes on, which could equal an

18:03

expensive repair bill, and a new engine can

18:05

cost up to $6,000. Don't

18:07

I know it. But this is why you

18:10

need this product I'm about to mention right

18:12

now. Okay. Car Shield. Car Shield

18:14

offers plans with low monthly rates that you can

18:16

pay for your expensive repairs on your out of

18:18

warranty car, truck, or SUV. It's

18:20

so nice to have that protection of Car

18:23

Shield. I know. I believe, that's my belief.

18:25

Some people have other beliefs, maybe religious

18:27

beliefs. I think Car Shield. Car Shield

18:30

plans provide protection on up

18:32

to 5,000 major parts

18:34

and systems, including items like transmission, engine,

18:37

even your entertainment system. Just call Car

18:39

Shield and choose the mechanic to do

18:41

the work. Car Shield administrators will handle

18:43

the rest and save you money. Look,

18:46

I saw your car today. You've got a beautiful car, but

18:48

you've got to haul your family around

18:50

in this car. This is a vital

18:52

piece of machinery for you. You need Car

18:54

Shield. I do. And you know I don't take

18:56

care of my cars very well. So Car

18:58

Shield would definitely come in. You know,

19:00

and also with their A rating

19:02

from the BBB, don't ask me, Car

19:04

Shield is the name you can trust

19:07

to save you money on covered auto

19:09

repairs. Now's the time to make the

19:11

smart choice to protect yourself from the

19:13

sky high auto repair bills. Visit carshield.com/Conan.

19:15

Save 20% today. Again, that's

19:18

carshield.com/Conan to save 20%. Visit

19:21

carshield.com/Conan to lock in your

19:23

price today. You

19:34

know, it's incredible to have the flexibility to work

19:36

in all sorts of places, whether it's taking video

19:38

calls from the park or emailing large files while

19:41

you're grocery shopping. Sona, this is good for you.

19:43

Is it? You're always doing whatever

19:45

work you do for me from phone

19:47

locations. But I like blaming it on

19:49

not having reception. I know, but you

19:51

can't do that here. Working on the Go

19:53

seamlessly requires a strong network, which is why you

19:56

should check out T-Mobile, Sona. Then you got

19:58

no excuses. They're America's largest and fan. This

20:00

is 5G network with T-Mobile. You'll

20:02

be covered in more places with the 5G

20:04

speed you need for your life on the

20:06

go Plus they also cover more highway

20:08

miles with 5G than anybody else check it out

20:11

if you don't believe me Hey, but

20:13

you've got T-Mobile right? I do. I was actually

20:15

just up in the woods in Idlewild It was

20:17

fantastic for the weekend and my T-Mobile didn't miss

20:19

it my T-Mobile phone didn't miss it You know,

20:21

I wouldn't think you'd need a cell phone because

20:23

you speak so loudly in your microphone Well, I

20:26

had to look some stuff up just take it.

20:28

Just take it down I don't know what brunch

20:30

was I can hear him when the restaurants open

20:32

for brunch Okay, so I used my

20:34

T-Mobile coverage check out brunch. That's

20:37

right Anyway, wherever you are, you know

20:39

take it from the loudspeaking play if you're on the

20:41

go You want to be in the know you want

20:43

to make the show? T-Mobile

20:46

that's the one for you. I should have

20:48

rhymed it with go Anyway, find out more

20:50

at T-Mobile comm slash network today coverage not

20:52

available in some areas Fastest based on median

20:55

overall combined 5g speeds according to analysis by

20:57

ukla of speed test intelligence data q3 2023

21:01

a C 5g device coverage

21:03

and access details at T-Mobile dot-com

21:05

I Need

21:17

a friend is sponsored by ADT

21:19

introducing ADT self-setup Featuring everything

21:21

from motion centers to Google Nest cam and

21:23

the nest doorbell with a battery or wired

21:26

option your choice Easily

21:28

install the ADT self-setup security system at

21:30

your convenience You don't need heavy-duty tools

21:33

and if you do need help ADT can provide virtual

21:35

assistance along the way Self-setup

21:37

from ADT grows moves and adapts

21:39

as your needs change You

21:42

can add more products at any time and your

21:44

system easily moves wherever life takes you It also

21:46

features nest cams that can tell the difference between

21:49

a person an animal a vehicle or with the

21:51

nest doorbell even a package These

21:53

things are getting so smart plus when every second

21:55

counts you can trust 80 T's 24 7

21:57

professional monitoring You can view video of an

21:59

alarm? and verify or cancel

22:02

an alarm with just one quick tap.

22:04

Now everyone can get trusted security from

22:06

ADT installed your way with no long-term

22:08

contracts. When the most trusted name and

22:10

home security adds the intelligence of Google,

22:12

well, you've got a home with no

22:15

worries. Go to adt.com today or

22:17

call 1-800-ADT ASAP. Google,

22:19

Nest Cam, Nest Doorbell, and Nest

22:21

Aware are all trademarks of Google

22:23

LLC. You

22:33

showed up earlier than I

22:35

thought you were coming in, and I wander

22:37

around my, because it's

22:40

my building, I get to

22:42

wander around with a guitar around me all the time.

22:44

You will attest that this is true. That goes back

22:46

a long way. That goes back a long way, and

22:48

I always have a guitar in the store. Yeah, you

22:50

always have a guitar, right? I have. I heard all

22:52

this commotion downstairs because they were having a birthday party

22:54

for Sarah Fedorovich, and I come down just to join

22:56

in, and of course I just have a Gretsch,

23:00

a duo jet around my neck. And

23:02

who do I, the first person I run into is

23:04

you, Ryan, and

23:06

I feel like an ass because it's like walking up

23:09

to Tiger Woods holding a golf club. I

23:13

feel stupid now. Look what

23:15

I've got. I know how to play.

23:18

Yeah, exactly. Who knew? But

23:21

I'm glad it made it into the studio. One

23:26

of the things we like to do occasionally on this show

23:29

is we ask our guests

23:32

to pick a couple of songs, and

23:34

the first one you picked is Something Else

23:37

by Eddie Cochran, which is 1958, and I got into

23:39

Eddie Cochran, I

23:42

think after college. I'm out

23:45

here in LA, and I'm really trying

23:47

to start to learn. I had been a shitty

23:49

drummer, and I decided it was time to be

23:51

a shitty guitar player, and a

23:53

friend of mine, Randy Klempert, and I, who

23:55

were in improv class together, he could play

23:58

serious rockabilly licks, That's what

24:00

I wanted to do. And he said, you got to know

24:02

about Eddie Cochran. So he was the

24:04

one that got me into Eddie Cochran. And

24:07

Eddie Cochran was the

24:10

guy who had a big orange,

24:12

Gretsch 6120. And

24:15

that was the guitar that you had to have

24:18

if you were going to do what you wanted to do. Well,

24:21

can I tell you how I discovered him? There's no time.

24:23

We're out. Oh, all right.

24:25

Goodbye, everybody. No, I'm kidding. I'll see

24:27

you then. Go ahead. But

24:31

the funny thing about Eddie was nobody knew

24:33

who like, you know, my folks

24:35

didn't know who Eddie Cochran was. He had

24:37

summertime blues. But we

24:40

had a record store called Whirlin'

24:42

Disc. And

24:44

it was a cheap little place. And the guy

24:46

had the album covers hanging from fishing line. I

24:49

don't know how old I was, well, early 70s, right? You

24:52

know, just, you know, teas,

24:55

early teas, 14. And

24:57

I didn't like anything I was hearing. And

24:59

I banged into this one record. I go, who's

25:02

this guy? I didn't know what he sounded like.

25:04

I go, this guy just looks cool. I

25:07

just, that

25:09

look made me feel right too, you

25:11

know? I couldn't relate

25:13

to the 70s kind

25:15

of rock and roll look. But I was a

25:17

rock and roller. So I saw a

25:19

picture of Eddie with the baggy pants, the slick back, I

25:21

went, this cat's cool. You know,

25:23

he could be in a motorcycle gang. He could be a

25:26

guitar player. And then when

25:28

I went home to put the record on, it was all

25:30

over. Why doesn't everybody know who

25:32

he is? They do

25:34

in England and places like that. But

25:38

we opened up for the Stones here in 1980.

25:42

And I'm just glad we didn't get booed

25:44

off. But we came up

25:47

on stage and I said, hey, hello,

25:49

Minnesota, home of Eddie Cochran. People

25:52

just gave me a what quizzical look. They

25:54

didn't know who he was. One second time

25:57

I came back, they had signs saying, home

25:59

of Eddie Cochran. Well,

26:01

tragically for our listeners

26:03

that don't know, Eddie Cochran,

26:06

brilliant, fantastic. He

26:09

wrote and he sang and he looked like a million

26:11

bucks, but he could also play. He was

26:13

a real player. And

26:16

not everybody would have,

26:19

some guys just thunked out rhythm, but

26:21

Eddie Cochran could really play. And his

26:25

trademark was 6120, which

26:28

you all know it when you

26:30

see it. It's a big orange guitar

26:33

that was kind of a country western themed guitar

26:35

and they would put a cattle brand on it,

26:38

the Gretsch G. And some of the ones, I've

26:40

never had one, but some of them

26:42

have all this inlay of like little cactus and

26:45

little ... And I remember when you

26:47

first started playing seeing that you had a 6120, but

26:49

you would put like dice on for the knobs. And

26:52

I thought that was the coolest thing. I still think it's the coolest

26:54

thing I've ever seen. I'm

26:56

seeing a lot of cool stuff, but I still

26:59

think that is the guitar. But

27:03

he went to England and

27:05

was touring and was in a

27:08

car accident, was killed. And

27:12

I've always heard that George Harrison,

27:14

this is pre-Beatles, followed

27:16

that tour. George Harrison, of

27:18

course, was like a young kid,

27:21

teenager who loved Eddie Cochran. They

27:23

didn't get access to these

27:26

stars because very few of them came over,

27:28

but that George was really interested in following

27:31

that concert and trying to get a chance

27:33

to look at Eddie Cochran and see him.

27:36

And tragically he passed away on that tour. He was

27:38

killed. On that tour, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

27:42

So we have a song because we asked you

27:44

to supply three songs. And the first you said

27:46

was Something Else by Eddie

27:48

Cochran. And I love that

27:50

song. He goes, what's all this? What's

27:52

all this? It's all swagger. Oh, it's

27:54

all swagger. But you know what's also

27:56

nice? There's a sweetness to it, which

27:58

is... You

28:00

know the the punk or. Version

28:03

you think would be you know

28:06

what that girl i gotta get that

28:08

car and go fucking steal that car

28:10

yeah you know no he's working to

28:12

work real hard and save my i

28:14

never thought of that kind of like

28:16

it's nice there's almost this. This

28:21

is almost like work ethic message in

28:23

there i thought of that not gonna

28:25

go steal it but you can

28:27

tell he's. He's got swagger

28:29

and everything but he's gonna do this

28:31

the legit way how do they get

28:33

that sound what is happening there do

28:35

you know give any idea. Good gosh

28:38

we have tried to capture all those

28:40

sounds and it's i'm telling

28:42

you it's in the air because even

28:44

if you use the old flat wound

28:46

strings even if you go back and

28:49

use all the tube stuff you can't

28:51

catch it it was just in the

28:53

air. I was gonna say

28:55

funny when i was living back in the

28:57

uk you know there was a big division

28:59

amongst groups right the punks didn't like the

29:02

rockers and they didn't like the mods and

29:04

they didn't like well that stuff. They

29:06

all agreed on eddie cockrod

29:09

and gene vincent like oh gene vincent or

29:11

i remember lemy said oh gene vincent that

29:13

you know it takes teddy to make one

29:15

of him you know yeah everybody

29:18

agreed that those were the guys was no

29:20

fighting amongst that. Where do you

29:22

think you again not to be morbid but i think

29:24

gene vincent was in the car is gene

29:27

vincent was in the cab

29:29

yes with eddie

29:31

cockron. And eddie cockron's girlfriend

29:33

when the car crashed in england on

29:35

when they were doing that tour and

29:38

as a side note gene vincent

29:40

was injured eddie cockron was killed

29:42

but his girlfriend. Sharon

29:45

cheeley right. Co

29:47

wrote something else with them yes

29:50

she was there she was a writer and they were

29:52

they were a great i've

29:54

heard her interviewed talking about eddie and talking

29:56

about them working together have you yeah i've

29:59

been on the little. curve where they smashed. It's pretty

30:01

wicked even on a nice night. It was raining

30:03

and all sorts of, you know, come on, we

30:05

want to go home, that kind of jazz. I

30:09

had a chance because I'm a Buddy Holly fanatic. The

30:12

crickets came by once and they performed on late night.

30:14

And afterwards, we were just hanging out and

30:16

I couldn't believe I was getting to talk to the crickets. And

30:19

then I just said, I kind of just

30:21

said, out of nowhere, like, why'd Buddy

30:24

get on that plane? It's snowing. Why'd

30:26

he do that? And I think it was

30:28

the Jerry Allison or someone said, ah, G

30:31

buddy, he had get there. Itis always

30:33

did. You know, like he just, I

30:36

got to get there. You know, I'm sick of

30:38

this bus. Oh, I'll go ahead. I'll take the

30:40

laundry with me. We'll

30:42

take this little plane. And I always think

30:44

about that because every now and then I'm

30:47

in a situation from doing a travel show

30:49

somewhere. I'm doing something people say, you know,

30:51

this guy can take you in a helicopter and we'll get there

30:54

a little faster and I say, I'm all right.

30:57

That helicopter doesn't looks like

30:59

it was built in World

31:02

War I. I think I'm good.

31:04

I'll just be a little late. It's okay to

31:06

be late. I'm getting worse at two as I

31:08

get older because we, you know, I live in

31:10

Minnesota, in the tundra and

31:13

we took a 25 hour bus ride, even though we

31:15

have the dogs and you know, we want to come

31:17

like that. But I took that over

31:19

a flight because I just, I

31:22

just got to go my way at this point, you know. Can

31:24

you sleep on a bus? Because

31:27

I did some bus time. Couldn't, could never sleep on

31:29

a bus. And so what I would do is I'd

31:32

be too wound up from the show. So I would sit

31:34

up front with the bus driver and

31:37

jabber while everyone else was sleeping

31:41

and just talk and talk and talk.

31:43

That's the thing. People who never been

31:45

on one of those things. I can.

31:47

Yeah. But people who never been

31:49

on those things think that any time off is just

31:51

like, you know, no big deal. You can go do

31:53

this and go do that. You know, when they

31:55

said, well, Conan wants you to come on, I said,

31:58

Conan, I'll make time for. I

32:00

was told you got on a bus

32:02

and it was 25 hours just for

32:04

this interview and you're turning around and

32:06

coming and going straight back. That might

32:08

have been an exaggeration. I'm

32:12

gonna stick with my story. Conan wants

32:14

me. Get up the bus. Get out that

32:17

bus. Yeah, Gene Vincent was

32:19

a guy that I

32:22

got really into also around

32:24

the same time as Eddie Cochran.

32:27

And what I knew about Gene Vincent was obviously

32:29

he had great style and he

32:31

had a great voice, but

32:34

he had this guitar player. And at the time when I

32:37

first heard it, I thought, is that

32:39

Gene Vincent playing that? I didn't know anything. And

32:41

it turned out to be Gene's guitar

32:44

player is one of the great guitar players in rock

32:46

and roll history. Maybe one

32:48

of the all-time, if you're gonna make a list of 10. And

32:52

Cliff Gallup. Everybody has to

32:54

agree on Cliff Gallup. I heard

32:57

Cliff Gallup for the first time again. We're about

32:59

the same age. How would you hear that? And

33:02

I was in Maxis, Kansas City, in

33:04

Manhattan, and shooting

33:06

pool. And all the

33:08

pump was on there screaming

33:11

out of the jukebox. And all

33:13

of a sudden, we'll be Bob-a-loo-a. And

33:15

it was like a hand came across

33:18

the pool table and pulled me into

33:20

the jukebox. And that guitar solo came

33:22

on. And it was the sexiest thing

33:24

I'd ever heard. I go,

33:26

what's this guy doing really? That's

33:29

how I started using a pick

33:32

and my fingers. He,

33:34

Gallup, used finger picks

33:37

and thumb pick. I just used

33:39

my fingers and a guitar pick, but I pick

33:41

like that. And then I go back down with the

33:43

pick. And I just did it because

33:45

I wasn't getting, I wanted to finger pick. I

33:48

wanted to do some stuff that Scotty

33:50

Moore did. So I just invented

33:52

that. I never saw anyone do it. But

33:55

when I heard that song, I just went, wow,

33:57

it was sexy. We

34:01

had Scotty Moore sit

34:03

in Scotty and DJ

34:05

Fontana, his drummer, they sat

34:08

in with Max Weinberg. I

34:11

used that late night show so much if it was

34:13

Conan works out his quiet perversions and America

34:16

has to come along whether they want to

34:18

or not. But he came in

34:20

and the show was over and I asked

34:22

him, could you just Scotty, I can

34:25

play the solo too. That's all right,

34:27

mama. I can do it, kinda.

34:33

But he went, oh no, it's not that hard. Let me show

34:35

you, son. And then he did it in front

34:37

of me and to see the hands,

34:40

this is where it gets weird. You see the

34:42

hands make the shapes and

34:44

do it and you realize these are the same hands that

34:46

did it in 1954 in the Sun Studio and that changed

34:49

the world. And

34:53

I'm looking at the same fingers.

34:55

I know. And then I think, okay, it's time

34:58

for me to go have a drink. You

35:01

gotta get out of that head, but it's interesting

35:03

to go there for a lot of people, I

35:05

think that way. Yeah.

35:08

But so Gene Vincent, he comes along and

35:10

what's interesting about Gene Vincent is Elvis

35:13

hits and he's huge and it's

35:15

a phenomenon. So everyone's looking for

35:18

the next Elvis. We

35:20

gotta get one of those. RCA has

35:22

Elvis. They

35:25

buy the Colonel's contract. So Capitol

35:28

Records says we gotta find someone. And I had

35:30

always heard that Gene Vincent had won like a

35:33

contest. Right. Like

35:35

Sound Like Elvis contest. Sure. And

35:38

so Capitol signed him because they thought this

35:40

guy will be the next, he'll be our

35:42

Elvis. Right. Which kind of makes

35:44

sense because he's, you know. Every

35:47

guy from down south was trying to be

35:49

the next Elvis. Yeah. But Gene

35:51

had, I think Gene lived those

35:53

lyrics. He was a bad boy. But

35:57

he had that sweet... What

36:00

is it? Ian Dury said, Sweet Virginia

36:02

Whisper. He

36:05

had that thing and he

36:08

had the band. You know

36:10

that when they came into record,

36:12

they had students, like Chet Atkins was there in case

36:14

the band wasn't any good. They heard the band and

36:16

they went, oh, we could send

36:18

them studio guys home. The band is

36:20

amazing. These guys are great. Yeah. Gene

36:22

Vincent and the Bluecaps. The

36:25

studio photos I've always seen, his

36:28

amazing band, they're all wearing Bluecaps. Gene

36:30

always has this archtop guitar

36:32

that looks like it has a hole in it,

36:36

like this beat up. The

36:38

big hole. Yeah. Bubba told me they

36:40

used to light off cherry bombs on

36:42

stage to get the audience going. I

36:47

could have used that. There are plenty of times I

36:49

could have. Yeah, me too. Plenty

36:51

of nights we had a flat crowd. He told me

36:53

they used to throw cherry bombs around and blew up

36:55

on the Gene's guitar. That's what he told me about

36:58

that hole. Gene Vincent,

37:00

he really shoots to the top because

37:02

he does a song called

37:05

Bebop Alula. That was the second song

37:08

that you chose. It's from

37:10

1956, I believe. This

37:14

is around the time the Elvis

37:16

fuse gets lit in 54. It's

37:19

really started to burn in 55. Then 56 is

37:21

when Elvis just becomes, he's

37:23

everywhere and he is the king of

37:25

show business. It's a huge revolution, King

37:28

of Rock and Roll, and then Gene Vincent comes up with

37:30

Bebop Alula, which is a massive hit. Let's

37:33

give that a listen and then

37:36

we can discuss. Yeah, spin it. Or

37:39

push the button. Spin it sounds better. I

37:44

know. It's

37:46

interesting because the guitar is amazing, but

37:48

you pointed out something about Gene Vincent's

37:50

voice, which is it sounds

37:52

like, it

37:55

does sound like cool spring water. There's something very

37:57

liquid about it. Do you know what I mean?

37:59

Oh man. Yeah, just kind

38:02

of perfect and you can't you

38:04

know, it's sexy. Yeah, it's very yeah, very

38:06

sexy. Yeah, and What

38:10

is Cliff Gallop playing? There's he

38:12

playing a telecast? He's playing the guitar in the

38:14

corner there. Is he playing a duo? Yeah Mm-hmm.

38:18

He's playing a Gretsch. All right, Gretsch

38:20

duo jet. Yeah it

38:22

is so funny because Gretsch

38:25

is which It's

38:28

funny you single-handedly drove up the

38:30

price of Gretsch's you asshole, but

38:35

When you come along and you're playing the

38:38

6121 Gretsch's weren't thought of They

38:40

they weren't valued that way especially 6120's

38:43

duo jets and then you come along and

38:47

after the stray cats There

38:49

were thousands and thousands of dollars and you can't have

38:51

one My first

38:53

ever electric guitar was a Tennessean.

38:56

Yeah And with

38:58

the single cutaway and it had the painted

39:00

F holes, which I didn't

39:02

really know why would you paint F holes on?

39:04

I didn't understand why and someone

39:06

explained to me it's because of the feedback You

39:09

know that they didn't they hadn't quite figured out

39:11

yet how to keep guitars from feeding back through

39:13

the F holes Yeah, that's pretty much it. Yeah,

39:15

you know, I'm convinced

39:17

You know after all these years of playing

39:19

if one person says something they'll change it

39:22

like I just bought this new guitar

39:24

from Gretsch And I've had my son is having problems

39:26

and I had to save up a lot of money

39:28

Oh, we'd better change it and then they'll do something

39:30

like that. Yeah, you know Honestly,

39:34

I use the feedback that's why I

39:36

need yeah, right so people that don't

39:38

play guitar I'll explain to them like

39:40

a solid body guitar Doesn't

39:42

feed back cuz there's nothing coming out of

39:45

the guitar except the pickups are pulling this

39:47

down from the strings But when you play

39:49

an archtop guitar, which is more like

39:51

a if you imagine a violin or an

39:54

guitar, it's hollow It's got big holes for

39:56

the sound to it resonates. Yeah, it's not

39:58

a solid block of wood Picture me

40:00

playing at Shallow with pickups. Yeah. If

40:04

you're standing in the right spot, it

40:06

doesn't go, because we rock them. Those

40:08

guys in the 50s, you know, Chet

40:10

Atkins, he sat down and played it

40:12

like a gentleman, country gentleman.

40:15

We started just rocking out with them, you

40:17

know? So we had to figure out how

40:19

to get them to play right, you know? We had

40:21

Chet Atkins come by the show. Yeah, we did. Yeah,

40:24

yeah. Yep. And then, so of

40:26

course, being the nerd I am. You guys hit everybody. We had everybody. I

40:29

was on like the first week. Last fall, came on the first week,

40:31

gave me a last fall and signed it to me. Oh,

40:33

yeah. Yeah, I wish I hadn't thrown it out. But

40:39

I don't want to be a hoarder. But

40:43

no, Chet Atkins came by, and so I

40:45

showed him my Chet Atkins, Gretsch 6120, and

40:47

he takes that

40:50

out of my hand and he looks at it, but

40:53

he looks at it very technically. Like,

40:55

let's see. Yeah. And it is,

40:57

it's one that was put up with his name on it. So he's

41:00

looking at it and he goes like, hmm, yes, well, they did a

41:02

good job with this. And then he did a really cool thing. He

41:04

just put his initials on the back

41:06

of the headstock. Rather than sign

41:08

a big thing up front, he was like,

41:10

well, that would mar the guitar. So I'll

41:12

just do a little Sharpie. And you, I

41:14

mean, I have that guitar. You

41:17

can't even see it barely. But it's

41:19

back there. And it was his way of saying, well,

41:21

we mustn't damage the product. Right. You

41:23

know? Isn't that cool? And I only met him once

41:25

too and he invited me over and he goes, why

41:27

don't you look me up before, boy? And I said,

41:30

I thought it'd be like meeting the Pope. I didn't

41:32

think I could just come in and meet you. So

41:34

we sat down and played and, hold

41:37

on one second. Let me show you something

41:39

cool. Yeah. So I don't know how

41:41

well you can hear it. So he goes, can

41:43

I show you something? And I go, yeah. Yes,

41:46

you can, Chet Atkins. Yes. Exactly.

41:50

He goes, what do you want? And I go, do you

41:52

have anything in B flat? And he goes, what

41:54

are you doing up there, son? Wow. I

41:57

got this big bear with all these horns. me

42:00

this really cool roll. It's

42:12

cool, right? Beautiful. I love

42:14

that. And it's not, what is it? I

42:16

mean, it's not blues. It's

42:19

not, what is that? It's kind of, it

42:21

almost sounds a little like Dixieland or something.

42:23

I don't know. It does. It

42:25

does. It sounds like… You

42:29

know, it's something you had to have like a,

42:32

you could have like a strawboat or hat on

42:38

playing that. Yeah. I said, so

42:41

I wrote a song around that. You know, let's live

42:43

it up. Let's live it up. I wrote a song.

42:45

Mm-hmm. And I said, can I give you credit

42:48

for that or something? He goes, oh hell, I just stole it from

42:50

Jerry Reid. He

42:54

stole it from somebody. That's true. Or

42:57

they nicked it, as the

42:59

Beatles would say. I'm

43:01

curious, you said like you didn't

43:03

think you could just go

43:06

talk to Chet Atkins. And

43:08

I love that attitude. I've always

43:10

had that attitude. Like, I don't want to bother people.

43:13

And who am I to… I don't know.

43:15

I'm always, it's probably better to go at it from

43:17

that angle than this person is going to

43:19

love meeting me. You know what I mean? Yeah.

43:24

Do I look you up in the phone book? I

43:26

would have no idea. And I wouldn't even pursue it,

43:28

right? Because he's Chet Atkins. But

43:30

he reached out. He

43:32

had the whole building there in Music Row. Yep.

43:35

He goes, why don't you call me, boy? Why don't you look me up? So

43:38

it'd be like calling up the Pope. Yeah. And

43:40

then he was just happy to sit down and just play. Why

43:44

is B flat so cool? B

43:46

flat is a cool key. You like B flat? Well,

43:49

okay. The other day, I know

43:51

you're coming on and you're on my rap…

43:54

I think one of the things I listen to

43:56

that you've done the most is your version of Jump

43:58

Jive and Whale, you know? and I'm

44:00

listening to it and I get out

44:02

my guitar and I'm guessing and I'm like, yep,

44:05

that's B flat going up into B,

44:07

you know? But I'm just like, what,

44:10

why? So many cool things are in B flat and

44:12

I don't know what that's all about. It's cool on

44:15

guitar when you play in a horn key. That's a

44:17

horn key. That's a horn key, okay. Yeah, because it

44:19

has three flats. And

44:21

Chuck Berry's a lot of times. Is it three flats, truly,

44:23

B flat? Or two, oh, it is two

44:25

flats. Yeah. But it's- B

44:28

and E, they're both flat. Anyway, so

44:31

it sounds better for those guys when you're playing

44:33

those keys. Yeah. So there's a

44:35

lot of tricks on guitar that you wouldn't normally do

44:38

in that key. And once you've discovered them, you're one

44:40

of the few people that do them. Right.

44:43

Because everybody that does the A and G and C. Right.

44:45

But B flat, something a little different. Yeah. Isn't

44:48

Chuck Berry in sort of B flat territory a

44:50

lot, I think? I don't know. If

44:53

you got a sax player in those days, you

44:55

probably converted to their key. You had to

44:57

know those keys. And then it changed

45:00

some time when, oh, you're gonna play guitar keys now, A,

45:02

D, G. Right.

45:06

It's what comes across to me when

45:08

you look at all of your

45:10

work is that you're interested in

45:12

all music. You're not thinking, nope,

45:15

I'm rockabilly, or nope, I'm just

45:17

gonna do big bands now. You

45:20

appreciate everything. You have

45:22

big years for country. I

45:24

mean, if there's, you just like music. And then

45:26

what can I do? Well, thanks, I do. And

45:30

so many people, they've got those blinders

45:32

on. It's like, do you only have

45:34

one record in your collection? I do

45:36

like all different types of music.

45:39

That's why I kind of mix it all

45:41

up. That's why it's not pure rockabilly

45:43

what I play, or it's not pure

45:45

big band. That's

45:48

what sounds good in my head. And that's what

45:51

comes out. The third

45:53

song, this is a little bit of a departure, which

45:55

I didn't expect, by the way, but thrilled that it's

45:57

on the list, which is Sheila, because I'm a Beatles

45:59

fan. as well. She Loves You, 1963, The

46:02

Beatles. How did this make it on your... Brian

46:05

sets her pick three songs and something else,

46:07

Be Bop Lula, and then She Loves You.

46:09

What's going on here? What's

46:11

going on is that was so influential and

46:14

just me liking music. It was so early.

46:17

And shall we talk about it after we

46:19

spin it? Sure. Yeah. Okay.

46:23

Let's give these Beatles a chance. Sonna,

46:34

where else can you go surfing and skiing the same

46:36

day, huh? I don't know. Or

46:39

check out a world class art museum and then

46:41

camp at a dark sky sanctuary that night, huh?

46:44

Yeah. Yeah. Where else can you

46:46

hike through Redwoods and then get a luxury spa

46:48

treatment? Where? Well,

46:50

you live there. California. California, Sonna.

46:52

No matter where you go across

46:54

the state, you'll find a way

46:56

to play. I'm a California resident.

46:58

So are you... Sonna, you are

47:00

a lifelong California resident. I'm a

47:02

lifer. I love this place. This

47:04

is a beautiful state. Gorgeous. So

47:06

many different wonderful ecosystems in

47:09

one state. You can hang out

47:11

by a Palm Springs pool. You

47:13

can go whale watching. You can

47:15

go hiking in Yosemite and then

47:17

talk about the great cities in California.

47:20

You get all this amazing food, sushi,

47:22

whatever you want. They got it in

47:24

California. Hey, if you can't find it

47:26

in California, man, you got a problem.

47:28

Yeah. I shouldn't have done

47:31

that. I made that up on my own. Anyway,

47:33

I love California. Discover why California is the ultimate

47:35

playground. Head to visit california.com to start planning your

47:37

trip today. Sonna,

47:48

what would you do with $100 billion? Seriously? Oh,

47:52

I would buy a country. Okay.

47:54

I would buy just a ton

47:57

of yachts and private jets

47:59

and I would... duct tape them all together and

48:02

then just have it go in a circle in the Pacific Ocean.

48:04

Why? Yeah, I don't know, just

48:06

to be a total jerk. Anyway, there

48:09

is a correct answer. And

48:11

it's build incredible cities in fantastical locations while

48:13

competing with your friends to be the biggest

48:15

tycoon in the world. What do you think

48:17

of that answer? That's better than

48:19

mine. Yeah, and mine, which you can do

48:21

with Monopoly Go. They hit mobile game that's

48:23

so much fun, it's been downloaded over 150

48:25

million times. It's

48:28

the fun of classic Monopoly on the go

48:30

anytime, anywhere, endless new surprises like tons of

48:32

boards and crazy minigames. You can team up

48:35

with your chums on community chess and tournaments

48:37

to get big money. Or you

48:39

can go after their fortune changing rent on your

48:41

properties or even pulling a bank heist on them.

48:43

So much fun. It's incredible.

48:46

So start building up your

48:48

billions today. Go

48:50

download Monopoly Go. Now

48:53

free on the App Store

48:55

and Google Play. We're

49:08

going to hear from that group again, I know. So

49:11

what was it about that song that made

49:13

it onto your list? So

49:15

that song, you have to understand when

49:17

I was... Well, I don't know how old

49:19

I was. Maybe it was just when I heard it. You would

49:21

have been, I mean, I think five when it came out. I

49:24

was born in 59. Okay, so I

49:26

probably heard it later, right? But you

49:28

had to go grocery shopping. We called it

49:30

back East grocery shopping. I don't think they

49:32

do all over with mom.

49:36

And there was a little pizza place across the way. And

49:39

that came out of the jukebox. You

49:41

know, it's like yesterday. And

49:44

I walked up to the pizza guy. Who's

49:47

that on the jukebox? I don't know. That's

49:49

those girls. So I

49:51

went up to these girls. Who's that?

49:54

Oh, it's a new band called The Beatles. And

49:58

the only thing in my young years was... that

50:00

guitar, I heard the guitar, right? And

50:02

it was just new and fresh.

50:04

I mean, I couldn't have heard something like Eddie Cochran

50:06

yet. And that's where you

50:09

have to be open minded when people like

50:11

different sorts of music. Then

50:13

we went across the street and in another

50:16

record store, it was

50:18

a picture of the Beatles. And George had

50:20

the neck of his guitar like goofing around

50:23

across the other Beatles' necks like that.

50:26

And I go, the guitar is what makes

50:28

that sound. It's the guitar. I wanted that

50:30

sound. And

50:32

that's why I couldn't get it out of my head. I

50:36

didn't want a BB gun. I wanted a

50:38

guitar. And what? A guitar?

50:40

Nobody plays guitar. We don't know anybody who plays

50:42

guitar. That's what I wanted. And

50:45

wasn't your first instrument, was it, the guitar? Well,

50:48

in school, they stuck me with this thing

50:50

called the euphonium. Sounds

50:53

like an iron lung. Poor Brian.

50:56

Can't breathe on his own. We got him a euphonium.

51:00

Yeah. Oh geez, you're right. It

51:02

does. So I pictured this skinny little

51:05

kid from Long Island with the euphonium, which is

51:07

like a mini tuba. You're right. But

51:10

that's what they had in school. My parents didn't have any money.

51:13

And actually, I learned how to read

51:15

the bass clef with that thing. But I

51:17

really wanted the guitar to play. But

51:20

that's what I played in the school band. Boom, boom, boom,

51:22

boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,

51:24

boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Like,

51:26

you know, that kind of music. As with my brothers, then

51:28

I were cadets. You know, we had the hats and we

51:31

could march with that thing. Sure, yeah. That was a B

51:33

flat. Yeah. The euphonium. I'm

51:35

glad you gave it up. I think you went a lot. A

51:38

lot of the euphonium. Yeah, exactly. Well, it was

51:40

up to my dad. I'd be in the coast

51:43

guard playing euphonium. So

51:47

you, of the Beatles, you kind of

51:49

got to meet George a few times.

51:52

Yeah. Yeah. I

51:54

think you got it all a little bit because he

51:56

would have, I imagine, loved what

51:58

you were He told

52:01

me he did. Yeah. He was

52:03

very dry, very sarcastic. In

52:08

no bullshit way. But,

52:10

yeah. What

52:13

can I say about him, really? He was... You're

52:17

always in such awe when you meet someone like

52:19

that. When you met Paul or when I met

52:21

George. But that's

52:25

the stuff they all love. They

52:27

all love the Rockabilly stuff. Like

52:29

I said, the biggest stars that

52:31

people that I grew up with,

52:34

they wanted to meet Freddie Mercury or the

52:36

latest... Jess

52:39

Roach Hall and all that. And

52:41

all these guys wanted to meet the

52:43

Stray Cats. Isn't that cool? He was

52:46

always unbelievable. And I

52:48

didn't know many of those band

52:50

songs because I listened to Rockabilly

52:52

music. When we opened for the

52:54

Stones, I could have sung maybe Satisfaction

52:56

and a couple. I didn't know their

52:58

music. Because I was listening to Carl

53:01

Perkins. Which, by the way,

53:03

strangely enough, they had been listening to earlier and

53:05

then they had gone on to that stuff. What's

53:10

so fascinating is that I have found

53:12

this to be true. People you idolize, it's

53:14

the stuff that you heard when

53:16

you were a kid. So it's just you talking about

53:19

hearing some of this music when you were much younger and

53:21

that's what Graham told of you. I'm

53:23

that way about comedians. I idolized the

53:26

people that were on TV when I was a kid.

53:29

Those were the ones that later on when

53:31

I got to meet them. When

53:34

I got to meet Don Knotts. I couldn't

53:36

believe I was meeting Don Knotts. So

53:42

many incredibly talented, genius

53:45

performers today who were in their 30s

53:47

and 40s. When I meet them, they're

53:49

younger than me, I'm really

53:51

excited to meet them and I really love their

53:53

work and I think they're brilliant. But it's never

53:55

going to have the same effect on me as

53:58

seeing those people. They came through

54:01

my TV set or on my record player when I

54:03

was a kid Like it's just you can't

54:05

get no one can get to you the same way.

54:07

I Never thought of

54:09

that, but it's yes Yeah,

54:11

and it's because that's what you're growing

54:14

up with. You know, that's what shaped

54:16

you Yeah, you know you

54:18

get older I guess and it

54:20

doesn't have that same effect Did

54:22

you get to play at all with George or just

54:24

chat? I don't think I did

54:27

I Played with with

54:29

Keith and yeah with with Bill a

54:32

lot Bill Wyman. Yep, but

54:34

I don't think I ever know He

54:37

didn't last too long a poor guy. No

54:40

But he said oh just a

54:42

quick funny story Yeah We went

54:44

to a party and there was George and my

54:46

brother did you know you? Have

54:48

you ever brought a family member to meet

54:51

somebody that they're gonna flip out over sure

54:53

Okay, so he does the thing. Oh don't

54:55

do this, you know Goes

54:57

oh hi. Mr. Harrison. I've got a band

55:00

or I were on the deca label I'm

55:02

gonna do this and I'll be doing that

55:04

and so George just looks at me as

55:06

well. See on the telly then I

55:13

can just see him doing that too and I always

55:16

just wanted to do that Yeah,

55:18

we were just kids and if

55:20

somebody did that to me, I'd be understanding.

55:22

Yeah, it was so funny because we had

55:25

Ringo on the show once and I'll

55:27

never forget was the first time Ringo was on the show. I

55:30

play with ringo Yeah, and ringo is such a

55:32

lovely guy, but I remembered it's the first time he's on the show

55:34

and he's back he's out in the

55:36

hall outside 6a and Iconic

55:40

6a studio and he he's outside

55:42

and someone

55:44

comes up and says the line that people always says

55:46

which is I'm

55:49

so sorry to bother you, you know if they want

55:51

to they want you to sign something. I'm gonna bother

55:53

you Yeah, and and what and what they always say

55:55

is I'm so sorry to bother you and ringo with

55:57

just matter of fact Like he's been saying it since

56:00

1963. It was one of the

56:02

cameramen said, so sorry to bother anyone. No, you're

56:04

not. But then signed it anyway. But

56:06

as he was signing it, just saying, if you were

56:08

really sorry, you wouldn't do it. I just thought like,

56:11

oh, that's kind of a, these

56:13

Liverpool guys, you know how to give it. They don't have

56:15

to dish it out. Each city seems to have that wise

56:17

guy thing going, you know? Yeah.

56:19

Well, I'm glad. And

56:22

you said you haven't met Paul, which I find hard

56:24

to believe. No, no. Yeah. Well, you just

56:26

call him up. He's not the Pope. Actually,

56:31

he is kind of the Pope, I guess, isn't he? Yeah. I

56:33

want to make sure I mention a couple of things. Your

56:36

latest album, which I've been listening to, The

56:38

Devil Always Collects from

56:40

2023. I love

56:42

it. You're playing and singing as well as ever. And

56:44

this is something that Jim and I were talking about

56:46

earlier, that it's crazy we've

56:49

talked this much about your playing. You're

56:51

a great fucking singer and you just,

56:54

it's, when

56:57

did you know that you could sing like that?

56:59

You're a crooner. You can really belt. I never

57:01

wanted to sing. I just wanted to be Scotty

57:03

Moore. And I think I

57:05

just maybe got better for

57:08

me being a singer. I just had to, you

57:10

know, you got to let all your

57:13

inhibitions go. It's hard. You know, it's hard

57:16

for me to do that, just to let

57:18

it all out. Because sometimes you feel like

57:20

you're being a fool, you know, what did

57:22

I just sing? But that's what really it

57:25

takes to be, for me to be a

57:27

good singer. The guitar thing, I know what I want to do.

57:30

You know, I know what I want to play.

57:32

I know where I want to do it,

57:34

have it figured out. The singing thing is,

57:36

it takes longer. But I'm glad you

57:39

like the new record. I used a Gretsch

57:41

Duo Jet on most of it, which

57:43

I never used. And it just seems

57:45

to fit. It just

57:48

cut through. And again, this is the Gretsch

57:50

Duo Jet for you real freaks out there

57:52

who care. It's

57:54

kind of like Gretsch's answer to a

57:56

Les Paul sort of. It's a solid

57:58

body. And

58:01

we were talking about how there's the 6120s

58:04

and everything else we were talking about are these

58:06

hollow bodies, but that's the guitar that

58:08

George played in the cavern with the Beatles.

58:10

That was his first real guitar. Oh,

58:12

that is right. It was a Gretsch duo. It was a

58:14

Gretsch duo. And Danny let

58:16

me hold it once. Danny Harrison

58:19

had it and- Danny's

58:21

got it. And yeah, Danny

58:23

has, he has all the guitars. Oh, good. And

58:25

Danny handed it to me. I'm glad they're not

58:27

some showcase somewhere. I don't know. Danny has them

58:30

all. And I mean,

58:32

he's got the 12 string Rickenbacker from Hard

58:34

Day's Night. Oh. He's got-

58:36

He's got the acoustic. He's got all

58:38

of them. Yeah, he's got all of

58:41

them. Psychedelic. He's got Rocky, which is

58:43

the one that George hand-painted, psychedelics.

58:45

But he handed that one

58:48

to me. And that

58:50

was the only one I wanted to hold because I

58:52

knew that, first of all, it's a Gretsch. Second of

58:54

all, it's the one that I knew they were playing

58:56

when they played on that first album. Right,

58:59

because there was blood, sweat, and tears on

59:01

that guitar. Yes. Yeah. Exactly.

59:04

So that was- Didn't he buy that guitar

59:06

from like an American Navy

59:08

guy who was visiting like maybe

59:10

possibly- They should have Liverpool and

59:13

they couldn't afford American guitars. There's

59:15

a great story that no one's adequately told yet

59:17

to my- anyway, as far as I know, maybe

59:20

they have and I just haven't seen it. But

59:22

everyone thinks that the Beatles coming to America for the first

59:24

time in February of 64 and getting off the plane and

59:26

doing Sullivan. Three

59:28

of them. It was their

59:31

first time in America. George had been

59:33

the previous winter

59:35

because his sister was living out

59:37

in like the Midwest, like Minnesota, Minneapolis,

59:39

someplace like that. Oh, she married an

59:42

American guy. She married an American guy

59:44

and they were living out there. George

59:46

visits her. Oh, really? And

59:48

the Beatles are starting to click in

59:51

England, but no one knows who they are in

59:53

America. He comes out and

59:55

he visits and he's this-

59:57

they're pictures of him visiting New York. I think

59:59

he's in New York maybe first and he's

1:00:01

just kind of wandering around on his own, but

1:00:04

then he goes to the Midwest. He's

1:00:07

hanging out with his older sister

1:00:11

and then they

1:00:13

go and they see a local rock and

1:00:15

roll band play and the sister

1:00:17

says, you know, my brother's pretty good. And

1:00:20

they're like, where's he from? He sounds funny. Oh, he's

1:00:22

from Liverpool, England. All right. And then

1:00:24

he gets up and he plays with this like local band

1:00:26

in a dance hall somewhere

1:00:30

in the Midwest and

1:00:32

the other kids are like, yeah, he's pretty good. And

1:00:35

then he says, well, you know, I'll be seeing you. It

1:00:37

was nice to see you all, you know, goodbye sister.

1:00:39

And he gets back on the plane and goes and then

1:00:41

returns and with his friends

1:00:43

and conquers America. Oh, really? So I

1:00:45

would always thinking just somewhere there's a

1:00:48

great documentary of what

1:00:50

was that like? You know,

1:00:53

that's a great idea. So

1:00:55

I don't know. But maybe it already exists. And if

1:00:57

it does, I got to see it. It's

1:01:00

a funny place that Midwest people think I'm English

1:01:02

there because I don't sound like them. I

1:01:04

go, I'm from New York. How could you think

1:01:07

of English? Oh, maybe you thought you were Welsh

1:01:09

or something. Well, what

1:01:12

does the Welshman even sound like? Yeah,

1:01:17

I'm from Boston. God knows what they think I am. Yeah,

1:01:21

the devil always collects is

1:01:23

fantastic and as good as

1:01:25

anything you've ever done. And

1:01:28

it's got a different guitar sound that I love

1:01:31

because I think you're playing not

1:01:33

just this different guitar, but you're playing it. Is

1:01:35

it using a different amp or are you using

1:01:37

a different setup or is it the same setup?

1:01:40

It's the same setup. I got to bring my guitars

1:01:42

to that amp. I use a Fender Bassman

1:01:44

amp. If I trade the amp because

1:01:46

it has reverb or something, I lose the sound. But

1:01:50

isn't it funny? I really appreciate that, of

1:01:52

course. But everyone's telling me, you know, this

1:01:54

is one of the best ones you've ever

1:01:56

made. Why is that? I have absolutely no

1:01:58

idea. I don't know. I wrote the

1:02:00

songs I recorded them I changed the guitar and

1:02:03

some of them but I you know, it's just

1:02:05

what comes out Well, I

1:02:07

think it's not your job to know like your

1:02:09

job is it's serious is your job is to

1:02:11

make it and and and then I let other

1:02:14

people ponder You know what I

1:02:16

mean? I really believe that This

1:02:18

is been like again. This is a

1:02:20

holiday for me. I said when you

1:02:22

came in the door I always suspect

1:02:25

when like a Brian Setzer walks in and

1:02:27

he's here to talk to me I think it's a

1:02:30

make-a-wish and no one's told me But

1:02:32

I'm dying and they're like okay Conan's he's very

1:02:34

gravely ill, but we can't tell him get

1:02:36

Brian in Have

1:02:38

Brian talk to him and tell him he's a

1:02:41

good guy, you know Oh stories,

1:02:43

but it's a huge deal for me

1:02:45

and I'm so glad that you were able to do this

1:02:47

and What I

1:02:49

want you to do is go sleep because you've got a

1:02:52

huge you really give it everything you have when

1:02:54

you perform So you need to go Sleep

1:02:58

it's those buses. I tell you it's

1:03:00

those buses those goddamn Yeah,

1:03:03

I Did

1:03:05

see in my brief time on a bus why

1:03:08

someone would start? taking

1:03:11

recreational things I Did

1:03:14

completely understand? There's

1:03:16

a reason if you give if you go

1:03:18

insane on a stage for two hours or

1:03:20

something around I 45 minutes and

1:03:22

then you get on a bus and someone says

1:03:24

go to sleep No,

1:03:26

fuck you. I'm not going to sleep. I know

1:03:28

unless you have You know

1:03:31

a giant rhino tranquilizer. I'm not going

1:03:33

to sleep. I know it's it's tough

1:03:35

I got almost 13 years

1:03:38

no beers and it's it

1:03:40

doesn't make it easier on the bus, you know, right?

1:03:43

Right. It's just yeah, it's that that's the hardest

1:03:45

part the hardest part is to travel I

1:03:47

think Joe Walsh said the gig is free. You're paying

1:03:50

me to get there right? Oh, that's true You know

1:03:52

good way to look at it, but

1:03:54

I've noticed something different this tour, which is funny

1:03:57

It's like I've got the guitar guys that now

1:03:59

listening to the solos and getting

1:04:01

applause after the solos. Yeah, like

1:04:03

jazz room. Sure, yeah. Wow, look

1:04:06

at that. You know, so that

1:04:08

was kind of different. I remember it being, I think

1:04:10

it was Stray Cat Strap, but you were playing

1:04:12

on the video. This is, you

1:04:15

know, you're like a, you're just a

1:04:17

child, but you're playing and it's this

1:04:19

very 80s video that was

1:04:21

hugely popular, but being mad that they

1:04:23

kept cutting away to the cat

1:04:25

and stuff when you're playing the solo. Oh, really?

1:04:28

I want to see what his hands are

1:04:30

doing. I want to see a cat or

1:04:32

a lady looking out a window throwing a

1:04:34

bucket, you know, like, where's his hands? You

1:04:36

know, anyway, Brian, God bless. Thank you so

1:04:38

much for being here and I'll see you

1:04:41

at the show tomorrow night. Make it a

1:04:43

good one or I'm walking out. All right.

1:04:46

All right. Conan

1:04:50

O'Brien needs a friend with Conan O'Brien,

1:04:52

Sonam of Sessian and Matt Corley. Our

1:04:56

supervising producer is Aaron Blair and our

1:04:58

associate talent producer is Jennifer Samples. Engineering

1:05:01

and mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brendan

1:05:03

Burns. Additional production

1:05:05

support by Mars Melnick. Talent booking by Paula

1:05:09

Davis, Gina

1:05:11

Batista, and Britt

1:05:20

Kahn. You can rate and review this show on

1:05:23

Apple Podcasts and you might find your review read

1:05:25

on a future episode. Got a question for Conan?

1:05:27

Call the Team Coco hotline at 669-587-2847 and leave

1:05:29

a message. It

1:05:34

too could be featured on a future episode. And

1:05:37

if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O'Brien

1:05:39

Needs a Friend wherever foreign tag

1:05:41

casts are downloaded. Net

1:05:53

credit is here to say yes to a personal loan or line

1:05:55

of credit when other lenders they

1:06:00

know. Apply in minutes and

1:06:02

get a decision as soon as the

1:06:04

same day. If approved, applications are typically

1:06:06

funded the next business day or sooner.

1:06:09

Loans offered by NetCredit or lending

1:06:11

partner banks and service by NetCredit.

1:06:14

Applications subject to review and approval.

1:06:16

Learn more at netcredit.com/partner. NetCredit.

1:06:18

Credit to the people. When

1:06:25

you need mealtime inspiration, it's worth

1:06:27

shopping Kroger, where you'll find over

1:06:30

30,000 mouth-watering choices that excite

1:06:32

your inner foodie. And no matter what

1:06:34

tasty choice you make, you'll enjoy our

1:06:36

everyday low prices. Plus extra ways to

1:06:38

save, like digital coupons worth over $600

1:06:41

each week. You can also save up

1:06:43

to $1 off per

1:06:45

gallon at the pump with fuel points.

1:06:47

More savings and more inspiring flavors

1:06:49

make shopping Kroger worth it every

1:06:51

time. Kroger. Fresh for everyone. Fuel

1:06:53

restrictions apply.