Chords for Tommy James interviewed by Bob Kester - Don Odells Legends
Tempo:
105 bpm
Chords used:
G
Ab
Bb
Gb
C
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
For Donald Dell's legends, I'm Bob Kester here today in West Springfield at the Big [D] E.
On stage tonight, Tommy James.
Tommy James and the [Bb] Shondells.
Welcome to West Springfield.
Thank you very [G] much.
It's really fun.
It's going to be [Bm] a fun night.
It is so cool to see you.
[G] I see you now in person and I think, for your age you're looking [Ab] great.
And then I think back, you were a model at the age of four.
[G] That's true.
Well, for [Bb] 106 I'm not too bad.
But [Db] yeah, I started out at four, believe it or not.
Is [Bb] this something your parents said, all this kid's going to [Gm] go places?
You know, I was [Cm] modeling clothes, cowboy outfits and [G] stuff.
And then when I was 12, I started the group that ended up being the Shondells.
And I've been really doing this [C] ever since.
So it's [B] been a long haul.
And not just doing [G] it, but doing it well.
From 68 and 69, you've outsold [Ab] singles for everybody on the [Abm] planet.
And that includes the Beatles.
Well, thank you.
Is [Ab] there a secret for writing some sort [Em] of a hit song that you can follow?
I'll [A] tell you the truth.
[G] [Em] It's been, you know, I was kind [G] of thrown into the music business.
It's what I always wanted [A] to do.
But when it finally came, it was really unexpected.
And my first hit record, Hanky Panky, was actually recorded when I was back in high school.
My hometown of Niles, Michigan, with my high [E] school mates, you know, [G] bandmates.
And the record came out and [E] immediately bombed.
And so two years later, I had graduated from high school then in [G] 1965.
It was originally out in 64 on a local label.
And in early 1966, I'm playing a dumpy little [E] club in Janesville, Wisconsin.
And right in the middle of my two weeks, [Bbm] the IRS shut the guy [Bm] down with our equipment and everything.
So we finally [Dm] got our way back to Niles [D] feeling like complete losers.
[Dm] And the minute I got home, I got [Ebm] the call that changed my life.
That's how the good [Gb] Lord works.
And I [Db] was told that Hanky Panky [Ab] had been bootlegged in the city of Pittsburgh.
It [Ebm] was sitting at number [Eb] one.
You know, it's one of those only in America stories.
[Gbm] And [Ebm] so I was kind of catapulted first in Pittsburgh at that moment.
[Eb] Picked up the first bar band I could find to be the Shondells, [Bbm] the [Bb] new Shondells.
And then headed for New York [G] a week later [Gb] and sold the [Ab] master to Roulette Records,
[Bb] the label that we had the bulk of our hits with.
And they took it number one in the world and was [Eb] out in the summer of 66 [Gm] and was the number one record.
That [Ab] started my career.
[Gb] So it's been a long [Eb] haul.
And thinking of the [Bm] hits that you've had, Money, [C] Money, Crystal Blue Persuasion.
I mean, you got all these hits under your belt that you got to play first.
But then they had such a life of their own that they got covered by all these other great [Bb] artists.
Do you have a favorite artist that has covered one of your songs?
[Ab] Well, you know, I thought [G] Prince last year did an amazing job with Crimson [Db] and Globe.
Made it sound [G] very futuristic, had a number one album.
And that was the first single released from the album.
[Ab] And it was the first [Bm] digital, all digital album project.
And [G] I also thought REM [Bm] did a great job with Dragon and the Lion and the Oscar Powers.
We've been so [Ab] fortunate to have, [Bb]
you know, over 300 cover versions of our songs done [Abm] by everyone.
Billy [Bm] Idol and Boston Pops, you know.
Yeah, [F] and it certainly keeps new [G] fans coming along the pike.
It's not like you're still just entertaining those who knew you back then.
Well, [Eb] that's true.
We've been [G] very lucky to have a new [C] generation of fans.
I look out at our concert crowd now and I see three generations of people.
And, you know, [Bb] the fans have almost become like extended [C] family.
[Gb] You know, I [Ab] know it sounds a little corny, [Db] but it's true.
And, you know, when we're at, when [G] we'll do a date, especially a [Bb] date like a fair like we're doing tonight,
[C] where we actually get to [Gb] meet people and we get to, [Eb] you know, sign autographs after the show and so forth.
[Ab] It's so great to, you know, [Gb] just hang with folks.
And you're still [Ab] busy making music.
Tell us about the vinyl resurgence.
Sure.
Well, you know, this [Eb] year we have released [Ab] our Christmas album, not only on CD, but also [G] on vinyl.
Where'd that idea [C] come from?
Well, I, you know, [Eb] I'm a vinyl nut.
[Eb] [C] And I've always wanted, [Gb] I haven't actually heard my [G] voice on vinyl in over [Ab] 30 years.
That's [Gb] how long it's been, you know, everything's been [Bb] on CDs.
Sure.
So to release a new vinyl [Db] album, you know, vinyl is such a different kind of experience than a CD.
You know, you gently take the record out of the jacket and then you take the [G] sleeve off and you put it on the turntable and drop [F] the needle on the record.
And then you only hear half an album [Gm] and then you got to come [C] and turn it over.
So you're really involved and [G] you get to look at the album cover, which is big.
You know, guys [Gb] like me can actually read it.
Yeah.
I'm thinking about [Ab] when vinyl switched over to CD and it shrunk [F] everything down to this big and [Eb] you did lose a lot of that [Ab] romance.
I know.
So it's going to be in stores and on, you know, wherever vinyl is sold.
If you still have a turntable, you want it.
Or at our website.
Just tell [Db] me to change that.
And that's another point.
Right up there on social media, you've got the website.
[Bb]
Great stuff there.
How about YouTube?
We're doing a [C] YouTube channel starting the first [Gb] of the year.
And [Ab] they asked me if I would be interested in doing a Tommy James channel.
I said, [Bb] sure.
You know, YouTube has become sort of the new [C] [Gb] international radio station.
[E] Sure.
And [Db] so [Fm] we're going to have, I'm actually going to do little five to seven minute vignettes [Bb] in the studio [C]
and [Gb] talking about a lot of the hits and then doing new [Eb] music as well.
So it's going to be a great window on the world [Fm] for us.
And I understand that [B] they're taking the book and making it into a movie.
[Gm] That's correct.
Our book, Me, the Mob, and the Music, which was an autobiography that we [G] released two years ago, [D] is now going to be a film.
And [G] it's produced by Barbara Dufina, who produced Goodfellas and Casino.
And she did Hugo with Martin Scorsese two years ago.
And, oh, Cape Fear and so many great movies.
[Bm] And we're just so honored that she's going to do our film.
And I really hope that she's got a part for you in there somewhere.
Well, I'll be a bartender or something, you know, some flunky, something.
But we're really excited to [F] have our story, which really is the [Gbm] story of [G] our relationship with Roulette Records.
Because Roulette Records, I can say this now, I couldn't for years and years.
Roulette Records, in addition to being a [Gm] functioning record company, was also [D] a front for the Genovese crime family in New York.
So [Bb] life was real interesting for us.
The whole story is basically about us having a career in rock and roll with [G] this really dark and sinister story going on behind us that we couldn't [Db] talk about.
We'll be [G] looking forward to it.
Tommy [N] James, thanks for joining us today.
Have a great [Bm] time today.
Thank you.
[G] For Donald Bell's Legends, I'm [N] Bob Kester.
On stage tonight, Tommy James.
Tommy James and the [Bb] Shondells.
Welcome to West Springfield.
Thank you very [G] much.
It's really fun.
It's going to be [Bm] a fun night.
It is so cool to see you.
[G] I see you now in person and I think, for your age you're looking [Ab] great.
And then I think back, you were a model at the age of four.
[G] That's true.
Well, for [Bb] 106 I'm not too bad.
But [Db] yeah, I started out at four, believe it or not.
Is [Bb] this something your parents said, all this kid's going to [Gm] go places?
You know, I was [Cm] modeling clothes, cowboy outfits and [G] stuff.
And then when I was 12, I started the group that ended up being the Shondells.
And I've been really doing this [C] ever since.
So it's [B] been a long haul.
And not just doing [G] it, but doing it well.
From 68 and 69, you've outsold [Ab] singles for everybody on the [Abm] planet.
And that includes the Beatles.
Well, thank you.
Is [Ab] there a secret for writing some sort [Em] of a hit song that you can follow?
I'll [A] tell you the truth.
[G] [Em] It's been, you know, I was kind [G] of thrown into the music business.
It's what I always wanted [A] to do.
But when it finally came, it was really unexpected.
And my first hit record, Hanky Panky, was actually recorded when I was back in high school.
My hometown of Niles, Michigan, with my high [E] school mates, you know, [G] bandmates.
And the record came out and [E] immediately bombed.
And so two years later, I had graduated from high school then in [G] 1965.
It was originally out in 64 on a local label.
And in early 1966, I'm playing a dumpy little [E] club in Janesville, Wisconsin.
And right in the middle of my two weeks, [Bbm] the IRS shut the guy [Bm] down with our equipment and everything.
So we finally [Dm] got our way back to Niles [D] feeling like complete losers.
[Dm] And the minute I got home, I got [Ebm] the call that changed my life.
That's how the good [Gb] Lord works.
And I [Db] was told that Hanky Panky [Ab] had been bootlegged in the city of Pittsburgh.
It [Ebm] was sitting at number [Eb] one.
You know, it's one of those only in America stories.
[Gbm] And [Ebm] so I was kind of catapulted first in Pittsburgh at that moment.
[Eb] Picked up the first bar band I could find to be the Shondells, [Bbm] the [Bb] new Shondells.
And then headed for New York [G] a week later [Gb] and sold the [Ab] master to Roulette Records,
[Bb] the label that we had the bulk of our hits with.
And they took it number one in the world and was [Eb] out in the summer of 66 [Gm] and was the number one record.
That [Ab] started my career.
[Gb] So it's been a long [Eb] haul.
And thinking of the [Bm] hits that you've had, Money, [C] Money, Crystal Blue Persuasion.
I mean, you got all these hits under your belt that you got to play first.
But then they had such a life of their own that they got covered by all these other great [Bb] artists.
Do you have a favorite artist that has covered one of your songs?
[Ab] Well, you know, I thought [G] Prince last year did an amazing job with Crimson [Db] and Globe.
Made it sound [G] very futuristic, had a number one album.
And that was the first single released from the album.
[Ab] And it was the first [Bm] digital, all digital album project.
And [G] I also thought REM [Bm] did a great job with Dragon and the Lion and the Oscar Powers.
We've been so [Ab] fortunate to have, [Bb]
you know, over 300 cover versions of our songs done [Abm] by everyone.
Billy [Bm] Idol and Boston Pops, you know.
Yeah, [F] and it certainly keeps new [G] fans coming along the pike.
It's not like you're still just entertaining those who knew you back then.
Well, [Eb] that's true.
We've been [G] very lucky to have a new [C] generation of fans.
I look out at our concert crowd now and I see three generations of people.
And, you know, [Bb] the fans have almost become like extended [C] family.
[Gb] You know, I [Ab] know it sounds a little corny, [Db] but it's true.
And, you know, when we're at, when [G] we'll do a date, especially a [Bb] date like a fair like we're doing tonight,
[C] where we actually get to [Gb] meet people and we get to, [Eb] you know, sign autographs after the show and so forth.
[Ab] It's so great to, you know, [Gb] just hang with folks.
And you're still [Ab] busy making music.
Tell us about the vinyl resurgence.
Sure.
Well, you know, this [Eb] year we have released [Ab] our Christmas album, not only on CD, but also [G] on vinyl.
Where'd that idea [C] come from?
Well, I, you know, [Eb] I'm a vinyl nut.
[Eb] [C] And I've always wanted, [Gb] I haven't actually heard my [G] voice on vinyl in over [Ab] 30 years.
That's [Gb] how long it's been, you know, everything's been [Bb] on CDs.
Sure.
So to release a new vinyl [Db] album, you know, vinyl is such a different kind of experience than a CD.
You know, you gently take the record out of the jacket and then you take the [G] sleeve off and you put it on the turntable and drop [F] the needle on the record.
And then you only hear half an album [Gm] and then you got to come [C] and turn it over.
So you're really involved and [G] you get to look at the album cover, which is big.
You know, guys [Gb] like me can actually read it.
Yeah.
I'm thinking about [Ab] when vinyl switched over to CD and it shrunk [F] everything down to this big and [Eb] you did lose a lot of that [Ab] romance.
I know.
So it's going to be in stores and on, you know, wherever vinyl is sold.
If you still have a turntable, you want it.
Or at our website.
Just tell [Db] me to change that.
And that's another point.
Right up there on social media, you've got the website.
[Bb]
Great stuff there.
How about YouTube?
We're doing a [C] YouTube channel starting the first [Gb] of the year.
And [Ab] they asked me if I would be interested in doing a Tommy James channel.
I said, [Bb] sure.
You know, YouTube has become sort of the new [C] [Gb] international radio station.
[E] Sure.
And [Db] so [Fm] we're going to have, I'm actually going to do little five to seven minute vignettes [Bb] in the studio [C]
and [Gb] talking about a lot of the hits and then doing new [Eb] music as well.
So it's going to be a great window on the world [Fm] for us.
And I understand that [B] they're taking the book and making it into a movie.
[Gm] That's correct.
Our book, Me, the Mob, and the Music, which was an autobiography that we [G] released two years ago, [D] is now going to be a film.
And [G] it's produced by Barbara Dufina, who produced Goodfellas and Casino.
And she did Hugo with Martin Scorsese two years ago.
And, oh, Cape Fear and so many great movies.
[Bm] And we're just so honored that she's going to do our film.
And I really hope that she's got a part for you in there somewhere.
Well, I'll be a bartender or something, you know, some flunky, something.
But we're really excited to [F] have our story, which really is the [Gbm] story of [G] our relationship with Roulette Records.
Because Roulette Records, I can say this now, I couldn't for years and years.
Roulette Records, in addition to being a [Gm] functioning record company, was also [D] a front for the Genovese crime family in New York.
So [Bb] life was real interesting for us.
The whole story is basically about us having a career in rock and roll with [G] this really dark and sinister story going on behind us that we couldn't [Db] talk about.
We'll be [G] looking forward to it.
Tommy [N] James, thanks for joining us today.
Have a great [Bm] time today.
Thank you.
[G] For Donald Bell's Legends, I'm [N] Bob Kester.
Key:
G
Ab
Bb
Gb
C
G
Ab
Bb
_ For Donald Dell's legends, I'm Bob Kester here today in West Springfield at the Big [D] E.
On stage tonight, Tommy James.
Tommy James and the [Bb] Shondells.
Welcome to West Springfield.
Thank you very [G] much.
It's really fun.
It's going to be [Bm] a fun night.
It is so cool to see you.
[G] I see you now in person and I think, for your age you're looking [Ab] great.
And then I think back, you were a model at the age of four.
[G] That's true.
Well, for [Bb] 106 I'm not too bad.
But [Db] yeah, I started out at four, believe it or not.
Is [Bb] this something your parents said, all this kid's going to [Gm] go places?
You know, I was [Cm] modeling clothes, cowboy outfits and [G] stuff.
And then when I was 12, I started the group that ended up being the Shondells.
And I've been really doing this [C] ever since.
So it's [B] been a long haul.
And not just doing [G] it, but doing it well.
From 68 and 69, you've outsold [Ab] singles for everybody on the [Abm] planet.
And that includes the Beatles.
Well, thank you.
Is [Ab] there a secret for writing some sort [Em] of a hit song that you can follow? _
I'll [A] tell you the truth.
[G] _ [Em] It's been, you know, I was kind [G] of thrown into the music business.
It's what I always wanted [A] to do.
But when it finally came, it was really unexpected.
And my first hit record, Hanky Panky, was actually recorded when I was back in high school.
My hometown of Niles, Michigan, with my high [E] school mates, you know, [G] bandmates.
And the record came out and [E] immediately bombed.
And _ so two years later, I had graduated from high school then in [G] 1965.
It was originally out in 64 on a local label.
And in early 1966, I'm playing a dumpy little [E] club in Janesville, Wisconsin.
And right in the middle of my two weeks, [Bbm] the IRS shut the guy [Bm] down with our equipment and everything.
So we finally [Dm] got our way back to Niles [D] feeling like complete losers.
[Dm] And the minute I got home, I got [Ebm] the call that changed my life.
That's how the good [Gb] Lord works.
_ _ And I [Db] was told that Hanky Panky [Ab] had been bootlegged in the city of Pittsburgh.
It [Ebm] was sitting at number [Eb] one.
You know, it's one of those only in America stories.
[Gbm] And _ [Ebm] so I was kind of catapulted first in Pittsburgh at that moment.
[Eb] Picked up the first bar band I could find to be the Shondells, [Bbm] _ the [Bb] new Shondells.
And then headed for New York [G] a week later [Gb] and sold the [Ab] master to Roulette Records,
[Bb] _ the label that we had the bulk of our hits with.
And they took it number one in the world and was [Eb] out in the summer of 66 [Gm] and was the number one record.
That [Ab] started my career.
[Gb] So it's been a long [Eb] haul.
And thinking of the [Bm] hits that you've had, Money, [C] Money, Crystal Blue Persuasion.
I mean, you got all these hits under your belt that you got to play first.
But then they had such a life of their own that they got covered by all these other great [Bb] artists.
Do you have a favorite artist that has covered one of your songs?
[Ab] Well, you know, I thought [G] Prince last year did an amazing job with Crimson [Db] and Globe.
Made it sound [G] very futuristic, had a number one album.
And that was the first single released from the album.
[Ab] And it was the first [Bm] digital, all digital album project.
And _ _ [G] I also thought REM [Bm] did a great job with Dragon and the Lion and the Oscar Powers.
We've been so [Ab] _ fortunate to have, _ _ [Bb] _
you know, over 300 cover versions of our songs done [Abm] by everyone.
Billy [Bm] Idol and Boston Pops, you know.
Yeah, [F] and it certainly keeps new [G] fans coming along the pike.
It's not like you're still just entertaining those who knew you back then.
Well, [Eb] that's true.
We've been [G] very lucky to have a new [C] generation of fans.
I look out at our concert crowd now and I see three generations of people. _
_ And, you know, [Bb] the fans have almost become like extended [C] family.
_ [Gb] _ _ _ You know, I [Ab] know it sounds a little corny, [Db] but it's true.
And, you know, when we're at, when [G] we'll do a date, especially a [Bb] date like a fair like we're doing tonight,
[C] where we actually get to [Gb] meet people and we get to, _ [Eb] you know, sign autographs after the show and so forth.
[Ab] It's so great to, you know, [Gb] just hang with folks.
And you're still [Ab] busy making music.
Tell us about the vinyl resurgence.
Sure.
Well, you know, this [Eb] _ year we have released [Ab] our Christmas album, not only on CD, but also [G] on vinyl.
Where'd that idea [C] come from?
Well, I, you know, [Eb] I'm a vinyl nut.
[Eb] _ _ _ [C] And I've always wanted, [Gb] I haven't actually heard my [G] voice on vinyl in over [Ab] 30 years.
That's [Gb] how long it's been, you know, everything's been [Bb] on CDs.
Sure.
So to release a new vinyl [Db] album, you know, vinyl is such a different kind of experience than a CD.
You know, you gently take the record out of the jacket and then you take the [G] sleeve off and you put it on the turntable and drop [F] the needle on the record.
And then you only hear half an album [Gm] and then you got to come [C] and turn it over.
So you're really involved and [G] you get to look at the album cover, which is big.
You know, guys [Gb] like me can actually read it.
Yeah.
_ _ I'm thinking about [Ab] when vinyl switched over to CD and it shrunk [F] everything down to this big and [Eb] you did lose a lot of that [Ab] romance.
I know.
So it's going to be in stores and on, you know, wherever vinyl is sold.
If you still have a turntable, you want it.
Or at our website.
Just tell [Db] me to change that.
And that's another point.
Right up there on social media, you've got the website.
[Bb]
Great stuff there.
How about YouTube?
We're doing a [C] YouTube channel starting the first [Gb] of the year.
And [Ab] they asked me if I would be interested in doing a Tommy James channel.
I said, [Bb] sure.
You know, YouTube has become sort of the new _ [C] _ _ [Gb] international radio station.
[E] Sure.
And [Db] so [Fm] we're going to have, I'm actually going to do little five to seven minute vignettes [Bb] in the studio [C]
and [Gb] talking about a lot of the hits and then doing new [Eb] music as well.
So it's going to be a great window on the world [Fm] for us.
And I understand that [B] they're taking the book and making it into a movie.
[Gm] That's correct.
Our book, Me, the Mob, and the Music, which was an autobiography that we [G] released two years ago, [D] is now going to be a film.
And [G] it's produced by Barbara Dufina, who produced _ Goodfellas and Casino.
And she did Hugo with Martin Scorsese two years ago.
And, oh, Cape Fear and so many great movies.
[Bm] And we're just so honored that she's going to do our film.
And I really hope that she's got a part for you in there somewhere.
Well, I'll be a bartender or something, you know, some flunky, something.
But we're really excited to [F] have our story, which really is the [Gbm] story of [G] our relationship with Roulette Records.
Because Roulette Records, _ _ I can say this now, I couldn't for years and years.
Roulette Records, in addition to being a [Gm] functioning record company, was also [D] a front for the Genovese crime family in New York.
So [Bb] life was real interesting for us.
The whole story is basically about us having a career in rock and roll with [G] this really dark and sinister story going on behind us that we couldn't [Db] talk about.
We'll be [G] looking forward to it.
Tommy [N] James, thanks for joining us today.
Have a great [Bm] time today.
Thank you.
[G] For Donald Bell's Legends, I'm [N] Bob Kester. _ _
On stage tonight, Tommy James.
Tommy James and the [Bb] Shondells.
Welcome to West Springfield.
Thank you very [G] much.
It's really fun.
It's going to be [Bm] a fun night.
It is so cool to see you.
[G] I see you now in person and I think, for your age you're looking [Ab] great.
And then I think back, you were a model at the age of four.
[G] That's true.
Well, for [Bb] 106 I'm not too bad.
But [Db] yeah, I started out at four, believe it or not.
Is [Bb] this something your parents said, all this kid's going to [Gm] go places?
You know, I was [Cm] modeling clothes, cowboy outfits and [G] stuff.
And then when I was 12, I started the group that ended up being the Shondells.
And I've been really doing this [C] ever since.
So it's [B] been a long haul.
And not just doing [G] it, but doing it well.
From 68 and 69, you've outsold [Ab] singles for everybody on the [Abm] planet.
And that includes the Beatles.
Well, thank you.
Is [Ab] there a secret for writing some sort [Em] of a hit song that you can follow? _
I'll [A] tell you the truth.
[G] _ [Em] It's been, you know, I was kind [G] of thrown into the music business.
It's what I always wanted [A] to do.
But when it finally came, it was really unexpected.
And my first hit record, Hanky Panky, was actually recorded when I was back in high school.
My hometown of Niles, Michigan, with my high [E] school mates, you know, [G] bandmates.
And the record came out and [E] immediately bombed.
And _ so two years later, I had graduated from high school then in [G] 1965.
It was originally out in 64 on a local label.
And in early 1966, I'm playing a dumpy little [E] club in Janesville, Wisconsin.
And right in the middle of my two weeks, [Bbm] the IRS shut the guy [Bm] down with our equipment and everything.
So we finally [Dm] got our way back to Niles [D] feeling like complete losers.
[Dm] And the minute I got home, I got [Ebm] the call that changed my life.
That's how the good [Gb] Lord works.
_ _ And I [Db] was told that Hanky Panky [Ab] had been bootlegged in the city of Pittsburgh.
It [Ebm] was sitting at number [Eb] one.
You know, it's one of those only in America stories.
[Gbm] And _ [Ebm] so I was kind of catapulted first in Pittsburgh at that moment.
[Eb] Picked up the first bar band I could find to be the Shondells, [Bbm] _ the [Bb] new Shondells.
And then headed for New York [G] a week later [Gb] and sold the [Ab] master to Roulette Records,
[Bb] _ the label that we had the bulk of our hits with.
And they took it number one in the world and was [Eb] out in the summer of 66 [Gm] and was the number one record.
That [Ab] started my career.
[Gb] So it's been a long [Eb] haul.
And thinking of the [Bm] hits that you've had, Money, [C] Money, Crystal Blue Persuasion.
I mean, you got all these hits under your belt that you got to play first.
But then they had such a life of their own that they got covered by all these other great [Bb] artists.
Do you have a favorite artist that has covered one of your songs?
[Ab] Well, you know, I thought [G] Prince last year did an amazing job with Crimson [Db] and Globe.
Made it sound [G] very futuristic, had a number one album.
And that was the first single released from the album.
[Ab] And it was the first [Bm] digital, all digital album project.
And _ _ [G] I also thought REM [Bm] did a great job with Dragon and the Lion and the Oscar Powers.
We've been so [Ab] _ fortunate to have, _ _ [Bb] _
you know, over 300 cover versions of our songs done [Abm] by everyone.
Billy [Bm] Idol and Boston Pops, you know.
Yeah, [F] and it certainly keeps new [G] fans coming along the pike.
It's not like you're still just entertaining those who knew you back then.
Well, [Eb] that's true.
We've been [G] very lucky to have a new [C] generation of fans.
I look out at our concert crowd now and I see three generations of people. _
_ And, you know, [Bb] the fans have almost become like extended [C] family.
_ [Gb] _ _ _ You know, I [Ab] know it sounds a little corny, [Db] but it's true.
And, you know, when we're at, when [G] we'll do a date, especially a [Bb] date like a fair like we're doing tonight,
[C] where we actually get to [Gb] meet people and we get to, _ [Eb] you know, sign autographs after the show and so forth.
[Ab] It's so great to, you know, [Gb] just hang with folks.
And you're still [Ab] busy making music.
Tell us about the vinyl resurgence.
Sure.
Well, you know, this [Eb] _ year we have released [Ab] our Christmas album, not only on CD, but also [G] on vinyl.
Where'd that idea [C] come from?
Well, I, you know, [Eb] I'm a vinyl nut.
[Eb] _ _ _ [C] And I've always wanted, [Gb] I haven't actually heard my [G] voice on vinyl in over [Ab] 30 years.
That's [Gb] how long it's been, you know, everything's been [Bb] on CDs.
Sure.
So to release a new vinyl [Db] album, you know, vinyl is such a different kind of experience than a CD.
You know, you gently take the record out of the jacket and then you take the [G] sleeve off and you put it on the turntable and drop [F] the needle on the record.
And then you only hear half an album [Gm] and then you got to come [C] and turn it over.
So you're really involved and [G] you get to look at the album cover, which is big.
You know, guys [Gb] like me can actually read it.
Yeah.
_ _ I'm thinking about [Ab] when vinyl switched over to CD and it shrunk [F] everything down to this big and [Eb] you did lose a lot of that [Ab] romance.
I know.
So it's going to be in stores and on, you know, wherever vinyl is sold.
If you still have a turntable, you want it.
Or at our website.
Just tell [Db] me to change that.
And that's another point.
Right up there on social media, you've got the website.
[Bb]
Great stuff there.
How about YouTube?
We're doing a [C] YouTube channel starting the first [Gb] of the year.
And [Ab] they asked me if I would be interested in doing a Tommy James channel.
I said, [Bb] sure.
You know, YouTube has become sort of the new _ [C] _ _ [Gb] international radio station.
[E] Sure.
And [Db] so [Fm] we're going to have, I'm actually going to do little five to seven minute vignettes [Bb] in the studio [C]
and [Gb] talking about a lot of the hits and then doing new [Eb] music as well.
So it's going to be a great window on the world [Fm] for us.
And I understand that [B] they're taking the book and making it into a movie.
[Gm] That's correct.
Our book, Me, the Mob, and the Music, which was an autobiography that we [G] released two years ago, [D] is now going to be a film.
And [G] it's produced by Barbara Dufina, who produced _ Goodfellas and Casino.
And she did Hugo with Martin Scorsese two years ago.
And, oh, Cape Fear and so many great movies.
[Bm] And we're just so honored that she's going to do our film.
And I really hope that she's got a part for you in there somewhere.
Well, I'll be a bartender or something, you know, some flunky, something.
But we're really excited to [F] have our story, which really is the [Gbm] story of [G] our relationship with Roulette Records.
Because Roulette Records, _ _ I can say this now, I couldn't for years and years.
Roulette Records, in addition to being a [Gm] functioning record company, was also [D] a front for the Genovese crime family in New York.
So [Bb] life was real interesting for us.
The whole story is basically about us having a career in rock and roll with [G] this really dark and sinister story going on behind us that we couldn't [Db] talk about.
We'll be [G] looking forward to it.
Tommy [N] James, thanks for joining us today.
Have a great [Bm] time today.
Thank you.
[G] For Donald Bell's Legends, I'm [N] Bob Kester. _ _