GRAHAM BONNET Beyond The Vibe Interview Joining Rainbow was a bit of a genre change for you. How did that kind of happen? What happened was they were looking for a singer, Ronnie Dio had left the band and they were auditioning singers and I was told by one of my friends, Mickey Moody, he played with Whitesnake, he said they're looking for a singer, don't be surprised if somebody calls you up and actually I got a call from Roger Glover who was working with Rainbow. He said Mickey gave me your telephone number. He said to me would you like to come over an audition for the band Rainbow and I said I don't know... what's Rainbow? What is it? I have no idea. So I had to go out and buy some Rainbow albums to see what it was all about and I said to my manager I don't think I'm the right guy for this because it's kind of like completely different to the stuff I'm doing right now as a solo singer. And he said well learn the song they've asked you to learn and go over and do it, there's no harm in going to an audition. So basically I learned a song called 'Mistreated' and I went over over there. We went to this Chateau on the border of Switzerland and France or something and that was my audition peace. There were these Marshall amps and the fuckin' huge drum kit and everything and I was overwhelmed like oh fuck, I've got to sing this well and I didn't really know the song that well so I had a piece of paper with all the words on it. So I thought I won't stand on the microphone in case I cock it up so I stood well away from the microphone, about six feet away or something and I just sang it as they played and they're all all looking at me and going what's he doing, why is he standing over there and we did the whole song and somebody said we can hear you over all the crashing and banging you know and I said oh was it right? Yeah yeah, should we do it again? Okay we did it again and again not on microphone and then there was kind of like... they're all sort of snickering. What the fuck? How come we can hear him over the Marshalls and Cozy playing drums, bashing like crazy, I thought it was just funny and I thought well that's it, I've done my audition. Then Don Airey, the keyboard player, said Graham would you mind doing on microphone this time, try that! Again? The third time... so I say on microphone? And then there were people in the other room that day like the girlfriends and roadies and whatever and they all suddenly came out when they heard me sing with the band so to speak and they were all smiling away and suddenly I was given the job to be the singer of Rainbow which I didn't think was right somehow. So I went back to to London after doing this and they all just said the job's yours if you want to do this and I said can I think about it? So I went back to London and I said to my manager I don't think I'm right for this band because I don't sing like the old singer at all, I've got my own thing, I'm not going to start singing with a different voice but they wanted the voice that was on the song called 'Only One Woman' which that was actually the beginning of it, the song that I recorded with Trevor. The guys in Rainbow were playing the game called 'spot the tune' and Cozy had a cassette player and he's playing all these tunes from the 60s and my cousin and I had a song that came up, 'Only One Woman', and Ritchie said where is this guy now and Roger Glover at the time was working with Micky Moody with Whitesnake and he said well I can get in touch with him because I'm working with Micky who's in the same management company as Graham is. So that's kind of the wrong end of the story really but that's how the thing came about of that song that Barry Gibb wrote. That was one of Ritchie's favorite songs and the band liked that song, they just wonder where I was, and so I came over and shouted it at them, the 'Mistreated' song. I was very unsure about it but anyway I said to my manager I don't think I belong in this band because I'm not like the other singer, that's not the way I sing, but he said they want you as you are... even with my short hair and everything which was unusual (laughs). I'm sure you've heard it before but of course you have the the more unconvention for a rock singer with the hair and the suits and the shirts and all that, wdid you think everybody's zigging, so I'm gonna zag, I'm going to go a different way? Yeah well, at that time the punk thing was happening in London and I thought well I'll do something similar, so I had a suit made like in a 1950s. I liked all that old rock and roll from the early 50s, you know Little Richard, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly... all that kind of thing and so I sort of thought this is how I feel comfortable so I adapted this look I guess and my hair was very long at one time, it's down to my waist and I remember being in the studio and combing my hair back all the time, and my girlfriend the time said why don't you just cut your hair? So eventually it got shorter and shorter until it became like you know... until I look like Elvis. I had a DA or a DT whatever you want to call it, I did the whole bit. I felt comfortable with that style and that's kind of how I was and later on as you probably know the hair thing became a problem for Ritchie. He didn't like the short hair at all but I got the job. I went back and started recording with Roger Glover in the Chateau and then eventually in the States in a place called Syosset on Long Island on the East Coast. We went through a lot of different takes of every song and Roger was very helpful to me. He just said here's a rough idea, now do that the way you think he would wanted sing it, so they didn't make me change the way I sang. I didn't know how to write songs of that ilk at all. I had no idea. I could probably make up a nice R&B song or pop song or something but I wasn't used to all this sort of semi classical... so Roger helped me through the whole album and we did about four takes of every song and then like a verse and the chorus or whatever and Ritchie would come in and say I like that one best. And then we go on with that particular take and make the song with only two verses or one verse or whatever into a whole thing. And Roger would say okay Graham here's an idea, now do it your way. So that was it. It took a long time but I think it was worth it. I was very proud of the final product you know, I surprised how well it came out. The cover of 'Since You've Been Gone' is kind of almost the definitive version of that song. How did you guys kind of make that choice? Russ Ballard, the writer, he had that out as a single back in 1970 something. We had a version of a girl band called Clout and somebody played it to me one day and said you're going to do this. It was really poppy, it was jolly, it wasn't like the way we did it finally. Everybody hated it basically but the manager of the band, Bruce Payne, said it's time that Rainbow had something played on the damn radio and he said this song will do it. Do it your way, so that's what happened with that. It turned out pretty well and obviously I still do it now with my band, that's what always brings the crowd in, it's amazing. People just think that is the original version, it was in the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' recently, that movie, and somebody called me up and said your song is... oh fuck yeah and there it was from 19 bloody 70 whatever into 2000 whatever year that came out, a couple years ago I think. With Ritchie Blackmore having a problem with the hair, was that the tipping point for you departing or was there other facts? Yeah, well what happened was, we were in Copenhagen getting ready for the next album and there were no songs, nothing and so we had a rehearsal room and it was all set up for the band. We had a new drummer, Cozy wasn't with us anymore. Cozy was a very close friend of mine and Don. We would go to the rehearsal room and there'd be probably me, Don, the new drummer and that was it. There was no Ritchie Blackmore. Roger would come along sometimes to play a little bit of whatever, trying to make up new songs for the next album and then one day it was just me and Don and we're going what's happening? Where's Ritchie? What the fuck what are we doing here you know, why are we here so we're getting ready for the next album. Roger said we got this song from Russ and it's called 'I Surrender', he played it and I said oh yeah that's fuckin' great. It's in the same vein as 'Since You've Been Gone'. He said let's go in and do some vocals for it. So we went into the studio, me and Roger and I did some backup vocals, ready for the actual recording. I did like backing vocals for the chorus, so that was done and we'ld come back later to finish it up. And then we went back to sort of an empty reversal room again and looking at each other saying why are we here, what are we doing. We got one song and it's not even ours, it's written by Russ Ballard, and Don looked at me and he said I think I'm going home. And I said well if you go home I'll go with you know. I left and Don actually stayed. I should have stayed really but I went back and they called me up to say when are you coming back? I said I don't want to, it's not the same anymore. We have no Cozy anymore, we have a new drummer and I don't feel that the band is going anywhere. I really thought the band was coming to an end to be honest with you. Ritchie has got no interest in rehearsing. They said well what about if we get another singer to sing some of the songs you don't want to sing, and well do some songs you want to sing whatever that meant. I said no, I don't think so. I don't think I want to be in the band with two singers. The competition would be too evil, anyway Joe Lynn Turner came along and he did a great job. He was the perfect guy really, so he finished up the song 'I Surrender' and I just hung around for a bit and eventually got my own band together here in L.A. It was a funny time, I wish I had stayed but as I said Cozy wasn't there and he was always fun, we could always laugh at shit when you're not supposed to. Further down the line you would end up working with Michael Schenker. You made a great album with 'Assault Attack'. At first Cozy was playing in the band with Michael and I went to see them play at FM station here or something and I was watching. After the show was over Cozy came up to me and said what do you think of the band. I said it's bloody great, the songs are fantastic, I love it. Michael's a great guitar player, Gary's bloody great blah blah blah. And he said to me well yeah you like it? I said yeah. He said how do you feel about being in the band and that's exactly what happened. So Gary left and I was in and we started rehearsing with Cozy on drums for a while and then there was a huge argument one day in the rehearsal room and Cozy was gone. He left the band while we were starting to make the 'Assault Attack' album and so Ted McKenna was the guy that replaced him. Ted was more than a replacement, he was just incredible. Ted was playing with Michael Schenker till the day he died, not that long ago and yeah another great guy gone, fuckin' great drummer, great friend too and well that's kind of how it happened. Cozy Ppowell got me into that band and so we started making up songs with Ted playing drums and recorded in France and in Germany the album. It turned out pretty well I think, Martin Birch was our producer, another guy who's gone, We keep losing people, the world is strange, I don't know anybody anymore, they are all gone where they gone. I've lost a lot of friends over the past few years, it's incredible. You think about your own mortality, fuck going oh crap how old am I now? People are dying in their 50s and 60s, I'm going Jeezz I'm older than them what the hell's going on? Michael was very pleased and he said to me one day okay Graham, can you write some words to this song? I kind of la la la along with all the tracks they were playing. They said we'll start with this one first and it was a song that became 'Desert Song'. I had no idea what I was going to write about and I was sitting on the side of the rehearsal room and I just thought okay what do heavy metal bands write about normally? Sort of mystical but not quite you know. So I made it up about sailing ships across the desert, fading in the Arabian Sun. What's that? It's camels, they called the ship of the desert. I have to explain what it's all about to Michael. He said what is a dusky lady? The heat of a dusky lady? What is that? I said that's dark skin, dark skined you know, kind of a central etc looking and well anyway that's how it started and then I went to stay at Roger Glover's house and started writing all the other song lyrics as we got the melodies together. I spent a lot of time just sitting outside Roger's house and writing words to whatever came up next. It was quite a process and I was very excited about having to write all the words and melodies instead of relying on somebody else telling me how to go, where to put notes and how to sing it. --32.05 You had a bit of a kind of a full circle thing reuniting with him years later. Was you surprised that you got the offer? Was it a shock to you? Yeah because I left the band, I fucked up on the first gig we did with Michael. The live gig in Sheffield. There's a whole story about it. I won't bother with that but when we did this recent stuff a few years ago, I looked across and we sang what was I singing... Oh the 'Desert Song' I think. I looked across to Michael and I said okay and he smiled back he said yep. I'm back, I wasn't a drunken idiot like I was the day that I was fired from the Michael Schenker Band in Sheffield and I said to him I actually did it. And every night was great, we had a fantastic time with Ted playing drums and with Robin McAuley and with you know. It was fantastic, really really good. I enjoyed it very much doing that. All the singers that have been in the Michael Schenker Band taking in turns to do their own little bit so of course Gary was there and poor Gary his voice kind of gone but you know we all backed each other up so we sang with Gary and Robin doing harmony with him and stuff but Gary didn't care. He didn't give a shit (laughs). He just went on, he was always a happy guy and we know that something was driving him, that might be some kind of liquid (laughs). Michael and I are very happy that we're back together again, well we were... I haven't done anything recently with him but I'm sure if he ask me again I'd be there because I love him, I love his playing, I love him as a guy, he's fantastic. With Yngwie Malmsteen in Alcatraz, obviously he was a young guy when you formed the band. Did you feel that there was something extraordinary with him? Oh fuck yeah, I'd heard about this fantastic guitar player, well one of the band was talking to somebody in a store or something and he said well I hear that you're looking for a guitar player for your band which became Alcatrazz. And he said I've got a guy you should talk to so this guy gave one of our band members Yngwie's telephone number and we got in touch with him. He thought it was a joke, he said no with Graham? No no no. He thought somebody was playing a game with him but anyway we had a rehearsal room rented and we told him to turn but whatever time it was one afternoon and he was in the car with all of his friends and he looked and went oh fuckin' hell, it was true, it is Graham from Rainbow (laughs). Anyway I told the band let's ask him to do something that isn't like Rainbow. Let's ask him to do... what was the song, let me think... oh it's a song called 'S.O.S' which is another Russ Ballard song which I did on an album. He played it so well, it was incredible and I said okay let's do some Rainbow stuff now. When he started playing Rainbow stuff it was like what the fuck? This guy is incredible, this 19-year-old is just amazing. I remember when we went on the road we were opening up for Ted Nugent and Ted came in after we finished our show and he said fuckin' fantastic show guys and he looked over at Yngwie and said don't get rid of this guy cuz Yngwie was an integral part of the fuckin' band. He carried that band, he really did, him and the drummer I will say... oh and of course me (laughs) but I mean but he was the most important person in the band and we were very lucky to have him and I knew that one day he would go and do something by himself. You're not doing bad for guitarists, working with Steve Vai, was he dramatically different from previous people you've worked with? He was so different to everybody because he come from Frank Zappa's band and he had a different idea about songs and I remember the very first we played live somewhere, he had his manager with him and it was our first gig with him playing guitar for us, he was terrified and she was with him say it's okay Steve you're gonna be fine. And he said I'm worried, I don't play like Yngwie and then I said to him no you play like Steve Vai, that's who you. He went out there and he played his ass off, he really did. When we started to write songs for the album that we did together, he and me and the rest of the band, he thought pretty much like I do, didn't want to copy any other band. I always say the same thing instead of going straight ahead in the song you take a left turn or a right turn or go somewhere down the middle, something different would happen in each song and I was like I can go to a different melody here, you're actually changing key here and you're going to somewhere that doesn't lead into a fuckin' guitar solo. Of course eventually there would be a guitar solo but it was always very much part of the vocal line. He was complimentary towards what I was singing or whatever and he was just perfect. I loved working with him and when he got another job which was a good paying job I was very disappointed but it's all about money in the end. He got a very good job that was paying well because when we did a video together for a song called 'God Bless Video' he was spotted by people and he was in a movie 'Crossroads' and then he was taken by I think it was David Lee Roth first... I'm not sure or was it Whitesnake? One or the other, anyway he got offered a good job and it's okay but he didn't tell me. The band told me he said I can't tell Graham because I care about him. He knew it would hurt me because we got on so well writing tunes. To me he was the perfect songwriter. I think we made a great album, I really do. That's my favorite album. You've worked with so many amazing artists, has it kind of changed the way that you look at a song or making an album? No, with Conrado Pesinato our guitar player, he's staying with us right now. I've got a session to do with him but we're going to start recording for our next Graham Bonnet Band album. He and I get on very well. He thinks same way, use different time signatures for so-called hard rock or whatever you want to call it. I don't know what is heavy metal or hard rock or what anymore. I can't label anything. It's just music, it's the same notes, it's the same chords but just played in a different pattern. I'm amazed at how many songs can come out of those those few notes we have to choose/ It's so weird, it's like Rubik's Cube. Are you releasing another album soon? Yeah yeah, we've done three albums with the Graham Bonnet Band and they've all charted and we've done great actually. The songs have turned out really well and so we're on our fourth album. We're going on tour in about two weeks I think it is so we're going all over the freaking place, all over the world but it's mainly not so much here in the States. It's mainly Europe, England, etc because over here it's really difficult to find the right kind of place to play because the music we play is no longer fashionable. If you could go and work with one musician from the past and one from the present who you haven't got to work with before who would it be? I would say Brian Wilson, I love the Beach Boys, not the surf music but the later 'Pet Sounds' album. I love their later albums, I don't go for the surfy stuff so much but that was fashionable at the time but I think he's a an incredible musician. I never met him, but I've got all the albums. I've never met the guy. I saw him play on stage in Australia and it was just incredible, I came out of there with goosebumps. And some somebody now.... I cannot think of one person which is terrible, I don't listen to music, I don't watch the award shows, I don't know who's current... in Rainbow they never listened to anything either, it would be completely... you know let's watch Monty Python, not let's listen to the latest album of whomever. I seem to remember the last album I actually heard on the bus was oh crap.... The Sultans of Swing. Roger had the album and played it on the bus and Cozy was still in the band at that time. Roger said this is my favorite music right now and Cozy said I'm so happy for you Roger... sarcastic bastard (laughs). If you mention somebody's name or a band or whatever right now I go who's that. My guitar player being only 40 something years old knows every fuckin' musician in the world, every guitar player here in L.A., every drummer blah blah blah blah blah. I never really followed who's doing what and when I was out with Rainbow, other bands didn't matter, we were the band! That's it! And everybody felt the same way, there was no one that could touche us after 'Since You've Been Gone' for instance. I never really fell who's in this band, who's in there, but now of course I know Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford and all those guys that are of that ilk and I've seen Bruce recently... Bruce actually might be singing on this new album with me cuz I went to see him, I've seen him a couple of times and it's been great. © Beyond The Vibe Podcast - February 12, 2025