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Joe Lynn Turner A Very Brief But Candid Conversation with Joe Lynn Turner The interviews I do for my blog are much longer than the one I conducted with Joe. However, Joe is constantly touring around the world and has a very busy schedule, so I could only get him briefly for a couple of minutes. In this short interview, we talk about Joe’s career with Rainbow, Deep Purple and Yngwie. We also look at some of the controversial statements he has made publicly. I really want to thank Lisa Walker, Joe’s executive assistant, for setting up the interview. Most of all, though, I want to thank Joe for taking time out to do this brief interview with me. 
Here is an excerpt of this excellent interview:Jeff Cramer: I listened to all of the four Fandango records. What’s interesting is that the music is very different from the hard rock we now know you for. In fact, the music itself is not at all hard rock. (Click here to hear a sample of “Life of the Party” by Fandango.) Similarly, I read that Roger Glover said at your initial audition that your voice reminded him of Lowell George, late singer of Little Feat. Lowell was a great singer and Little Feat is a great band, but neither is a name we associate with hard rock. The question is: coming from a non-hard rock background, why do you think Ritchie and Roger thought of you to lead Rainbow, a hard rock band? Joe Lynn Turner: Thanks for your thoughts, and Lowell George was a great singer. That is interesting that Roger said that and I will take that as a compliment. I guess they saw in me the ability to be a chameleon on vocals. I have said many times that I am not one dimensional in terms of what I can sing, how I sing. I do not stick to one style nor do I stick to one type of singing (i.e. head voice, chest voice, throat voice). I enjoy the challenge of singing all types of genres of music. I think great musicians and writers—as both Ritchie and Roger are—see more of the potential in a singer and see more character. Although when I joined Rainbow, Ritchie did prefer me to use a very pointed-note style which was a bit operatic but it is not my only style. When I was working with Ritchie and Roger in Deep Purple, they had no problem with me using a grittier style. Read the rest of this interview on Jeff Cramer's Blogspot.  |