Garth Hudson

0:01Hello? Hello? Hello, Matt. It's Maude Hudson again. There we go. Alright, I'm sorry about that. Oh, that's okay. I just wanted to mention a couple of things. Sure. That we don't call this album a tribute. We try not to use the word tribute because what it actually is is a celebration. Okay. And Garth is the artist of the album and all these wonderful musicians, Canadian musicians, and singers joined him in the celebration of some of the songs he enjoyed most with the band that haven't been used over and over as cover tunes.

0:50Right, yeah, fair enough. I noticed that, yeah. So I just wanted to give you a heads up on that. Sure. And he's over here. He'll pick up the phone right now. Great. Hold on just a second. Of course. How long? Hey Garth, how are you? Fine, how are you, Matt? I'm doing well. Where are you calling from? Are you at home right now? Yes, yes. Fantastic. So it's, I can't believe it's 34 years to the day of The Last Waltz. It is today. Today, Thanksgiving Day. I didn't match something. What do you remember about that, Dave? I mean, what emotions do you recall? Was it joy, sadness, or was it just another gig in the course of your life? It was about getting, I remember I gave it half a month.

1:47Right, with the revolving speaker. Mm-hmm, right. And I would assume it's probably not too easy to fix either. Let's skate those days.

2:34What were your thoughts on Scorsese? I mean, did you know he would become what he has become? Could you tell by the way he was interviewing you guys and shooting, I suppose? At the time, well, how famous. Mm-hmm. Well, we'll talk more about that stuff, but you're here to talk about a new disc that you've just put out.

3:23Garth Hudson presents a Canadian celebration of the band. And you play on every track, you have a whole bunch of guest musicians on it. What was the impetus for this record? Why now, and how come these people? Get together, nice and...

4:46How long have the two of you been together? Other... Yeah. It sounds like you two have become a team, though. It sounds like this is a Garth and Maud Hudson production. Wow. Got together. That's amazing. Did you know all the people on the record, or did some of these artists... Well, obviously you knew Neil and a couple of these other people, but did people like, I don't know, Hoxley Workman, was that a first time kind of thing, or in Susie McNeil?

5:32Oh, okay. We saw her on TV. Yeah, it was one of those rockstar shows, competitions. Yeah, the group, obviously, I think wanted to... Need a male singer. They're... Yeah, it sounds about right.

6:19They just liked her so well, they insisted she return, and... What about some of the other artists? How did you get to know someone like... Well, like Hoxley Workman, for example? Because his band plays on a lot of the record as well. I said his band plays on a lot of the songs as well.

7:07Now, it sounds like a new record. Now, obviously it was recorded very recently, and with the production capabilities that we have today. What I love, though, about some of the old band records is it sounds like you guys... It's not that you didn't care, but it sounds like you didn't care about missing cues or a missed note here or there, or just little things that made them... That's why the song is so great. At the end of a song like, I don't know, Rock, or the end cue is just slightly off. How much did you guys, I guess, care in the studio of how perfect things were? Yeah, well, because the new record sounds like it was produced properly and done with what we do today, you know?

7:55Yeah, about the old records. Yeah, that's what... Do you remember? Well, I'm thinking like one of my favorite songs is Rock, and just the last cue at the end of the tune, like the last note. I'm not sure exactly what happens. I think Levon kind of misses it, and then a wrong chord is played or a wrong note is played, but it's left in. And that, I think, is what makes those old records so great, is that you left the imperfections in. And I'm just wondering why. Did you guys just not care and say, no, that was a good take? That's what we're doing.

8:42Because I would think a record label would be against that. Yes, songs are that place in the song. The title, you said... Rock. But I mean, it's not just that song. It happens over the course of different songs over the years, you know? It's not just that one. But it's great. That's what makes them so fantastic. Well, you got me curious here. I probably have noticed that. I inspected every second of every track during a recording. They've been done just to have an informal down home.

9:40The electric tour with Bob Dylan, and the death threats that I heard about, and the Judas comments, and all that stuff. What are your memories of that? It went around the world. I had something to do with it.

10:34That's so funny, everybody. I had to do it anything I don't know. I wonder what made people so mad. I mean, at the end of the day, it's just music, though, right? Woodstock, and all the trappings that we've enjoyed. And actually, Honan probably traded for a Martin guitar.

11:47And... or put your... Yeah. Like, generally a fashionable... Right. You mentioned saxophone in there. What came first for you? Were you a piano player first, or a saxophone player first?

12:34Oh, piano. Piano. When did sax come into the picture? Pardon me. When did saxophone come into the picture for you? I had a saxophone in the attic, and I would occasionally get it down. And then I took eight accordion lessons. Right. And so my dad took the C melody. C melody saxophone. Right. Fair enough. He took it down to... Crazy.

13:27What a special. Yeah, that's for sure. I totally agree. We do something on the show called Five Questions. Five quick questions, one word answers. Mm-hmm. Road or studio? Sorry. That's all right. Road or studio? Just one second, please. Yep. You've all for a minute. Yep. Sorry. On the road or in the studio?

14:16About the recent work. No... What is going on today. Well, this is how you feel. Would you rather be in the studio working on music, or would you rather be out on the road touring it? Composition and no chase on the backpack. All right. Lennon or McCartney?

15:02No. No. Who do you prefer? Whose music do you prefer? I don't have much to do with what I teach. I do have classes and I have private students. I teach theory, harmony, and counterpoint. And I'm well aware of... I could probably talk to one of them. I think McCartney would be interested in my take on... Cool.

15:52And I said no about the work they've done recently. What's the most important thing in a song? Lyrics, melody, or rhythm? Broadway or jazz or... In anything, really. What do you think is most important? Melody.

16:38Alright. So maybe melody is what's important. A young person can identify a song after hearing four notes. Yeah. And every... there's thousands of songs and all we need is... You can identify them. Think about that, folks. A song you've written you're most proud of. And in one word... Garth Hudson.

17:40Describe yourself in one word. Eager. Eager. Thank you very much. It's been a pleasure talking with you. Well, those last ones are just one-word answer kind of things. I appreciate it. It is. It's brand new. We've been on for three months. And it's going well. And is there any plans for you to come out here and tour or do anything like that? Oh, yeah. We're planning that right now. Oh, really? Oh, amazing. Well, we'll have to have you come in and play for us.

18:26Okay. Yeah. I would love that very much. I'd like to meet you sometime. Yeah, it'd be great. If we get out there, we'll call you. Sounds good, Garth. Thank you so much. And tell Mod, thank you as well. Thank you, Matt. Okay. Bye-bye.