Allan Schwartzberg Interview

[RemarkablyInsincere]

Some interesting stuff about his work with Alice Cooper:

http://www.bravewords.com/news/148993

[recoop]

I found that very interesting...ezrins influence re all instrument parts and... especially schwartsberg reckoning he had played on 4 or 5 Muscle of Love tracks..thanks

[Petri]

Thanks for the link! Interesting reading. Allan's "ghost playing" on Muscle Of Love was news to me.

[WickedYoungMan]

All I can say is a big "hmm" on that one.

[mestreech]

Strange that this news never came out.

In his intervieuw he said his first meeting was with Ezrin at the time of the Goes to hell album.

How could he played on the Muscle of love album if he didn't knew Ezrin (YES, I know Ezrin didn't produce that album but he still was involved at the project).

I have my doubts and if it's true I find it a real lack of respect for Neal Smith.

[A_MichaelUK]

>How could he played on the Muscle of love album if he didn't knew Ezrin (YES, I know Ezrin didn't produce that album but he still was involved at the project).

If you read the article again, you'll see Schwartzberg never says that he played on that album from the beginning of that project.

[Gunner]

A bit confusing really, Schwartzberg says that he first worked with Alice on 'Goes to Hell' and then later says that he 'did' Alice Cooper’s Muscle Of Love without credit.

[pitkin88]

I did a lot of ghost playing. I did Alice Cooper’s Muscle Of Love without credit. Not on every track, but I played on four or five tracks. Jack Richardson and Bob Ezrin did co-production on that.”

BraveWords.com: Did you simply do overdubs on that or did you actually play on the original tracks?

Schwartzberg: “They called me in and I did the drums over (without credit). There was a big tall blonde guy playing drums with them at the time and they weren’t happy with his tracks. From what I’ve been told, he never knew and I guess he eventually found out, but he didn’t know it wasn’t him… That’s kind of crazy


Am I right in assuming he is talking about Neal?
I read somewhere Richardson being disparaging about the band ( maybe Neal keeping time ). I believe it was rumoured that Neal didn't play on
" Crazy Little Child " which I could maybe see due to the style of the song. As for him being wiped on 4 or 5 songs I find that hard to believe..especially him not recognizing it wasn't him drumming!! What did Schwartzberg do copy the playing to a t but better?

I would e-mail Neal and ask him but I've tried this twice before and got no response.

[Gunner]

I am struggling to appreciate why additional drumming from an external source would be required for an ACG record. One thing I particualrly recall from the sickcon event is appreciating that Neal is one of the best (if not THE) drummers I have ever heard!

[Mr. Skull]

I would e-mail Neal and ask him but I've tried this twice before and got no response.

Something that Mitch Lafon should have done in the first place, IMHO

[SickThings]

I would e-mail Neal and ask him but I've tried this twice before and got no response.

Something that Mitch Lafon should have done in the first place, IMHO

Actually, Mitch did do that, though it wasn't included in his interview with Allan. Neal's response was, quote, "HELL NO."

Hunter

[Mr. Skull]

thanks for that info !

[steven_crayn]

Jack Douglas was the co producer on Muscle Of Love so I'm confused as to why Bob Ezrin is mentioned in that context

[Si]

I think Allan is a little confused. Not unusaul with professional session players to be honest, when they play a ton of things, some of which is used and some not.

[pitkin88]

I think Allan is a little confused. Not unusaul with professional session players to be honest, when they play a ton of things, some of which is used and some not.

You are probably right. Didn't Alice have no memory of
" Slick Black Limousine " until someone played it fo him?

[Si]

Not that I recall, but then Alice isn`t a session musician so not really the same thing.
I was thinking more of people like Jimmy Page and Rick Wakeman who in the early days played on hundreds of records many of which they don`t even rememebr doing.

[WickedYoungMan]

Which may explain why some earlier Zep stuff was, um, "inspired."

[mestreech]

Which may explain why some earlier Zep stuff was, um, "inspired."

Post this on any Zep site and you're dead !!!

[pitkin88]

After seeing this over at SHTV ( which has a ton more traffic than here )and people taking it as gospel, I took the libeerty of e-mailing Neal. Here is his response:

Hey Andy,



My only comment is that there are still people that think the world is flat and that the moon is made out of cheese. Alice once said that he was Eddie Haskell, and people believed him, come on give me a **** break!! It was not true, but people believed him anyway. This studio musician guy who I’ve never heard of before by the way, did play on some of Alice’s solo recordings and can say anything he wants. Just like Alice having fun with the Eddie Haskell thing. But at the end of the day it’s the legendary band Alice Cooper members; Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce, Alice Cooper, Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith who’s walls are covered with Gold and Platinum albums and are nominees to the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame class of 2011, not the studio musicians that may or may not have played on our records.



Cheers and be sure to VOTE!!!!!

Neal Smith

The Platinum God

[RemarkablyInsincere]

People are getting all worked up in that thread on SHTV. And a nugget of info from someone that supposedly interviewed Jack Richardson. Take it with a grain of salt though.