The Doughboys Michael Scavone Acts His Rage
Sacre Bleu’s resident music contributor, Scott Herold, affords us a special insight into a band and artist whose work, though not widely popular, is nevertheless impressive and artistically important. His interview here with The Doughboys leader and spokesperson Michael Scavone reveals an artist whose heart and passion are in the right place. Scott Herold is CEO of the award winning 501c3 Rock the Cause.
Rock and Roll music is not a music that is about the “young” versus the “old”. It is a music that is about challenging worn out beliefs that stifle creativity, love, and ultimately freedom. When you look at the legacy of Rock n Roll, with its roots in American Blues, its primary influences were artists like Son House, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Robert Johnson, and Leadbelly, whose music was well past its prime at the advent of Rock n Roll.
American music has its roots in slavery and racism. It is a deep scar. When people of all races and ages gathered around the Jukebox to hear this distinctive American Music they did not see color or age. Rather what they heard was a sound that said let my people go. American Music whether it be Rock n Roll, Jazz, Blues or even Classical changed the game. It became the greatest export of Democratic thought the world has ever seen.
In the summer of 1968, New York’s West Village embodied the idea that American Music was the great equalizer. Dyaln, Hendrix, Warhol, Lou Reed were all on the scene. The now legendary Café Wha in the West Village was the nerve center of the New York Counter Culture movement. Like all great histories, there are stories that remain to be told. One such story is that of The Doughboys. Performing almost nightly as the house band at Café Wha, The Doughboys jammed with the likes of Dylan, Hendrix, Pete Townshend and others. There was not a hipster or hippie or freak in the West Village who did not know who they were. But they never made it out of the love in that was the West Village.
The Doughboys did manage to make it to the end of the 1960’s before splitting up. Front man Michael Scavone went on to join Ram Jam and scored the blues rock hit “Black Betty”. Drummer Richie Heyman went on to play for Link Wray and Brian Wilson.
Eventually Heyman’s wife grew tired of hearing about the legendary band and wanted to see for herself. So she pulled the band back together for a surprise Jam. The result was the release of 2007’s “Is It Now” which topped the listener polls on Little Steven’s Underground Garage on Sirius 25 scoring hits with “Black Sheep” and “Out of the Night”. The band began playing the New York clubs again with hot young buzz bands like The Anderson Council.
The Doughboys latest release “Act Your Rage” is in heavy rotation on Sirius 25 and the single “I Am Not Your Man” was hand picked by Little Steven Van Zandt as The Coolest Song in the World.
I have loved The Doughboys since the first moment I first heard them in 2007. In my not so humble opinion “Act Your Rage” is one the greatest garage rock albums ever made. It has all the kaleidoscopic vision of “Flowers” by the Rolling Stones and all the mid bending charm of “Psychedelic Sunrise” by The Chesterfield Kings. I am strongly suggesting that all of you go to Little Steven’s Underground Garage and vote The Doughboys as the best of 2009.
Enough of my rants, here is my interview with the legendary Michael Scavone of The Doughboys!
What was the West Village scene like for The Doughboys in 1968? It was the Mecca of old school rock and roll. The place was teaming with people like Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townsend, Bob Dylan, and many others I can’t begin to mention here. How does it differ from today?
None of the aforementioned people are there in force as they were then. The whole vibe was so fresh and new then and there was just this whole brotherhood of man thing that was front and center in everyone’s brain. We (my generation) broke through into an entirely new dimension and life experience that changed the world. The village, much like Haight Ashbury was on the cutting edge of that change.
How do you feel every time you hear “Black Betty” played at a pro-sports event and do you ever feel the need to say “That’s me but you should check out the new record?
I always feel the need to say you should hear The Doughboys. The fact is, without getting into much detail, the whole Ram Jam / Black Betty thing for me was a very bitter sweet experience. I am very thankful for the experience and opportunity I had with Ram Jam, but I never really wanted to play with anyone the way I love playing with The Doughboys. The whole time I was enjoying the success of Ram Jam, I wished it could have been The Doughboys who had recorded Black Betty, but it wasn’t to be.
What prompted The Doughboys to get back together and make 2007’s “Is It Now?”
Richie’s wife Nancy brought us back together in August of 2000 to play as a surprise for Richie’s birthday. She always heard Richie talk about the band and was so curious to see what his obsession was about that she contacted me to get the others together. I’m a drummer, so I got together with Mike and Willy (our original guitarist) and we rehearsed 10 of the covers we used to play back in the 60’s. When Richie got to the club he jumped on the drums and as they say,” The years just melted away”.
You are getting a lot of support from the Underground Garage on Sirius 25. Did you ever expect that you would be getting accolades from the likes of Andrew Loog Oldham and Little Steven Van Zandt?
Surprised isn’t even touching the truth of our response to what has taken place. We had only been playing 6 to 12 times a year after Richie’s party (there was never any real thought of reforming it sort of just slowly snowballed after his party). People would ask us if we had a CD or anything they could buy to take home with them. We started to record some live sessions just to have something (those 5 covers on “Is It Now” were live recordings with Willy) to give to our fans who came to gigs. When Willy passed away and we got Gar to fill in, he started to push us towards writing and recording our own songs and that’s where the other 7 songs on “Is It Now” came from. We were really always just a cover band. I am still amazed at how the crew at Sirius has responded to us. All those guys were heroes of mine (ours) and to have their support and encouragement has been the greatest thrill of my musical career.
You are playing some hot shows again on the East Coast with hip, up and coming bands like The Anderson Council. How has a new generation of Rock and Roll accepted you?
We did do a gig with Anderson Council in New Jersey a little while back. We are finding that when the newer generation has a chance to hear us they really get it. That has been an incredible boost to us and it is really what we want to do, turn this generation on to “Old School” straight ahead Rock n’ Roll.
“Act Your Rage” has a sound like the early Rolling Stones yet your influences run much deeper. Who are the Blues and Soul icons that inspire you to play?
I have always loved guys like Eric Burden and the Animals, The Yardbirds, Kinks, Stones and the whole “first wave” British invasion. Before that I was very much into Bo Diddley, James Brown, Buddy Holly, Richie Valence, Marvin Gaye and the whole gang of early R & B artists. So when the Rolling Stones and these other groups came out covering a lot of these artists with a whole new drive to how they played these songs, I just flipped out. I have never been the same since.
Lets face it, the guys in the band are all over 50. Yet you manage to keep a rebellious sense of urgency that blows the doors off the best Gen Y bands! What really stirs at the heart of The Doughboys?
See the above answer for starters. We just love doing what we do. It is so natural for us. It’s not like we are out there trying to be this or that, we just do what we do naturally, and what you hear is what comes out of who we are.
Out of the Night” could be considered one of the greatest Vampire songs ever written? Have any of the living dead contacted you about it? What inspired the song?
Well I’m still waiting for Vampirella to knock on my door but that hasn’t happened yet. The closest we’ve come is our old friend, Zacherely, aka the Cool Ghoul. I really think the song belongs in a movie or at the very least, as the theme song for “The Vampire Diaries”. Maybe if someone gets this to the “Twilight” people they’ll give it a shot.
What do you love most about “Act Your Rage”?
I like the fact that we’ve been able to get another CD out within 2 years of “Is It Now” which only took us 40 years to make (LOL). I love the fact that we’ve got 14 originals on this CD. I love that, other than The London Philharmonic Orchestra, we are the only group to cover “Tuesday Afternoon”, a song that till now was the last song anyone would ever expect us to cover. And lastly I love that I got to put a horn section on “Queen City” which is something I’ve always wanted to do. I just love being a Doughboy.
What is it about Rock the Cause that made you decide to join the Frey with a nonprofit based 2000 miles way in cold Minnesota?
I don’t know really. When you first contacted me by e-mail I just thought, “Now here are some people that are trying to make a difference in the lives of people around them”. You weren’t out there looking for the government or any other people to do it for you. You put yourselves out there and dug your heels in and got your hands dirty doing what too many of us should be doing but don’t. You’re an inspiration to me and it’s just great to be able to help out. I just hope we can get out to you and do some benefit work with you. As of now we haven’t had the ability to get past the East Coast. We’re hopeful that “Act Your Rage” will help change all that.
