“Step into my office,” Gino Vannelli said with a smile, gesturing not to an enclosed room, but Row E in the empty Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.
Vannelli, the soft-spoken, thoughtful presence behind such ‘70s and ‘80s memories as “I Just Wanna Stop,” “Living Inside Myself” and “Black Cars,” will face a different Cobb Energy PAC on Saturday – one filled with fans eager to hear his smooth, soulful voice.
But earlier this week, shortly after flying in from his home in Portland, Ore., and before he and manager brother Ross headed to Augusta for a concert, the Canadian-born singer-songwriter-musician spent some time chatting about his rich musical history, his 40-year marriage to wife Patricia and the “fairly big” production he’ll bring to Atlanta Saturday (complete with an eight-piece band).
This is the second time Vannelli is playing Atlanta in two years. He visited the Variety Playhouse in January 2013, but prior to that, hadn’t toured much in two decades.
Don’t call it a comeback because Vannelli, a trim, handsome 62, is constantly composing, but one reason for this current run of fall dates is to support his recently released “Live in L.A.” CD and DVD.
Here are some excerpts from our discussion.
On his history in Atlanta:
“In Atlanta, I would suspect at least half the audience probably saw me at the first show I ever did here in 1975 at the Great Southeast (Music Hall). It really started building my following in the South. Atlanta is really special because the first record, ‘Powerful People,’ even before ‘People Gotta Move’ was a hit on the R&B charts, I actually started selling because clothing stores started selling the record in 1974. I remember at the time Herb (Alpert from A&M Records) came to me and said, ‘Your record is really starting to move in Atlanta.’ And I said well, what’s happening? And he said it’s through a couple of clothing stores and we’ve already moved 3,000 pieces and then 5,000 the next week.”
On working with brothers Ross and Joe again:
“Joe and I hadn’t played together in years and years and he’s a guest on ‘Brother to Brother’ (on the new live album). Of the three brothers, the last collaboration was producing (the album) “Black Cars’ in 1985. We went our own ways, but life sometimes has a strange way of bringing us back together with all the sibling pettiness gone away. Ross is my manager; he does all the technical design and production. We’re terminally intertwined (laughs).”
On the new CD/DVD, “Live in L.A.”:
“This was my first time in L.A. for a serious concert in 20 years. Ross said we need to play L.A. and I said OK, let’s make sure it’s the right place. The Saban Theatre is a nice theater and Ross always had the idea to document the show so a larger audience could experience it. So he got SRG Records out of Connecticut interested. They spent close to $200,000 on the DVD. It’s a big production; I think there were 12 cameras that night. There are a lot of nostalgic points about it, but people will realize there’s a lot of updated points about it…I’m lucky, I carried something with me that caught fire with people a long time ago and the flame kept burning, I just needed to fan it a little.”
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
On his upcoming new material:
“I’m starting to record a new album in December. I always keep a guitar with me in my house. My guitar is on my lap when I’m eating and my wife will say, ‘Take that thing off your lap!’ The dogs (Australian Shepherd puppies) love me to serenade them.
There are a lot of indie groups in Portland. There are elements of indie music I dig – the honesty, the out of the box thinking – but there’s a lot of lack of schooling so they keep playing the same chords over and over. But there’s something raw about it that’s cool. I found a group called Samsel and the Skirt and brought them to the studio and said, this is a unique sound. So the next record will be two guitarists, maybe an upright bass, Samsel, his sister and I – totally something different. I said, this is what I’ve been looking for, something sort of sophisticated on the inside, but on the outside very, very simple.”
On his ethnic last name:
“In the ‘70s, there was such a backlash of singers from the ‘40s and ‘50s, the Al Martinos and Dean Martins, so anyone who was Italian, (detractors) felt, really, had grease all over them. There was an unspoken prejudice. It was a little to get over, but once I was over it…you’ll always have the hardcore Anglo-Saxon rock and roller that really hated me just because of who I was. Herb (Alpert) was really great about that – who you are is who you are. You’ve just to make your name.”
On his set lists for current shows:
“We’ve added a lot of stuff beyond what is on the live CD, such as ‘Gettin’ High.’ I just rehearsed a 1975 tune called ‘Love is a Night’ and it’s a big kick. There’s always going to be a lyric that makes you cringe and I have to hang my head in shame (laughs). But what’s really great about being in the position I am now, I am not hesitant to change any lyric live. I’ve changed the whole second verse of ‘Gettin’ High.’ I just couldn’t sing, ‘I was just a buckin’ bronco bomb, I loved me a billion black and blue-eyed blondes.’ I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be doing this so I want it so I’m happy doing it and I want to make the people happy. I want them to walk away thinking it was good, and it is good.”
Gino Vannelli. 8 p.m. Saturday. $63.75-$101.75. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. 1-800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com.
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