To paraphrase a well-worn, but eminently true adage, sometimes you can judge the mettle of an individual by the company they keep. In the case of upstate New York vocalist/songwriter Jim Crean, he is definitely an individual of quality and repute, based on the impressively stellar line-up of first rate musicians he had perform on his latest album.
Insatiable was released in April on Rocker Records, and marks Crean’s fourth solo release, following on the heels of Velvet Crush, which was released in 2011. Earlier in his career, he had fronted successful regional rock outlets like Strutter, Blackstar and China Syndrome, developing a loyal following. The new album features a veritable who’s who of the rock and rollers of note starting with the Appice brothers, Vinny and Carmine, who both play on the album, while the record itself is released on Appice’s own vanity label.
Guest vocal work, both leads and backgrounds, were performed on various tracks by an all-star lineup, headed by former White Lion singer Mike Tramp, Phil Lewis of L.A. Guns, and Frank Dimino of Angel. Special guest bassists include Tony Franklin (The Firm, Blue Murder, Whitesnake) and the late great Jimmy Bain (Rainbow, Dio) whose final recorded performance is featured on Insatiable. Axe-slingers of note to guest on the album include Robby Lochner (Jack Russell’s Great White, Rob Halford’s Fight), former Dio and Bang Tango guitarist Rowan Robertson and long-time friend Phil Naro (Talas, DDrive, Peter Criss).
Other players on the album include Martin Slott (Push), Dave Constantino (Talas), Stan Miczek (Honeymoon Suite, Harem Scarem), Glenn Nash (Kim Mitchell, Lee Aaron), Colleen Mastrocovo (Hair Nation), producer Steve Major and Roger Banks.
“These guys are not only great musicians and they have had so much success in their own right, but they see value in what I am bringing to the table too. It’s not like I had to twist any of their arms to get them to play on my record. For example, with Mike Tramp, we have known each other for years and we have toured together and he doesn’t sing guest vocals on anybody’s record as he is very busy with his own solo career. But for me he took the time to come in to sing for me. And he even cancelled a show in order to be able to lay the track down,” said Crean.
“Phil Lewis is also on the album and he is extremely busy. They tour 200 days a year or some crazy number like that. And he was actually calling me saying, ‘Jimmy, when’s the record being done, I want to come and sing on a song.’ So he was actually coming to me asking to participate.”
The key relationship is the one forged with the Appice brothers. A few years back when Carmine (Vanilla Fudge, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, Blue Murder) and Vinny (Black Sabbath, Dio) decided to put together a show called The Appice Brothers: Drum Wars, featuring material from both their impressive musical pedigrees, they brought Crean in as the singer for project and a firm friendship was made.
“They were looking for a singer about three and a half years ago and went through a bunch of singers and then they found me and I guess they said, ‘well, this is the guy.’ During the tours we have used different guitar players and bass players a lot in the various different parts of the country where we tour, but I have always been the consistent voice of the Appice Brothers. I am actually the third official member of the band, so it was really cool to get that designation,” he said.
“I am almost like their other brother. We did a live album together with the Drum Wars project and we are actually doing a new album together. Carmine believed in me so much that he took me under his wing and put me on his own label. And Vinny supported it so much that he played most of the drum tracks. So as we have toured all over the country with this show I just made some connections with all these amazing players and became friends with some of them. It’s just one of those things where I let them know I was doing this record and asked them along the way if they would want to contribute to it. By the time I was ready to record the album, I had all these incredible artists who said yes.”
It’s a bittersweet thing to hear Jimmy Bain’s rollicking bass part because not only was it his last recording before his untimely death earlier this year (January 23, 2016, while on Def Leppard’s “Hysteria on the High Seas” cruise where he was to play with his band Last In Line), but the song he recorded was Caught in the Middle from the Holy Diver album, the first solo record from the legendary Ronnie James Dio. Bain played bass on that album and Vinny Appice was on drums – both of whom revisited their performances for Crean’s version.
“It really is kind of a tribute to Jimmy. When he passed way, Vinny called me when he got back from the trip and it was such a shock and so sad. I talked to Jimmy a couple of days before he left for the cruise and we were in the process of mixing the song down. He said, ‘I can’t wait to share it, send me some rough mixes.’ I said that absolutely he would hear it before anything goes out and to feel free to let me know if anything needed to be tweaked,” he said.
“I told Steve, the producer, before we master it, let’s get a couple of really solid mixes with Jimmy’s bass and Vinny’s drums and get it out to the guys. And of course Jimmy never got to hear it. So it’s a fitting tribute to him. We’re doing a video and there’s some previously unseen footage of Jimmy that we’re going to put in there as a nice way to pay tribute to him.”
Robertson played a few licks on the Jim Crean original Follow Your Heart, adding to the Dio-esque vibe that permeates much of Crean’s own music.
“Dio was my main influence growing up. I was always compared to him my whole career and I embrace that because, in my opinion, Ronnie was the best singer ever, so it was an honour to even be mentioned in the same breath as him. We used Rowan for a couple of the Drum Wars shows and he and I just connected after the shows. One time he said, ‘you know you sound a lot like Ronnie. At one point I was playing guitar and I heard you and closed my eyes and went wow that sounded almost like Ronnie.’ And that was the best thing to hear,” Crean said.
Another reunion of sorts took place on the song Can’t Find My Way, which is a cover of a Mike Tramp composition from his post-White Lion band Freak of Nature. It features not only a scintillating duelling lead vocal from both Tramp and Crean, but also the Blue Murder rhythm section playing together as Franklin was joined on the track by Carmine Appice.
“Tony was in Blue Murder with Carmine of course and he is also really good friends with Vinny; they live around the corner from each other in San Diego. So Tony came out to see us play, and he came to see the show in San Diego and by that time we had recorded the vocals and drums for Can’t Find My Way Home. And I told Tony I thought it would be cool if he played bass and it would be the Blue Murder rhythm section and he said yes. So I sent the tracks to him and he did his part and sent it back and he just killed it, man. It was great. And this is a guy who also played with Jimmy Page in The Firm. He is a pretty well respected and big name guy in the rock and roll world,” Crean said, adding that he would consider his music to be of the arena rock vein of the 1970s and 1980s with a modern feel.
“There’s a song I wrote called Shut Your Mouth and has a modern vibe but with all hooks of a classic rock song.”
As a songwriter, Crean finds his best motivation comes from inspiration.
“I think a lot of people think just because you’re a musician and a professional that writing songs is easy and that you can just do it. But it’s not. You’ve got to be inspired and at least for me and most of the musicians I know, that’s how it is. I just can’t pick up a guitar on command and say, ‘okay I am going to write a song now.’ I would likely be able to churn something out but it would probably be a really horrible song because it would be forced,” he explained.
“Three of the songs for Insatiable were written on a plane when I was on tour, just literally flying from city to city I would get inspired and I had my phone and I would just sing or hum the melody into the phone. I think the person sitting next to me must have thought I was nuts hearing this guy humming into a phone. But I did that for the title track. And when I landed, before I unpacked, I grabbed my guitar and composed the structure of the whole song before I forgot the idea. When I really feel inspired I write along those lines.
“Things just come to me and I go with the flow of inspiration and creativity, whether it be starting with a song title. And that’s actually happened: I had a title pop into my head and I said, ‘okay, I am going to write a song around that’ and the whole idea of what the song will be comes from the simple notion of a cool title.”
With the album garnering significant interest and airplay in the Far East and Europe as well as pockets of North America where well-crafted, progressive sounding hard rock music is still appreciated, Crean said he will be hitting the road for some solo dates throughout the fall, as well as touring with both the Appice Brothers and his popular 1980s metal cover band Hair Nation. He is also already beginning to pull together material for his next album.
For more information on Crean and Insatiable visit http://www.jimcrean.net.
* Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com
I purchased Jim Crean’s CD which can be purchased at one of his shows or at http://www.jimcrean.net and was extremely impressed. I have had the opportunity of seeing his band, HAIR NATION (www.hairnationband.net) “live” at a local establishment (Rockin Buffalo Saloon). I was impressed by the energy and fan involvement and that can be seen on his and the bands Facebook pages. New York has an incredible amount of talent and you see this as he has allowed them to be involved in his shows. Truly an inspiration for the WNY hard rock music fans and community. Looking forward toward the next album he releases.