Original subtitles

I roll out of bed

through my clothes in my mind.

Oh yeah.

Danny Johnson has been the guitarist for

some of the biggest names in rock and

roll, touring the world and leaving his

mark on legendary stages alongside

iconic artists and top bands.

a world-class musician at the heart of

some rock history, but also an artist

who has consistently written, performed,

and produced his own music on his own

terms, building a body of solo work that

reflects his true creative spirit and

legacy.

from Danny Johnson. I've always liked

his playing, so I sound kind of funny,

but he kind of reminds me of me in a

Reckless abandoned kind of playing. Uh,

but he's kind of a cross between me,

Alan Holsworth, and himself, you know,

and he's very blues oriented. And I I

love his playing.

back from a car.

>> Well, I was born there, so I didn't know

anything different.

I just love Louisiana, you know. I live

in Texas now near Austin, but uh

Louisiana

and you know the hay rod, it goes back

to the hay rod. Elvis Presley lived

there.

Levi and the Rockets lived there.

Everybody played the hay rod. I mean, it

was before my time, but you know, Johnny

Cash started there. Elvis Elvis used to

open up for Hank Williams.

Heat. Heat.

I think I was about 11 and um there was

a babysitter and and she said, "If I'm

going to babysit, by the way, I got five

brothers. One of them passed away, but

there were six of us then." and she

said, "If I'm going to babysit all these

boys,

I'm going to put the TV on the at

Sullivan tonight and watch the Beatles."

And we had been watching the commercials

and we look at those sissies with long

hair. They had shorts and ties and we we

thought they were sissies.

And then when when they came on and I

saw those girls screaming, that was it,

man.

You know, I had the fever. I knew what I

wanted to do. I just didn't know how to

do it.

I had another cousin that was, you know,

he was more of a playboy, you know, and

he kept getting stuck in the mud and

asking my daddy to pull him out cuz he

was back then they called it parking or

sparking or whatever, right? And uh so

he got stuck and he asked my daddy, "Can

you come get me out to Lake Piston?" He

said, "That's 60 miles. I got to drive a

winch truck all the way out there to get

your ass. And I've done this before. So

if I do it, you're going to teach that

boy how to play guitar."

And so that that was my early lesson.

Back to nor

back down to the bones

hands

to the original,

>> you know, we were 15, 16 years old. We

couldn't get in. Well, we'd get dropped

off and uh we'd sit out in the front of

the clubs and listen to Jerry Beach at

the Kims and we'd go listen to the

Whiskey Go, listen to the bands out in

front. We couldn't get in. But after the

clubs, after they finished playing, Dad

come out and we'd get to meet the guys

in the band. And that's where we met

Jerry Beach because that guy was really

good back in the day. That's what we're

all learning from. You know, he he got

Danny started and playing all that good

rock and roll. When u Jerry Beach wrote

the uh I play the blues for you, it

freaked us all out. Even Susie Q that

all those songs right there were our

local guys and they were pretty famous

and they really did real good for all

the musicians because we got the feel we

felt that we wanted we said okay look we

want to do that we want to do that we

want to do what they do

>> but I came in to visit one time and he

his little band that he had Axis

was performing at Kim's and I went to

see him and that's when I realized that

my brother was very talented,

you know, and then of course he he just

got better and better.

Beck Paige,

um Blackmore,

um and of course James Burton. I mean, I

I I had a

dinner with Jeff Beck one night at the

Rainbow. Well, he came up and said, "Can

I sit at your table?" I didn't even know

him. I said, "Why?" He said, "Cuz you

got all the girls at your table." And so

we sat and talked and and he told I

asked him, "Who inspired you?" And he

said, "James Burton

from Streetport, Louisiana."

>> Yeah.

>> He started it all. him and Steve Croft.

Well, I woke up this morning by myself.

hit the ground running.

I was thinking about something you said

someone made me trip and fall into a

stone

to run

away with you.

You know spot me.

Call my blues.

There was a little place called sugar.

Dancing in the front, fighting in the

back. Everybody's drinking and having a

good time.

I want you to rumble

rumble with you.

You know you spark me.

You call my blues.

Well, Darkhorse

was one of the top when I was a kid. It

was the Blue Shadows first

>> and then a band called Rain with Pat

Huddleston that was like traffic. I mean

these these were world class bands that

never made it. And then

>> when Blue Shadows broke up, some of the

members formed a band called Darkhorse.

And

you know, I never dreamed that I would

wind up in that band, but I did. Me and

Jay, we went until we were playing a

club one night on the Bojer Strip. I

think it was Kim's.

And

the cops came in and busted us and

busted the bass player. It was a John

Doe. They didn't even know his name.

and

>> and so

it kind of killed the band.

>> The club owner told us to get the hell

out. It emptied the room when they came.

They walked on the stage and I they

looked like me or a rocker or something.

I said, "Do you want to jam or

something?" And he flashed the bench and

said, "Keep your mouth shut." And the

other guitar player wouldn't stop

talking. And

>> and so

>> I looked and the whole audience was

gone. And the club owner's name was Red.

He had red hair. And when he walked up

there, his head was so red. He said,

"Get out of here and never come back."

So that was the end of that gig.

>> You know, we we want to be the cream.

You know, we we want a drummer. That's

>> who do you know? Do you know Carmine Ay?

She said, "Yeah, but you can't get him."

but he's got a little brother. He's 17.

Do you have his phone number? And she

gave me his number. I was in Houston. We

had already been to Austin looking for

drummers. We we talked to Bubble Puppies

drummer.

We went to Houston. We auditioned

drummers. And when we started playing,

they most of them we were kind of a

bluesy rock version of Rush

without without all the high singing and

and yeah, but

I called Vinnie and um he said, "Yeah, I

heard about you guys

uh from this girl named Georgia." I

said, "Good."

He said, "What do you want?" I said,

"Well,

I want a star drummer

like the crane. When do you want me

there?" And that was what got him.

>> They were looking for a drummer and

someone recommended, of course, Benny

Apey. And Vinnie flew in and to audition

with the band. And I was with Danny the

day that we went to the airport to pick

Vinnie up. He was I think he was only 17

or 18 years old.

>> I'll have drums for you. We'll we'll fly

you down here. And he came to the union

hall.

I had my brother's drums. He broke this

snare drum in half. I mean, it literally

I'd never seen anybody break drums.

And um

he played a couple of songs. He said,

"Let me go in office and make a phone

call." He went in there and he called

his mother and said,

"Or whoever, send my drums down here."

And so

that was the axis that landed the RCA

deal. And Vinnie became a big part of it

with the arrangements and

and just just the sound and everything.

And we got Andy John's to produce us.

She had just done Stairway to Heaven and

we did it at the record plant, you know,

we had a real budget, you know, from

borrowing people's tape recorders to

getting a $100,000 budget, you know, and

then uh Led Zeppelin had just done

Stairway to Heaven in Studio C at the

record plant and we started off there

and it burned in

>> and so we had to go to New York to the

other record plan. For once, we had all

the best of everything.

And um

I was sad that that album didn't have a

you know, radio hit. We we we didn't

have the money for promotion and we

didn't get a good tour. Agency problems,

management problems. They're the ones

that make all that happen.

>> I I think it went like this. you know, I

might not have it to the tea, but he

told me that he was in a in a hotel room

and someone knocked on her door and when

he looked through the peepphole, they

were holding up the Axis album and he

opened the door and it was Tony. He

said, "This is good."

>> And then Rick Daringer

called my house

and said uh to my mother, "Hi, this is

Rick Daringer. I want to talk to Vinnie.

This is funny. My mother said, "Oh, no,

no, you want to talk to Carmine,

right?" So, no. He says, "No, I want to

talk to Vinnie."

And she said it again. "You want to talk

to Car?" He said, "No, I know Carmine.

He's my friend. I want to talk to

Vinnie. I'm starting a new band and I'm

thinking of using Vinnie in the band."

So, Vinnie got in and uh and then I

guess Vinnie brought Danny in and didn't

bring Kenny. Uh, I didn't bring Jay

because they already had Kenny Aronson.

So then that started the band Daringer

in which Rick took him out on tour and

they opened up for Aerosmith and

Stadiums and my brother was still in

high school. It sounded great and Danny

was, you know, playing with Rick and

doing guitar exchanges with Rick and,

you know, Rick is a great player. So

Danny, he he held up pretty good against

Rick, you know. This is Danny Johnson.

Who is this? This is Steve Paul calling

from New York City.

And I knew all about him. He managed

Rick. He managed Johnny and Edgar, David

Johansson, everybody. And he had them

all on his own record company called

Blue Sky Records, distributed by CBS.

And I said, "Yeah, what can I do for

you?" He said, "Rick really likes your

playing. We want you to come to New

York." I go, "Well, I kind of have a

band. I'm the main writer. Is there

really room for me? If you do this, I'll

make sure you get at least one song on

every album, maybe two, and get to sing

a little."

>> Uh, okay. I'm more interested now. He

said, "Uh, I've already bought your

tickets. You leave tomorrow at 2:00.

The limo will pick you up at Laguadia."

And I'm like, I'm just a little hick

from Shreport. I never wrote in a limo.

And then when we got to SIR studios to

start rehearsing, Johnny Winter was in

one room, David Bowie was in one room,

and I'm like, "Wow." You know, I would

say to Rick, "When are we going to take

another break?" Cuz I would I would go

invade their rooms, you know, like like

I'd go over to Johnny's room and watch

him. And long as you clap for them and

say something good, you're okay. You

know, the thing I regret about our

musical relationship was we never

co-wrote a song.

I mean,

he he helped my like driving sideways.

Steve Paul would take us to see punk

music and all this music that we didn't

even like. But he wanted us to know

there's other things out there. And they

took me to see Bob Marley. I don't like

Ray Gay. I'm 19year-old rocker. I like

Led Zeppelin. Take me to Aerrol Smith.

But when I watched Bob Marley, that

hypnotic music and that rhythm,

I thought, what if I wrote a song that

has like a real heavy riff and in the

verses it goes sort of into a reggae

rhythm? And I told Rick that. He said,

"Oh god, that's great idea." And uh

so he came up with the the baseline.

And Rick was a good bass player.

>> I mean, if you play guitar, you have to

be able to play bass a little bit. When

I when we talk about Daringer,

>> you can't leave out Liz Daringer.

>> She did so much for me.

She's still with us, right?

>> Anyhow, she took me to get rock clothes.

She taught me how to hail a cab. She

taught me how to ride a subway. She

taught me how to be a New Yorker. And

boy, was she a New Yorker.

And I just reached out to her yesterday

and told her, you know, I've always

loved you and I always will because Rick

was introverted

and Liz was the one that knew everybody.

I mean, not just the rockers.

I met people through her. Truman Capot,

Andy Warhol, movie stars. I mean, when

we played gigs in New York, we opened

for Aerrol Smith for two nights at

Madison Square Gardens.

Sold out. But when we went in the

dressing room,

Hall of Notes was in there,

John Belalushi, just went on and on and

on. And all those people went over to

Rick's house to party.

and

and then Aerosmith showed up at Rick's

house and and he had a brownstone

in near the village on 13th Street. So

it wasn't that big, but he had a little

studio in the back and I was so

overwhelmed I just went out there by

myself. I just, you know, and so when I

went out there to play, John Belalushi

came out and said, "Hey, can I jam with

you?" Yeah. And then Steven Tyler said,

"Hey, can I play drums?" and somebody

was on the piano and David Johansson

when he wasn't passed out he was playing

harmonica.

I I mean I was tapping a long time ago

but not like Eddie Rick Daringer called

me in a frantic Danny Danny have you

read Eddie's book? No, no, no. He said I

stole the tapping from him, but I got

that from you in the mid70s,

right? I said, "Right, Rick's another

one I'd take a bullet for.

Whatever he wanted it, he got." And he

was so mad that Eddie, you know, Eddie

could be a punk. He said, "Yeah, Rick

Daring copied me. He went on tour with

us and I did my solo and the next night

he was doing all the same stuff.

Rick's a guitar machine.

Dancing on the edge of town.

Shing for tips, but there's no one

around. And the Bless

have been blown away.

Her hopes and dreams left through

yesterday.

Restless

in this one lost town.

Tries to move on. She's back around.

Her sights were set on London's royal

valley.

Paris in New York all along the way.

Her friends are shed when she made it to

the top.

They landed for her right back to the

bed. Tougher than any

I

should get back in the cell. Keep the

dust off for

se like a dark horse on the road. Glory

like angels leave a blind in the sun

keeps her faith in Jesus and she don't

forget to pray seven sister heart

away

like I had said before we we toured the

country four months on the road so we

got to know him so one day I get a call

and it's Brad Whitford and I'm in

California with actually no agenda. Hey

Brad, what's up? And he was himh hauling

around. Well, you know, we hadn't

getting been getting along with Joe real

good. Really? Well, y'all can work that

out. No, that's not going to work out.

You want to come to New York and jam

with us?

Uh, sure.

Can we make that happen?

when can you get here? Tomorrow. They

put me in, you know, fancy plaza or

something like that.

>> I just remember it was nice. And and I

said, "What what do we do next?" They

said, "Every everybody's sleeping at

3:00 in the afternoon."

Like if I hung out with one member

and his wife,

I'd go over to talk to them. What are

you hanging out with them for? In other

words, they they had gone completely

dysfunctional

>> and and they had their wives with them

all the time and it was none of them

were getting along. We we would come

back to the hotel at 7 and so we had two

days set up to rehearse at sir and

Stephen you know Joe I didn't think

about it but Joe Perry sings the main

harmony and he can't sing very high so

he sings under he sings under instead of

a major third or a fifth over he would

sing like a fifth under And that's that

sound. And I didn't think to practice

that.

I mean, while while I'm putting the

guitar on, nervous as hell, standing 4

in from Stephen Tyler, he's going,

"Stephen

at the first gig. If this doesn't go

well, I'm quitting." I'm going, "Wow,

that's great inspiration. Thank you,

Joey. You piece of [ __ ] mother."

And Jimmy got the gig. And

in hindsight,

I'm I'm glad he did because I I wound up

in a band with with Jimmy. It was me,

Jimmy, Kenny Aronson, Carmine Ay, and

And we were doing this sort of raw

experience thing. And so I asked him how

it went. Jimmy's very disciplined guy,

you know. I think he maybe drinks a

little vodka.

and he said, "Danny,

it would have killed you." The last time

I talked to Brad, I was in LA and him

and Tom called and said, "Would would

are you still going to meetings?" I

said, "Yes, I am." And I was sober and

and they said, "Would you take us to

one?"

And my car wouldn't start.

They said, "We're at the Palms waiting

on the side of the thing for you." I

said, "My my car won't start. It's up at

Doug Figer's house.

The bandits." Well,

after Daringer, I was in Shreport and I

went into a club or something and ran

into a friend of mine, a drummer, good

drummer, Glenn Graves.

And he said, "You want to come over

after?" Yeah. And he said,

"Why don't you do a solo thing?" I had

never thought about it.

In other words, I didn't know what I was

going to do next. I was just going to

look try to find another big gig if

there was another one out there. It's

not like they grow on trees. But, um, he

he he kind of inspired me and

I've been

down.

Oh my

god.

Happy birthday.

Thank you.

Hallelujah.

Nothing.

Nothing.

I actually wrote that in California with

it playing drums walking through the

park.

And so we had a drummer

and he was so busy we when we produced

it. I think you were there Posasha and

helped produce. We had to take all his

drums and symbols

>> away from him, you know, cuz he wouldn't

stop. And he's very successful now. J

Shell and he plays for Yes. And I took

all his drums away from him. I can't get

him on the phone anymore. No. But then

we overdubbed the the floor times and um

and then we shot the video in Shreport.

We had a big following and told them,

"Hey, we're going to do a video here.

Anybody wants to be on the video?" And

uh so we packed the house and thought we

were playing the whiskey and the

starwood and you know all the places

going to make you feel

in my dream.

>> I actually played with him at the same

time.

didn't go over well.

>> I played with him at the same time cuz

Rod was more of a day guy and he had

children and he like to quit rehearsals.

We were rehearsing for a tour I think

and

he liked to quit at about 5, which is

happy hour. would go up and drink and he

had his own bar and bartender and then

I'd go home. Sometimes the phone would

ring. Hello. Hey Danny, it's Alice. Can

you come over? God, I just got back.

It's okay. And I'd go over there and

we'd start at midnight and go till 10:00

in the morning and then I'd sometimes

drive straight to the record plant to

rod session.

And everything was going good until he

found me in the room with my guitar and

everything. I was laying on my back

asleep at a Rod Stewart session. He

said, "I got two other guitar players."

So, me getting guitar players is not

much of a problem. Putting three guitar

players, two from England and one from

Louisiana, and all heavy drinkers. I

didn't drink back then or do nothing.

And the the one of Rod's

sidekicks called me and said, "You know,

um, you need to drink with us." I said,

"Jim, you guys are all alcoholics." He

said, "It's just the first year that's a

little rough. You'll get used to it."

And

so I I didn't fit in. In other words, I

could do the music. And Rod liked me to

play the acoustic. He he said, "Would

you play the acoustic on my some of my

hits because I like your strum."

And and so I I played acoustics and had

about five guitars. I played the Les

Paul and you know on some of the heavy

stuff and um

it was a great experience.

I gotta tell you, I enjoyed working with

Alice way more because

for one thing, he was

super nice. You know, he would come to

the studio and he would, "Hey,

gentlemen." Whereas Rod Stewart, he

would take us to the Leon or some or

something next door as a bar. We'd get

shitfaced. He Let's go back and record.

And and we would record something. And

he'd go, "Man, this is so good. This is"

And he'd be on his microphone. Rock it,

baby. Rock it. You know, we're just

cranking and cranking and cranking.

We're all drunk. And the next day, I

walk in the studio. And he's like,

>> "Oh god, a band member."

>> You know what I mean? Like,

you want to hear something that really

sounds like [ __ ] Come in here, guys.

And he put the thing. You told us we

were great. You told us it was a tape.

Of course, I didn't say that.

>> Richie Podler.

>> Oh god.

>> He's another one. He produced everybody

out of the 60s on the West Coast, you

know, from Three Dog Night, Stein Wolf.

>> It goes on and on and on. But I did a

bunch of albums with him and I brought

him some albums. I brought him Alcatraz.

And um I loved him. He was just great.

But he was producing he he told Alice

he told Alice, "I'm going to get this

guy over here and he's not going to

smoke your coke. He won't do that with

you. Not not at a session." And so,

>> uh, I came over and we we started doing

the album and I I had to literally erase

over some of the other parts and I hated

doing it cuz some of them were my

friends, but they didn't they you got to

do it. And um,

I probably had it done to me, too. But

um

he he he wanted me to join his band and

he wanted me to help lead the band. I

said, "Why? Why me?" He said, "I don't

like to be the bad guy. I just want to

tell you what to tell them." I said,

"I'm with Rod." And he was practicing

with these ice picks for his next tour.

and he had a bullseye thing out there

because Richie used to likes to shoot

guns in the studio and bow and arrows.

So, we had a big thing, you know, and uh

he said, "What do I have to do? Go do

this to Rod Stewart and then take my ice

picks to him." And that's like the

biggest compliment I ever got from

Roxar. You know, I remember Alice saying

a couple of things like,

"Stop sitting down." Okay. I stood up.

He said, "How loud does that amp go?" I

said, "It goes to 10. Turn it to 12."

And and when you play, I want to see it.

I go, "We're in the studio.

I can focus better." He said, "My people

know the difference.

they know the difference between a

studio musician and a rocker.

>> You stand up and rock. So, I had to, you

know, not only play the part, but, you

know, move and shake and

but but he's so theatrical and I love

that about him. I love it, you know.

>> Yeah. Everybody I mean, the cream were

good what, 40 years ago. I mean, how do

you top that?

>> But

Ever since I was a kid, I you know, I

like theatrics. You know what else?

Well, there's a bass player and there's

two guitar players and a drummer. Yeah.

So is 40 million bands.

What else?

Do you remember the back seat at the

Stop driving

back in those days. We were just getting

started. Playing all night with the kids

in the dark.

Time

it starts with art.

Remember the best calls and racing.

Well, after midnight

something new.

through the days of Vietnam.

I remember all this still in this mind.

Let's go back

when we were young.

Let's go back

where we come from.

We take our shoes off. I was alone

fighting battles that could be won

when we were young.

Heat. Heat.

When we were young,

living like

let's go back

where we come from.

We take our shoes off all summer long.

We're fighting battles that could be won

when we were young.

I'm trying to get back out there. And he

said, "Well, you know, Alcatraz just

lost the guitar."

Who who's Alcatraz? Well, they just lost

Steve. Who's Steve?

Well, he replaced Ding V. Wingnut. What?

And and so I didn't know who these guys

were. If I would have, I would have

said, I'm probably not your guy. They

said, Danny,

that Marshall 100 with that one bottom

is not going to cut it. You need two or

three. In the rehearsal room, Graham's

not even using monitors, but he could

sing over the sound, marshalls and

everything with no monitors. His neck, I

mean, he's a real singer and a lovely

guy. I love that man. And his lyrics, I

used to write with him.

I remember the first day, they said,

"The guitar player's more the leader

than Grant." I said, "Okay."

And so they said, "You're going to start

writing the guitar player." Graham only

writes with the guitar player. And you

start tomorrow. I said, "Okay." So I

called him up. I said, "I'm going to

head your way. Is there anything I can

get you?" And they said, "Whatever you

do, don't bring him beer."

And I said, "Is there anything I can get

you?" He said, "Yeah, I need some

Pampers

for my kid and some cigarettes."

Oh, yeah. And a six-pack.

>> And I I got the six-pack. And my my

theory was I'm not going to work with an

alcoholic Jonesing. You know what I'm

saying?

So

>> the next day the guys heard Graham said,

"Y'all wrote two complete songs

yesterday. How did you do it?" But I

never told them I took the six-pack.

It was like hanging out with Mozart, you

know? I would be like two or three feet

from him

when he's playing a guitar, you know, I

would say, "Hey, show me what you want

me to do." And he would play something

that was way out of my toolbox.

And um his finesse, he played very light

with light strings and so did Steve Vi.

I worked with him a little bit. He

helped rehearse me into Alcatra.

But Eddie,

you know, we were both going through

some stuff with drugs and alcohol and so

I was going to AAS and CAS and anything

with an A on the end of it. And

so

I I got him going to this special place

that Doug Figer had that was rock stars

only. And he really liked that meeting.

I mean, uh, I don't want to name names,

but everybody was there. Everybody I

mean, if you walked in the room, you go,

"Oh, yeah. I know him. I know him." And

but anonymity, so I don't want to do

that. But, uh,

somebody brought their nephew and he

shared and he said, "I stood in line at

the DMV today and it made me want to

use." And when we left, Eddie said,

"My

dad died at 53. I don't want to die at

53.

I don't want to hear stuff like that.

You know,

what's my bottom out?" I know, Eddie,

you you you got all your money. You're

famous,

but you might not wake up one morning.

But

he his theory was he Danny life is not a

[ __ ] it's a beach. That was his

slogan. Life is a beach. And he

basically gave the world all this

incredible music and incredible guitar

playing, but it killed him.

I mean, because

he always wanted to be in a good mood.

Sometimes it's hard to be in a good mood

without a little enhancement,

but

that enhancement

is the beginning of the end. Usually,

so many people

I was friends with Valerie,

but with Eddie, I would do anything for

him. He would call me at 3:00 in the

morning, say, "I've been with you

producing songs and working on the

album."

Ring, ring, ring. It's Valerie. Have you

been with Eddie tonight? Yes.

I lied for him.

He said, "Bring beer and put it in the

bushes." I did that.

Anything he asked.

and anything.

You know, there was one on one I had a

problem

and I don't want to talk about what it

was, but it was kind of expensive

and I didn't.

He called me. He said, "Well, I'm so

gloomy. I I got a problem." He said,

"Come come over to house." And he shook

my hand with $5,000 in it. Says, "Now go

put your fix your problem.

>> You need more." That's the kind of guy

he was. He was constantly trying to help

guitar players that were struggling.

He did that with Allan Hollesworth. He

did that with some other guys.

>> I remember one day

we were trying to Eddie was trying to

get us a a rocking solo out of me and

Ted was right there and you know it was

just I was just

not there yet. And Ted said, "Eddie,

see they had been separated from each

other. Ted and

>> and Eddie and and Don Landy and Eddie

were producing the records." So that

kind of got them back together. And

Templeman said, "Eddie,

would you play some guitar for us?" And

Eddie just picked up the guitar and just

he just started playing. It's just like

you know,

>> unbelievable.

I I called him monkey fingers cuz he

played with not just

>> the back of his hand, the side of his

hands, tapping, hitting. It's like

unbelievable.

I I I remember one time

>> he walked out of the room and I'm like

and I just started noodling

>> and then he turned around and walked

right back. What are you doing?

I go I'm just doing a bunch of cliches.

What What do you call that? I don't

know. The shreport sound. That's who you

are. Quit trying to copy me and Steve

Vi. I got news for you.

You'll never You'll never top that.

But why do you think we do all those

tricks and stuff? We don't come from

Louisiana. We don't have soul like that.

And I went over to the side to watch

watch him play. And I thought I heard my

name.

I thought I And the roadie tapped me on

the shoulder said, "Sammy Sammy, he's

calling you out there."

What? At the Kingdome in Seattle? That's

like what 60,000 people or something.

And uh

and and

they want me out there. And I said, "Do

Zeke, is there anything you got

anything?" You know, and Sammy said,

"Bottom drawer, Jack Daniels." And

and then Sammy comes over there. I go,

"I got no guitar, Sammy." And he took

his guitar off and threw it on me. said,

"Get your ass out here." What song? The

Who. What song by The Who. They never

told me. They just It went into my

generation.

And then I was standing back by Alex

kind of groovven on him. I had no idea

he was as good as he was. I mean, when

people referred to Van Halen, the people

behind the scenes, they don't call him

Van Halen. They call them the brothers

Eddie and Alex. And so

it was like Charlie Watts,

John Bonham,

everything mixed in one. And Eddie and

Sammy kept saying, "Come up here with

us." And I'm going, "I'm okay back

here." Kind of like you're the stars.

And you better come up here with us.

And they were very adamant about it. and

and and I said, "No, I'm staying here."

And a bomb blew off and I was standing

right over it, you know, kaboom and and

oh god. And it literally knocked me like

this.

And then Eddie got said, "Go over

there." Eddie could be like Spanky or

Alpha Alpha.

He liked pulling pranks on people. He

said, "Why don't you go over there?" And

boom, I get blown off. And Sammy says,

"Go over there." And the pyro technical

guys were ran backstage to see if I

needed medical an ambulance. And they

said, "I'm sorry, Danny, but we have

orders from the director." And he says,

"Do you want us to blow?" Danny

Johnson's standing right over the thing.

It's time to blow. Just go ahead and

blow.

Here he is again. It's coming up. 10

nine. No, the Danny's still standing

there and boom. I mean, must have

happened four times. My hair, my face

was black. And when I walked in that

dressing room, Van Halen were every one

of them. They were laughing their ass

off. You know, it's like, when are you

going to ask me if I'm okay?

But but Eddie used to do stuff like

that. He did an interview once with

Guitar Magazine.

I don't know. I probably shouldn't tell

this, but This is it. This is where the

tail.

>> Hey, you know, they were asking him h

how many tubes you use, what kind of

tubes, your power soak, what do you set

it on, how do you get this sound, that

sound, and I read the interview.

He was letting me use his rig when he

produced me. So, I I knew everything

about his rig. And I said, "Nothing you

put in there is what you really do."

And as a matter of fact, some of the

stuff in there is going to blow out

amps. He said, "Well,

I'm not giving away my trade secrets."

And he slaved over those secrets. He was

a tonechaser.

Overly nice to me. So temp but but I

would have taken a bullet for him.

>> I probably died a

>> and as a matter of fact I got ran out of

there because um

you know

usually you have to watch the gates to

make sure

you know Valerie doesn't come in if

you're doing something you shouldn't do.

And Eddie kept he had a little bit of

coke and he kept begging me here do some

of this man, you know, cuz he was more

of a drinker back then. And he just did

a little of that to keep him awake. No,

no, no, no. If if I'm going to do some

of that, I I I was

more injured drugs at that at that

point. I've been disciplined all my

life. And then

I don't know after my marriage busted up

years and years and years with nobody

policing me, you know. So I said, "No,

I'm not going to do a line with you

unless you give it all to me." And he

said, "Here." And he handed it to me. We

weren't watching the gates. I put it up

to my nose. The door opens. It's

Valerie.

And she said, "You know my husband's a

drug addict and an alcoholic. Don't you,

Danny?

Yeah,

I guess this is goodbye.

>> And that was it.

That's the fire.

So, you want to know about Danny

Johnson, huh? I think the first time I

was aware of Danny was around 1980. Uh,

I saw Danny Johnson and the Bandits at

the Whiskey, and I remember thinking,

"Holy [ __ ] this is a very good guitar

player." I mean, I I knew I had been

around very good guitar players before

then, and I recognized that in Danny.

Then I probably ran into him again

around 1986 when he was playing with

Alcatraz. My very good friend Jimmy

Waldo was the founder of the band and uh

Danny was staying at Jimmy's house. I

remember going over to Jimmy's one night

and Jimmy and I were working on a song.

We wrote songs together and Danny was

there and I said, "Hey man, would you

play a solo?" and he grabbed I think I

was rocking a pig nose or something man

I had some strat and first time through

man he laid down this beautifully

melodic

screaming solo and that's when I knew

that wow this guy is a really good

guitar player then a couple years later

Danny uh joins Private Life

and he's being produced by uh Edward Van

Halen whom I knew from

Way back in 1977,

I was actually writing a book about uh

Edward at the time, a book that would

later come out called Tonechaser. And um

I knew that if Edward was spending time

with a band and a guitar player, that

this had to be an amazing band. And they

were. Uh Danny was incredible. He sort

of straddled that classic rock thing,

that kind of that amazing melodic thing

that Jeff Beck had with a more, you

know, ripping kind of thing that that

Paige had and uh, you know, some of the

more modern guitar players. An

incredibly good guitar player. Uh,

probably undersung, you know, and then

he'd become part of Steen Wolf and and

play all those incredible Steen Wolf

songs, Born to Be Wild and Pusher and

all of that great stuff. um

exceptionally good guitar player and um

no one more deserving of a documentary

than Danny Johnson. So there you go.

Speaking of Tonechaser,

my friend Steven Rosen wrote this book

called Tonechaser. He was also a good

friend of Eddies. He's one of the top

writers on the the West Coast guitar

writers.

They needed a guitar player. And Richie

said, "I keep telling you about this kid

from

Louisiana that's got the blues roots,

but he's a rocker and he's got a

psychedelic edge."

And and John said, "Okay,

let let's let's go there." And so, so I

get a call one day. Hey Danny, this is

John K.

He said, ' Do you want to come to

Nashville? We're based out of Nashville.

So,

if you're interested in this gig,

I won't call Cattle Call. if you'll come

here over Christmas. And I'm going

Christmas. But what I didn't tell him

was my my kids lived in Nashville. It

was like a free trip to see my kids.

Even if I don't get the gig, I'm going

to Nashville.

I said, I can do that. You know, how

many days you want? I think one. Yeah.

meaning like if you don't and so I

learned one of their classics ride with

me. I don't know if it was a hit, but it

was a slide tune. And just in case, he

wanted me to play that song. And he

said, "Well, well, you know,

just learn Suki Suki, you know, like

three songs."

When we went there, we played the three

songs they told me to learn.

And he said, "Let's break, Danny. Go

out." And and they were all smiling,

everything. And I I said, "You want to

do Rod with me? You know, Rod with Me

and Open Tuning Slot?" "Yeah." And we

played that. And I think that was the

one that won the Dan Electro.

And he said, "Let's let's take a break."

And uh they walked out of the room and

came back and said, "You got to get

close to 25 years."

Somebody once asked me, "Does that get

old?"

You know, like playing Born to be Wild

and Magic Carpet riding the pusher in

front of 20,000 people.

It's the same thing every time you play

it. It's like the It's so exciting. It's

like, does it get old playing Rock and

Roll Hooch at the end of the gig, you

know, and everybody's singing the words?

It never gets old for me.

was slow.

I was all tore down. So, I got my

prescription filled.

I saw you

at the back of the line. And I knew home

had come to town.

Lean on me.

Lean on you.

Lean on me. Let's get free.

Thunder

in the city.

Fire in the streets.

Sinners,

losers, and winners. We all need to stop

and breathe.

is lean on me.

Lean on you.

Lean on me. Let's get free.

Brea free. Such a friend.

Break. Break. Such a friend.

See That play is so much better. I

didn't know you were filming me.

>> Oh, say that again.

>> Well, I shouldn't have the glasses on

for one thing. Ladies and gentlemen, now

he's okay.

>> This is just getting used to having a

camera on you.

His

style is like

um

lead belly

meets Jimmy Hendris, you know? It's like

very country blues

foundation, but then with this rock

psychedelia on top of that. Um, he

definitely has his own style that's

that's different than any other of the

great rock guitar players that that you

know were his contemporaries. His style,

you know, it's a Danny Johnson lick when

you hear it. I think his style is

completely 100% his own, even within the

world of lead guitar player. Uh because

you know he he came up in the 70s and

80s when

lead guitar player was that was the man

that was like the old wild west

gunfighter. That's they were they were

revered even in the rock and roll world.

and his style is such a a gumbo of

the blues and rock and roll and

aggressiveness

mixed with

sort of a uh less fair attitude. It's

just nobody else really ever catches it

like like he catches it. He when he

plays a solo, it doesn't sound like

anyone else's. It's not contrived. Other

people try to sound like him. He doesn't

try to sound like other people.

>> Music

was a part of everything in our lives as

my dad. Um

I don't remember

it not being a part of things. you know,

uh, dad was always playing the guitar

and whether we were sitting at the

dinner table or watching a TV show or,

you know, all gathered around, there was

always a guitar and always music

involved. Whether he meant to or not, I

think the biggest thing I would probably

glean from my dad and in his life and

his, you know, fatherly advice is just,

you know, to if you love something, then

give it your all. And if you want to be

good at something, then give it your

all. And that and you know, you have to

live it, you have to eat it, you have to

breathe it. And um and he did and he set

a great example for that.

She goes to church on Sunday.

He still likes to roam.

They roll with the punches when times

are tough. Living in the house of love,

stuck in a broken world.

We all need a fix.

Faith, hope, peace, and harmony.

That's what we need.

I saw the smoke rise from the bottom

and in the narrow the flames couldn't

get no

I just can't enough to

nothing else.

Now you want to say goodbye.

Look at the tears in your eyes.

We got the good stuff.

Come with me. I'll s you free living in

a house and

Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat.

on the second Private Life album

produced by Eddie Van Halen.

Um I said we did a song rock by Angel. I

said hey it'd be nice to have a harps

accord because you know it's about

angels. What is that? you know, the

thing your your teacher played at

school, you know, uh

and um he said, "Okay, I'll pay for it.

You can have it when you're done, but

you got to tune it." And it's got 42

strings and it's hell to pay to get it

in tune.

One time he told daddy he was g he had

to go to practice.

You know, he was a grown man by then.

And he he told my dad, he said, "Well,

I'm I'm leaving. I've got to go to

practice." And daddy said, "Practice? My

goodness, you should know everything by

now." And also, Danny is a very humble

person. you know, he he's uh

I when he gets up on that stage though

with that guitar, he's not he, you know,

he lets the audience have it.

>> Uh when we were in the bandits, we had

we did a record with Richie Podler,

American Studios that did Ride, Captain

Ride, Stepping Wolf, so many big blues

Image, all so many bands. Well, we did a

whole record and it was going to be

released and we were fixing to get a

deal with Polyor Records. And matter of

fact, we were we were signed to Polydora

and uh something happened that deal, but

I think it's what happened is uh Rod

Stewart wanted Danny. He wanted Danny

real bad and he offered him some real

good money to do it. So, he went on

tour, probably world tours with Rod

Stewart and it kind of fizzled away, the

Bandits. and you know he had to go do

his thing and you know get more famous

you know he was with Rick Daringer for

so long and he loved that so I don't

blame him on that I I didn't like it cuz

we were fixing to have a record out you

know but I was going to mention one

thing we did this show

is the first video show that was ever

ever done it was called Hollywood

Heartbeat we were on a show with uh the

Vapor

uh the Plimos the Go-Os David Buouie and

the Bandits, we all did the same show.

We're all in the studio the same time

and that was I thought we had it. I

thought we were going to make it big and

we knew we were having our record coming

out and you know we're going to be stars

and you know I'd have a worldwide record

with Danny Johnson and you know things

sometimes don't work out. You just get

through it and you keep on going and

he's the best three-piece guitar player

that you could ever play with. He was so

full. He made everything. But of course,

like together, we played together. It

wasn't just a drummer and a guitar

player. It was like we were together. I

mean, we made Look, the first bandits uh

we played and we were never off. We're

on the road. We wouldn't even have

enough time to take showers sometimes

getting in in in the in the cities that

we were playing. We' just get up there

and start playing. It was just one after

another.

They headed down to Texas from South

Louisiana

with the boys in the hard rock band.

shadow. They were dancing in the B black

night and looked like some girls to the

boys delight.

When we asked what y'all name one said,

the other said you can call me fine.

pleasure and pain.

Place your words of blond hair blue girl

with the face like an angel from a

distant world. Pain dressed in black had

a body to boot. A lions on her fingers

and a bunch of tattoos.

When we asked, "Oh, what's your name?"

One senture and the other said you can

call me

pleasure and pain.

My man up and took pleasure for a ride.

So I bet he said your pain and I told

her how to drive. Everybody's looking

for the same good time. So we headed

down to Magic Street on a carpet ride.

When we asked what's your name?

Said I'm pleasure in the city. You can

call me

pleasure and pain.

Sweet sugar cane.

pleasure in pain.

>> Those days he was like a modern kind of

player, you know, he had blues roots. He

played like rock and his his solos were

really well thought out but they even

though they were spontaneous most of the

time. You know he had a great sound. He

looked great. You know he had all the

you know he had all the elements of what

a great guitar player like a guitar hero

would have in those days. You know he

got a good sound on the guitar. You know

that's a lot of it too. You know guitar

player that don't have a good sound.

Forget it. sucks. They always had a good

sound, you know. I remember seeing the

giant billboard on Sunset Boulevard,

Daringer,

with my brother's name up there. I said,

"That [ __ ] I never had one of

those.

Heat. Heat.

Heat.

Heat.

Heat. Heat. N.

Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat.

Okay.