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One of the Best Guitar Players You Never Heard Of ...Road Tested and Approved

INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD NORTON

MYSTERY MAN OF THE BLUES

This interview was done originally for the now defunct California Blues Quarterly and is reprinted with their permission.

An outspoken advocate of tube amps and vintage guitars, Richard Norton is equally passionate about the blues. A very reclusive, guarded and private man, he rarely grants interviews.  However persistence pays off. I cornered him in a Fullerton rehearsal studio and he agreed to be interviewed. The following quotes are excerpts from that interview.

CBQ: You have lived around this area for quite awhile, yet you rarely grant interviews, or even play out  anymore for that matter  what's up with  that?

RN: Well maybe it's that I don't really feel that I don't have much to say. I guess I'd rather let the music do the talking for me. My life has had a lot of ups and downs and it took a lot of growing up on my part to figure out what was really important to me. It seems like when you read an interview with someone these days all they do is whine about their personal problems with drugs and alcohol.

The fact is I've done a lot of things I'm not real proud of and I don't want anyone to think I'm some kind of role model or poster boy for homelessness which I'm not. I mean who cares about all that the past is the past I'd like to leave it like that. I find that growing up kind of means taking responsibility for your actions.

We all have choices to make and I've made some bad ones, however now is now. I'd like to think I'm the Comeback Kid on the Campaign trail. Lets talk about music, is that fair enough?

As for the second part of your question, I guess I just don't want to be in the limelight as much so I just play with my friends and pick a gig here and there. I   guess I'm in what you might call semi-retirement. To be honest with you it freaks me out just to have my picture taken.

CBQ: Fair enough. I understand that  you grew up in a musical family?

RN: Sort of, that would have been my stepfather Bob (Red) Cravens. He was a great bluegrass guitar player in the 50's and early 60's. He played with people like Bill Monroe and had his own group record on Liberty records.

CBQ: Most second-generation players follow in the footsteps, why not bluegrass instead of blues?

RN: Well first off I'm not just into the blues. My journey begins there but I love and am more than capable of playing other genres of music as well. I like to think of myself as a rock-n soul, R&B kinda guy. Throw a little country blues in there and you got party.

to answer your question because at the time I hated it (laughs) bluegrass I mean. No really, if you were growing up in Southern California at that time you were in to rock and roll and I wanted to rock.

CBQ: What was the first rock concert you went to?

RN: Well the first one was when I was like 11 years old. My sister took me with some of her friends and ditched me when we got to the hall. At that time I was a little too young and the music really didn't make that much of an impression. The second was when I was 13 and that was different.

At that time I had made one of my many side trips away from home. I had allot of problems with my folks. I guess the authorities call it a lack of parental control. So I had taken up residence in a Goodwill depository.

This was an interesting arrangement cos at the time they (Goodwill) didn't have a drop-off in a trailer like they have now. Back then they had this big bell shaped thing with a slot in the front that people could put clothes and stuff into. So at night I would slip into the bell unnoticed and sleep on top of all the clothes and get up and go to school the next day.

Stayed there for about a week. Anyways one evening I get a knock on the bell from one of my pals from school. He says hey man were going to go see Steve Miller at UCI and would I like to come along. Beats sitting in the bell all night so I says yeah lets go. We all pile into the back of a friends 55 Chevy pick-up and off we go to the concert.

At that time Steve Miller had a song out called "Livin in the USA" I loved that song. It was the first rock song I really identified with. I liked rock-n-roll but guess I was just too young til that moment.

So there we were in the back of my friends truck "Livin in the USA" blasting on our way to the show. One problem tho, I didn't have any money for admission. No problem my pal says I have a way to get in for free. Now free I like so what the hell.

When we get to the concert we go round to the back of the hall and see some people unloading a huge truck with amps, guitars etc. My buddy goes up to one of the cats there and asks if we help load in can we stay for the show. Sure the guy says break a leg.

So we carry some stuff in and I'm standing on the stage Steve Miller will be playing on in a few hours looking out at the chairs and I'm thinking Jeez what a freakin trip. I'm really liking the view and thought I wonder what it would be like to stand here and play music in front of all the people.

I had never even played a guitar at this point. The show went off and I just sat there speechless. I mean I was totally stunned. Steve Miller was one of the first real white blues-rock guitarist at this point and he was real real good then. He still is. We're talkin about the Gangster of Love after all.

I

got back to the Goodwill bell that night and made the first real decision in my life and that was to play guitar like the Steve Miller  if it was the last thing I ever did. I went home next day and announced that I had decided to become a rock-n-roll geeetar player. Didn't go over real well. I was grounded for a real long time.

I had tried to talk the old man into buying me an electric guitar but he would hear none of it. He went totally mental like your not going to bring that goddamn electric guitar into this house (laughs).

CQB: how would you describe your guitar playing and who influenced you?

RN: Are you kidding? Loud and obnoxious, but with a sensitive lyrical side. You didn't buy that did you ?)

Hmm didn't think so. To be brutally honest. I didn't get serious about the guitar till I was about 19 years old. The major reason being I had to leave home when I was 15. It's kinda hard to get into guitar when all you can do is just try to survive. When I did get serious it was never about posing and being a star and all that crap it was about being the best guitar player I could be period.

Now getting back to your question technically I really suck honest, I just make due with what gifts I've got. I started off like most people of my generation listening to English blues back in high school. You know Clapton, Beck, Jimmy Page etc. I also was listening to country blues like Mississippi John Hurt, Robert Johnson, Skip James and the like. Mind you I said listening cos no way I could play that stuff no sir.

Later on I met a guy in Phoenix who was turned me on to all the great ones BB King, Freddie King, Albert King, Howlin Wolf, John Lee Hooker oh the list is just endless. Just when I think I've heard it all someone new comes along and knocks me out.

My Main influences would have been more contemporary players like Jimi Hendrix, Steve Miller, Johnny Winters, Duane Alman, Lowell George etc. I can hear the purists cringing as I speak (laughs). Like I said I don't consider myself to be a natural, so I have to practice as often as I can just to keep up. Oh yeah I would also have to mention that on the acoustic side of things Stefan Grossman looms large in my development.

CQB: From the look on your face I don't know, is there something else?

RN: Well…..I don't want to be misunderstood is all. The real issue is about music, not about fashion or style. It's not about sharkskin suits or funny haircuts. It's not about ignorance, intolerance and musical racism where my music is better than your music or anything like that. You see, musical styles don't clash people do.

CBQ: You're a big believer in the do it yourself method of making and selling records aren't you?

RN: Yes I am. The music business has changed alot from when I can first remember. By the late 1970's it had gotten so formulated and mediocre is it any wonder that most of popular music sounds like crap these days?

My personal take on it is that 95% of the record execs out there don't know shit about what people really want. That's why they would rather sign every moron with how did Frank Zappa once put it, a studded dog collar and a guitar than to spend the time and resources trying to develop talent. How can you expect people with no talent possibly find anything real to develop. So it kind of leaves it up to the talent to develop themselves.

CBQ: What advice would you give to young musicians?

RN: Take some business classes, learn the music business, incorporate your band. Every record label of any merit is a corporation why should you or your band be any different. Believe me they will not take you seriously until you get your business together. Better yet just do it yourself.

CBQ: Is it true that you offer your CD with a Lifetime Money Back Guarantee? Are you serious?

RN: Well yes I know that it's a pretty bold statement but I stand behind my work. The Internet kind of spooks people as far as being consumers. I just want them to know that I believe in my work and I'll do whatever it takes to get it in their hands. I don't have the luxury of having a record company behind me so I have have to resort to guerilla marketing to get the point across. The guarantee is simple, buy the CD listen to it and if you don't like it you can return it for a refund. As far as I know nobody has ever made an offer like that online or off.

CBQ: Any plans for a new CD and where can a band find out more inside information on marketing themselves on the Internet?

RN: As far as a new CD goes that depends on the fans showing support by purchasing " I Can Stand A Little Rain". If they do, I would love to make some new music. If I do make a new record it will be less hard blues and more old school rock, soul and R&B which is what I grew up listening to.

CBQ. Any plans to perform in the near future?

RN. I don't know yet, we'll see.

CBQ: Richard I would like to thank you very much for this interview.

RN: Thank you, have fun and don't get caught.