{"id":119206,"date":"2023-04-05T13:43:41","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T18:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=119206"},"modified":"2023-04-05T13:43:57","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T18:43:57","slug":"q-a-with-chuck-leavell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=119206","title":{"rendered":"Q &#038; A with Chuck Leavell"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1545664804358300\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"8616314829\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=119206\" rel=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=119206\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-119207 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Chuck-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Chuck-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Chuck.jpg 730w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Chuck Leavell is the keyboardist and musical director with The Rolling Stones since 1982. He has performed on almost every Stones album. He was also a member of The Allman Brothers in the 1970s. The band might be going on tour later this year and Chuck will be part of that again. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: How old were you when you picked up your first music instrument and what was it?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>My mom played the piano. When I was very young, 5 or 6 years old and often with my older brother and sister in school and dad out working, it was just mom and me in the house. I would ask her to play. She was not a teacher or professional, but she could play quite well, and she would oblige. She would show me simple things sometimes and leave me to my own resources occasionally. So, I just fell in love with the instrument and stuck with it. Along the way, I learned some guitar and also played the tuba in Jr. High but other than that, had very little formal training.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: Who were your music idols when you were a kid?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I was fortunate to grow up in the South in the 60s, so we would hear all kinds of music: Country, gospel, pop, soul and R&amp;B, and of course eventually British Invasion. Of course, I liked it all but influences included Ray Charles, Leon Russell, Nicky Hopkins, Elton John, and more.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: You were part of The Allman Brothers: How did you became a member and how was it working with them?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I had been called in to work on Gregg Allman\u2019s first solo record called \u201cLaid Back\u201d. Those sessions went very well, and sometimes there would be jam sessions after hours when all the Allman Bros. would come in and play. After 2-3 weeks of this, I got a call from the band\u2019s manager, Phil Walden, who told me to come to his office. Not knowing what was going on, when I got there, all the members were in the room. The \u201cshoe\u201d eventually dropped, and they asked me to join the band which of course I did! I had just turned 20 a few short months before. Quite an opportunity\u2026<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: Since 1982 you are the keyboardist and musical director for The Rolling Stones? Tell me how that all started.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Bill Graham, who was a famous promoter, loved the The Allman Brothers and we became friends. In \u201981, he was tapped to be Tour Director for the Stones. They wanted to try out some new folks on keys, and Bill suggested me. I went for an audition on very short notice, like 36 hours, hopped on a plane and they kept me for three days. I didn\u2019t get the position immediately, as they were about to start a tour\u2026. but four months later I got the call to do a European tour and have had the seat ever since.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: What are your most fond memories of working with Sir Mick and Keith?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>So many\u2026but I\u2019ll say that watching them write songs, experiment with the recording process and hammer out arrangements and final touches is an amazing process to be involved in. But as for shows: playing Prague just months after the Wall fell was memorable\u2026126K people came. There was a wonderful feeling of freedom there and the posters read: \u201cTanks roll out, Stones roll in!\u201d Playing Havana to 700K folks also memorable, as well as a free show we did in Rio that 1.5 million folks attended.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: If you were to make an album with 7 of your most favorite songs (NOT your own): What would you pick and why?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s tough\u2026I\u2019ve actually sort of done that with a live record I did: \u201cchuck Gets Big\u201d with a 17-piece big band from Germany. Songs like \u201cHonky Tonk Women\u201d and \u201cTumbling Dice\u201d by the Stones, \u201cLiving in a Dream\u201d by my friend Randall Bramblett, \u201cLosing Hand\u201d by Ray Charles, \u201cStatesboro Blues\u201d by Allman Brothers and others. All songs I still love to play.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: Is there anyone you have not played with, or you wished you had?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Well, maybe Van Morrison\u2026such a great voice and talent; Sting\u2026love his music; wish I could have played with Otis Redding and other Soul greats\u2026<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: What are you currently up to? Any new stuff happening?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Waiting to hear if the Stones will tour later this year and going into the studio myself soon to do a gospel record and maybe some other stuff\u2026and I still enjoy doing sessions for others. Blessed!<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Check out Chuck&#8217;s website: <a href=\"https:\/\/chuckleavell.com\/\">HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Find him on Twitter: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChuckLeavell\">HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #808000;\"><a style=\"color: #808000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.authorhouse.com\/en\/bookstore\/bookdetails\/232300-BOXING-INTERVIEWS-OF-A-LIFETIME\">Click Here to Order Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime By &#8220;Bad&#8221; Brad Berkwitt<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen Chuck Leavell is the keyboardist and musical director with The Rolling Stones since 1982. He has performed on almost every Stones album. He was also a member of The Allman Brothers in the 1970s. The band might be going on tour later this year and Chuck will be part of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28132,17984],"tags":[30725],"class_list":["post-119206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns-by-karen-beishuizen","category-entertainment-news","tag-q-a-with-chuck-leavell"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=119206"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/119207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=119206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=119206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=119206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}