(LW)Yeah. Murray the K had a copy of it right away. And you could vote on your records. You see, that was great. You could call up and you could register your vote for new albums that came out. They had the imports, they had Americans, and you could actually see whether or not your vote meant anything. You could make a record get played or not get played. And they played Fresh Cream. Fresh Cream got eight-hundred-and-some-odd votes to stay. It was incredible. They couldn’t do any wrong. It was like God had landed. Somebody saw something else to do with an electric guitars other than just strum. Did you ever wonder why humbucking pickups have so much power? Who ever used it? They certainly didn’t get any of the sounds we’re getting now then. So why were those pickups so powerful?
(LW)そうだ。Murray the K(Murray Kaufman、50年代〜70年代に活躍したディスクジョッキー)が(発売後)直ぐにかけたんだ。リスナーは好きなレコードを投票できた。素晴らしいことだった。電話を掛けて気に入ったニューアルバムへの投票を登録できるんだ。輸入版、アメリカ版、共に揃えていて、投票結果がどうなったかも知ることができる。それによってレコードがオンエアされるかどうかが決まるからな。で、Fresh Creamがオンエアされた。Fresh Creamは800何票かを獲得して留まったんだ。凄いアルバムだった。悪いわけが無い。神が降臨したようなものだ。エレキギターは掻き鳴らす以外にもできることがあると気付かせてくれたんだ。君は、ハムバッキングPUが何故あんなにパワーがあるのか考えたことがあるか? それ以前に(Eric以外の)誰がそのパワーを使ったことがあった? 今当たり前の音を当時は誰も出してなかったんだぜ。なのに、何故ハムバッキングPUはあんなにパワフルだったんだ?
(GP)You went after a powerful sound right away.
(GP)あなたは、直後にパワフルなサウンドを出していました。
(LW)Yeah, those Juniors had that sound. Those pickups on there, those little triangular-ended ones – those back ones – they have more power than the other ones, the sunburst humbuckings. But they had one sound. Now, if you take out the capacitor in there, you can stop the tone control from doing anything. All you get is full treble out of it, and that’s how I got that sound a lot. Bass tone I would use more or less by playing up where the bass pickup should have been. The bass tone is the bass pickup. One a three-way switch, it would be the bass switch, and I used to turn all the bass off, all the treble up. And that tone, which also Eric used in “Outside Woman’s Blues” [sings the Cream riff] – he used to call that the “woman tone.” It’s soft like a woman. It’s not a biting electric tone. I call it a “belly tone.” It’s a beautiful, beautiful, vibrato-sounding, saxophonish lead, but it doesn’t hurt your ear at all. Total bass, but nice tone. Tone I learned from Eric too, yeah. Yeah, he had tone, finesse, class. Never blew a lick.
(GP)When was the first time you saw Eric Clapton play?
(GP)Eric Claptonがプレイしているのを初めて見たのはいつですか?
(LW)At the Fillmore, on acid.
(LW)フィルモアでだ。飛びながらな。
(GP)Was that Cream’s first tour?
(GP)それはCreamの最初のツアーですか?
(LW)Well, they played the Café Au Go Go. Also on that tour I went into Café Au Go Go to see, one night, Jimi Hendrix, Elvin Bishop, Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Albert King. Everybody got up and jammed that night. And everybody got up and played a progression and played everything they knew. Bloomfield played everything he knew, Eric got up and played everything he knew. Hendrix plugged in all his pedals, played everything he knew. B.B. King got up there last, and he hit one night and sustained it through the whole progression. And walked off. It was incredible! After all them guys played 90 million things, what left was there to play? I thought that was so hip. In other words, he couldn’t do anything else, so he only did what he could do. And the one thing that he could do worked. It’s incredible. He can’t play that fast, you know, but he can sustain notes good. That was exciting, boy. The place went nuts, because all he did after all of that was [sings note]. One note, boy. Ultra hip.
(LW)彼等は「Café Au Go Go」でもプレイした。あのツアーでは、俺はCafé Au Go Goにも見に行ったんだ、その夜は、Jimi Hendrix、Elvin Bishop、Mike Bloomfield、Eric Clapton、B.B. King、Albert King、という顔ぶれだった。全員がステージに上がってのジャムもあったんだ。全員が揃って、(コード)プログレッションを弾き、出来る限りのプレイを尽くした。Bloomfieldは彼が出来る全てをプレイし、Ericも彼が出来る全てをプレイし、Hendrixは全てのエフェクターを駆使して、彼が出来る全てをプレイした。B.B. Kingが最後に登場し、一音を弾き、それをコード一回りの間ずっとサステインさせた。そして、歩き去って行った。そいつは凄かった! 他の全ての奴らが9000万もの事(ありったけの事)を弾きまくった後、いったい何が演奏すべきものとして残っているんだい? 俺は、これ(B.B.のやったこと)は本当にヒップだと思った。言いかえると、彼はあれ以外出来ることが無かった、彼が出来ることのみをやったってことだ。そして、たった一つ彼が出来たことが、ワークしたんだ。本当にカッコよかった。彼は早弾きは出来ない、だろ、だが上手くサステインさせることができる。本当にエキサイティングだった。大盛り上がりだった、彼が全ての締めくくりとしてやったことは(その音を口ずさむ)。たった1音、だぜ。ウルトラヒップだ!
(GP)When was the first time you played the Fillmore?
(GP)あなたがフィルモアで初めて演奏したのはいつのことですか?
(LW)The Fillmore West I played the first time, with Albert King and Johnny Winter. That was my first gig. This was after the Leslie West solo album and right before Woodstock. We played Fillmore West, The Whisky, Kinetic Playground in Chicago, and Woodstock.
(LW)フィルモアウエストが最初だった、Albert King とJohnny Winterとの共演だ。それが俺の最初のギグだった。Leslie West (-Mountain)のソロアルバムを出した後で、ウッドストックの直前だった。俺達は、フィルモアウエスト、ウイスキー・ア・ゴーゴー、シカゴのキネティック・プレイグラウンド、と周り、そしてウッドストックだった。
(GP)Who was in the band at the very beginning?
(GP)最初期のメンバーは誰だったのですか?
(LW)Norman Smart, Felix, and Steve Knight, an organ player who I never wanted in the band.
(GP)How soon after your first solo album did the band get together?
(GP)アルバム発表後、どれだけ直ぐにバンドが組まれたのでしょう?
(LW)Pretty quick, because I told Felix we couldn’t miss.
(LW)本当に直ぐだった、なぜなら俺がFelixに、機会を逃したくない、って言ったから。
(GP)Where did you rehearse?
(GP)どこでリハーサルを行ったのですか?
(LW)New York. We had a loft – that place I brought Hendrix to. The Windfall loft. We got a lot of things accomplished there. Yeah, I told some good jokes up there. I got ripped off 19 times. It’s in a real groovy area, you know. In Manhattan, by the trucks and the docks, where you either get shit or your dick or blood on your knife.
(LW)I didn’t. We didn’t jam in those days, man. Jamming I didn’t learn about until I went out to San Francisco. I swear to God. Vanilla Fudge were my friends, and they came out here and told me all about this jamming shit, you know, and peace and love and no dressing up for the stage – you know, just jeans. I said, “Wow. Those people must be laid back.” I came out here [to California] and I couldn’t believe it. I came back, and I said, “Shit, I hate Ashbury.” You know, I really hated it [Haight Ashbury].
(LW)Yeah, because I came out here with the acid and the freaks bothering you. Couldn’t even walk down the street. I loved the period – I didn’t like the area. It looked to me like a place where people can go get stoned and be left alone, you know.
(LW)No way! Yeah, peace and love as they’re stealing your tires. [Laughs.]
(LW)バカ言うな! 平和と愛、って言いながら、奴らはタイヤを盗む。(笑)
(GP)You always seemed to have more a street-smart image.
(GP)あなたには、より都会的なイメージがあります。
(LW)Yeah, well, I was from the street, man. But I didn’t believe any of that crap. I hate political motivation. Why would anybody want to put themselves up in front of all them people and try to be good all the time. Who can be good all the time? I can’t be good at all. I don’t trust ’em. Why Jimmy Carter wants to subject himself to what he’s going through now is just beyond me. Are you hungry? [Leslie and I go into the kitchen and he pulls out a box of Hostess Ho-Ho’s, some homemade zucchini bread, and diet orange soda.] Who turned you on to our records?
(LW)Yeah, we played there. And I’ll tell you where we did real great – WABX . Are you familiar with that [FM radio] station? Dave Dixon? He’s a friend of my wife. I was really friends with him. I heard Dave Dixon’s in Florida now.
(LW)そうそう、俺達はそこで演奏した。どこが最高だったか教えてやるぜ、、WABXだ。君はその(FMラジオ)局を聴いていた? Dave Dixon(その局のパーソナリティー)は知ってる? 彼は俺の嫁さんのダチだったんだ。俺は彼の本当のダチだった。Dave Dixonは今フロリダに居るって聞いたが。
(GP)When did Mountain have its best moment?
(GP)Mountainのベストな時期はいつでしたか?
(LW)The most exciting moment we ever had was in Memphis. We played the Mid-South Coliseum, and we were in the middle of the show somewhere. And we just blew the place apart. Grand Funk was on, all the heavy groups were on. And we did this “Stormy Monday” thing, people reacted incredible, and “Mississippi Queen” went to #1 in Memphis. That was biggest thrill I had. The best we were, I think, was on that Atlanta Pop Festival “Stormy Monday.” Doing what we did best, I would think it’s there, for the live show.
(LW)俺達のもっともエキサイティングな時は、メンフィスを訪れた時だ。Mid-South Coliseumで演奏し、俺達の出番は真ん中辺だった。そして、俺達は会場を興奮の坩堝と化した。Grand Funkも出ていた、へビーなグループの全てが出演していた。そこで俺達はStormy Mondayを演り、観客は強烈な反応を示し、それでMississippi QueenがメンフィスでNo.1ヒットになったんだ。あれは最高のスリルだったな。で、本当のベストはAtlanta Pop Festival でのStormy Mondayだと思う。俺達がベストなことやった中でも、あそこが最高だった、ライブショーとして。
(GP)What made Mountain break up?
(GP)何がMountainを崩壊させたのですか?
(LW)Drugs, attitude, attitude because of drugs, old ladies – all the usual shit. But at first it broke up because Felix didn’t want to work on the road. He was making a lot of money, and Corky and I wanted to. We didn’t tell him we were gonna call Jack, because as soon as we did, he’d get really pissed off. Jack told him on the phone one day, “You might have to go through what I went through, Felix, being by myself as the outsider.” It was a very emotional moment. But like I said, he chose to not go on the road. As soon as he did that, I ran to Jack. What would you have done? You know who you want to play with. And Jack was so relieved at the time. Wow. As soon as Jack thinks he’s getting commercial, he folds up. And that’s what we were – we could have been a commercial band.