interview with Ronnie TUTT

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interview with Ronnie TUTT

#301928

Post by tcb4 »

hello all

For you, I translated the first part of an "old" french interview with Ronnie TUTT. march 1999, enjoy 8)


with "elvis the concert" you will spend 3 weeks in europe ..

It gives us the opportunity to go in other countries
elvis' fans are everywhere in europe. Jerry scheff and I went to Paris years ago, we did an album, it was released recently


Regarding the concert in Brussels and Europe, how will that happen ?

I m hurry to do the concert because i never went there
All those years with EP, we only played in the US


Why ?

I never knew the answer but there was a rumour that the colonel was dutch and if he left, he couldnt come back. It sounds weird because the colonel was famous and could have arranged that.
I only know it is one of the biggest regrets elvis had.

We heard EP really wanted to come ?

I only know EP told me he wanted to go in different countries
You know i speak a little japanese and i arranged meetings between japanese and E, japanese were generous, they brought presents, and after that EP told me " i really want to go there, these people came to us and now it s our turn"

you always remained loyal to EP even 20 years after his death, how do you explain that ?

it s our love and respect for him, it s a monumental part of our career.
whatever how many artists i play with, people think of me as the ELVIS drummer. I ve been playing with neil diamond for 17 years but people still think of me as elvis drummer !

what do you think of that ?

It s an unusual situation. it s very important to be acknowledged for something we did. i think one has to continue. one can t live with this reputation forever.


how did you meet elvis in 69 ?

L Muhoberac worked with EP , and played in some movies. Larry & I worked together in Memphis
In 1969 Floyd Cramer wasn t available so they asked larry. Larry told me it would be a great opportunity to him. I was the last on the casting & it worked !

Where did come the nickname "hard working Ronnie Tutt" ?

I think it is my approach of the way i played
Many drummers are cool but don t move a lot
I m an expressive & emotional drummer, i think it s the reason, it s its idea


You seemed to get along well with him ?

we didn t have deep conversations but we understood eachother


After all these years, what does remain ?

It's only beginning with the concert, we are recreating something we thought was lost.
If somebody told me i would work with EP again, i would have said to him, "you re nuts !"
It s an incredible thing, it s a challenge
When we rehearsed, we wanted to be spontaneous, not 100% synchronized. That s why i watch him as i always did


Do you have regrets ?

The only regret is that we couldn t completely enjoy what we did
One new year's eve with neil diamond, i discussed a new year's eve i did with EP and i told him about the pontiac silverdome in Michigan and that it was amazing to see that "ocean of people".
We hardly realized, it was like the aloha from hawaï. It was broadcasted in the whole world, but we "understood" that only years after !
People will always love him. They don t want to hear all the crap about him. EP is part of the families, the culture, the world culture.


What were elvis' criteria to select his musicians ?

JB gathered the whole band except me. For some things EP talked to me, for instance when J Scheff left the band to go to the canada,
EP asked me to find new bassists and i found duke bardwell & emory gordy but thanks for us JS came to join us back !
I knew elvis'personnality & the music level he was looking for, he had a huge sense of humour but he was very serious for his stage performances. You had to guess when he was serious & when he wasn t. He respected the musicians & he only showed nothing but respect for us !


In the last years of his life, EP prefered the stage than the studio recording, why ?

IMO EP was a spontaneous man who prefered the stage. he believed in the true art of music as a scenic performance.
The true art of performance is THE Moment.
In studio the producer wanted to "isolate" EP (for technical reasons ) but he went in front of me to feel the music. Of course on stage, there were scarves & kisses but when he really HAD to sing, he went close to us (musicians).

That s why he didn t really like studios


Do you have a favorite concert ?

There was a night in Buffalo, NEW YORK. The crowd rushed on the stage in the end and EP went behind the drums
He laughed hard because C Hodge tried to stop the crowd with the attitude "i m gonna save you elvis" but for a while charlie disappeared & reappeared. it could have been very dangerous so EP said "everybody leave the stage" !

things like that are interesting and there were a lot like in the astrodome where there was 2 second delay between the moment we played & the moment the sound reached the audience, he moved his body ..1 .. 2 and you heard the reaction of the audience. And the aloha concert was special, to think so much people in the whole world saw it !
In japan the % was 90 and in the other countries it must have been as good ! It s one of the biggest technological world events !
He s one of the only man who has a world audience

What do you think would be his career if he didn t die in 1977 ?

I think he would have done hundreds of things we spoke about. He was in a worst health than we could realize. Had he lived ? hard to tell ! but he really loved live performances more than anything. he hated these movies, they embarassed him. Even now, he could have done concerts.

2nd part soon
source : the french fanzine "my happiness" - march 1999



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#301992

Post by Renan »

Thanks!

I enjoyed! :wink:


"Ain't it funny how time slips away...."


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#302729

Post by tcb4 »

thanks renan !

hereunder is the 2nd and last part !

I: do you think musically he would have changed ?

RT: Hard to tell ! He was autodidact , lot of people don t know.
When we spoke with him in his room there were tons of books.
HE read a lot.
He didn t want to be an ignorant guy from mississipi.
He didn t want to wear jeans

HE told me " you wear these jeans ?, i know they are comfortable but as a kid
that was the only thing i could buy". When you were very poor, you know the value of one dollar


I: Some people wanted to profit from him ?

RT: it s hard to tell who are you real friends
One night he phoned to me. My wife & i were asleep but my shoulder hurted
He told me " hey ronnie, i want you to see a physician"
I knew it was just an excuse because he told me he was very worry about about his divorce.
I had one too. It was obvious he respected what i had to say about the subject.
It was the problem of the king & his court. You are surrounded by people who tell you what you want to hear !
I just wanted to be a friend. when you have this friendship with someone, you give him the best !


I: Have you ever recorded something ?

RT: Yes with the TCB BAND. We did an album. Nobody knows it but i sing most of the solos but someone had to do it.
James Burton sang on some songs. It was a tribute album. Maybe one day, it will be released.



I: there is this anecdote that you were used to punctuate his karate moves with the snare but one night you did one little shot
and he watched you as if he thought "i m gonna kill you"

RT: yes we had a special relationship, if he embarrassed us so we embarrassed him like the fight with the water gun
but he did 2 shows a day, 3 the week end ; He was like an animal in a cage !


I: Is EP still a source of inspiration for you ?
RT: Musicaly no

I: Did you take lessons after all these years spent with him ?
RT:We all learn from our experiences. My spirituality in my personal life increased a lot since E died.


I: Do you have the occasion to play so much different styles with one artist ?
RT: With Neil Diamond, we ve been doing that for years


I: Did E advise you ?
RT: Yes he was respectful of my work
I developped a great part of my style thanks to him.
Sometimes he told me "hey ronnie, could we have more ... " he didnt know how to tell me but we understood eachother


I: Do you think an other drummer would have been as good as you ?
RT: One day the father of my wife died, E came to see me and told me "family comes first, don t worry, we ll find an other drummer"
They asked to my friend in Nashville, larrie londin, a wonderful drummer and technician, but you know LL can t play like me & i can t play like Larrie

I: What do you think of impersonators ?
RT: Well they try to earn their life but why like the fake when there is EP ?
But It would be a pleasure to play with terry mike jeffrey because he doesn t imitate him, he just sing his songs
Before everything i m here for N Diamond.

I: Do you have a favorite drummer ?
RT: NO but I respect a lot of drummers. there are great drummers per style. I m in contact with a few of them.

I: Do you still like country music ?
RT: If you ask me what do i listen at home, it s more classic, irish music, jazz. I like the old acoustic jazz .

I: Musicaly, what did you prefer with EP ?
RT: His rythm feeling
When i went to LA, i did a tv show with Andy williams for 1 year
AW never missed a note, he had a very nice vocal instrument.

I: And as a man ?
RT: he was a man of principles, his southern education you know, when you learn respect with authority, others etc ..
When i introduced him to my mother, he said "yes madam" very courteous

I: how do you explain 20 years after that there are still so much fans ?
RT: It s a difficult question
One day i took a coffee at the hilton hotel & an old woman sat next to me & said "i know who you are and i don t want to bother you but i want to tell you how i like EP and you all, i like EP because he had so much respect for his parents" and i thought "wow, she didn t say, i like his movies, he s the sexiest man, he s the biggest singer
he s a karate master", all these things she could have said .. she said & saw something i didn t think.
Because she was old she saw the fact he loved his parents.
He became more than the rockabilly singer who sang Blue Suede shoes

I: Do you think the fans still feel the love he had for them ?
RT: it s the reason i do " elvis the concert" because we have lots of reels that shows the love he had for them
Often i am told by fans "one of my biggest regrets is that i never saw E in concert" & i answer you really missed something special,
i recommend you to look at videos because it shows who he really was. As a christian it s a pleasure to show the gospel side of E to europeans.

I: it s a pleasure to see that you remain loyal to EP
RT: often, i m asked what do i think of the last released book but you know i ve never read a single book about elvis, because most books were published with bad reasons. One time Patsy andersen asked me to write a book because she told me i have only positive things to say.
If i had to write a book, i would not care if only one book is sold !
Frankly in my mind, i don t remember the bad things about EP. All my souvenirs are good souvenirs !

I: thank you ronnie




Steve_M

#302735

Post by Steve_M »

Look out for a new book by Ronnie out in the near future.



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#302749

Post by Swingin-Little-Guitar-Man »

In conversation with The TCB guys in 2004, I asked them all what they thought of the re-mixes:

James: Great, yeah, wonderful

Glen: I don't recognise them They sound weird.

Jerry: It's all sh*t. Elvis wouldn't go for that stuff man!

and a classic from Ronnie:

RONNIE: They're not real drums you know!




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#302751

Post by tcb4 »

one question i d like to ask them is " what is the most complicated elvis' song to play ?"

----

i heard Jerry Scheff is To Write A Book ! good news 8) i m sure it will be interesting !



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#302906

Post by Swingin-Little-Guitar-Man »

Jerry told me "Bridge" was the most challenging bass line, whereas Ronnie said "despite playing it at every show, I was always nervous with CC Rider. After that big old build up and space odyseey, I was always afraid I'd lose the beat before it even started. Matter of fact, Elvis stopped me a couple of times on stage and made me do it again!! I just wanted to hide behind the kick drum when he did that!".


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