Andrew Daly at Vinyl Writer Music recently spoke with guitar legend Michael Schenker for a career-spanning interview. Following is an excerpt from the in-depth chat.
Andrew: I wanted to go back a little bit and talk history. As you probably are aware, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Scorpions' Lonesome Crow. What do you remember about the recording of that album in particular?
Michael: "It was my first recording, and it was the first Scorpions album, too. I was fifteen years old when we recorded that album, and 'In Search Of The Peace Of Mind' was the first song I had ever written. I remember that particular solo came out of nowhere, and I still really love that solo to this day. For the rest of the album, you can hear I’m developing and had not yet found my full sound yet, but it was still very fun for me at that age. It was my first time in the studio, and it was amazing to hear what we had done later on. I still remember when the album was recorded, and pressed, and I actually had the physical album in my hands and heard it coming through the radio, it was really something to experience that. I could envision myself recording it just a few weeks earlier, I remembered where I was, and that experience is one I’ll never forget."
Andrew: How would you best describe your impact on the Scorpions? Especially since you were so young.
Michael: "Well, I was always focused on the music first, so even at a young age, I brought focus. I thought the drummer Wolfgang Dziony and bass player Lothar Heimberg were absolutely amazing for German musicians. With what we had to work with in Germany, they were really good. I actually really liked the drums and the bass and of course, Klaus Meine’s singing, I liked that too. In general, it was a great sample, but the problem was that everything was going too slow for me. Rudolph (Schenker) could hardly play guitar, and that really brought us down during the sessions, and with that album, even though I was fifteen, and had to do everything with the guitars. I had to be very patient, and I tried to teach Rudolph, but it was slow-moving, and he wasn’t getting it. I had to move on because I wanted to go somewhere where people understood, knew what I was doing, and where it all came from. That’s why I went to England, and once I went there, and I joined UFO, it all went very fast and was non-stop. We had lots of company, we had the audience, and we had the people who loved the music, everything was happening in London, and we started touring straight away. So, England was the place where I didn’t have to hold anyone’s hand, and everything was developing to my liking."
Read the complete interview here.
Lonesome Crow is the Scorpions' only album with Michael Schenker. He soon left following the recording to join UFO and was replaced by Uli Jon Roth. Schenker would, however, rejoin briefly during the recording and touring of 1979's Lovedrive.
MSG (Michael Schenker Group) have released their new album, Universal, via Atomic Fire Records. In celebration, the band have shared a lyric video for the song, "Under Attack". Watch below.
For Universal, Schenker has once again enlisted a number of prestigious fellow musicians for the recording of his new studio production, among them, as main vocalist, Ronnie Romero (Rainbow, Vandenberg), who will also be MSG’s frontman on their upcoming tour, Michael Kiske (Helloween) and Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), keyboard player Steve Mann (Lionheart), drummers Simon Phillips (Toto, The Who), Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Foreigner), Bobby Rondinelli (Rainbow) and Bodo Schopf (Eloy), as well as legendary bassists Bob Daisley (Black Sabbath), Barry Sparks (Malmsteen, Dokken) and Barend Courbois (Blind Guardian, Zakk Wylde), with Tony Carey as a very special guest.
Universal is available as Digipak CD (incl. 2 bonus tracks), colored vinyl, Earbook (CD incl. 2 bonus tracks) and digital album. Order here.
Tracklisting:
"Emergency"
"Under Attack"
"Calling Baal"
"A King Has Gone"
"The Universe"
"Long Long Road"
"Wrecking Ball"
"Yesterday Is Dead"
"London Calling"
"Sad Is The Song"
"Au Revoir"
"Turn Off The World" (Digipack bonus track)
"Fighter" (Digipack bonus track)
"Under Attack" lyric video:
“A King Has Gone" lyric video:
"Emergency" video:
To celebrate his latest MSG album, Universal, as well as his 50th anniversary of recording, MSG will embark upon an extended US tour this fall. The trek will run from September 27 through November 6. See all confirmed dates below.
Dates:
September (with Eric Martin, Images Of Eden)
27 - The Coach House - San Juan Capistrano, CA
28 - Goldfield Trading Post - Roseville, CA
29 - Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA
October (with Eric Martin, Images Of Eden)
1 - Saban Theater - Los Angeles, CA
2 - Count's Vamp'd - Las Vegas, NV
4 - Oriental Theater - Denver, CO
6 - Pop’s - Sauget, IL
7 - Des Plaines Theater - Des Plaines, IL
8 - Arcada Theater – St. Charles, IL
9 - Pabst Theater - Milwaukee, WI
11 - The Art Theater - Hobart, IN
12 - Piere's – Ft. Wayne, IN
14 - The King Of Clubs - Columbus, OH
15 - Agora Theater - Cleveland, OH
16 - Harpo's - Detroit, MI
17 - Jergels - Pittsburgh, PA
19 - The Vault - New Bedford, MA * MSG only
20 - Flying Monkey - Plymouth, NH
21 - Cabot Theater - Beverly, MA
22 - Sony Hall - New York, NY
23 - Newton Theater - Newton, NJ
25 - Keswick Theater - Glenside, PA
26 - Tally Ho - Leesburg, VA
27 - Sherman Theater - Stroudsburg, PA
October (with Damon Johnson & The Get Ready, Images Of Eden)
29 - Bogarts - Cincinnati, OH
30 - Brooklyn Bowl - Nashville, TN
November (with W.A.S.P., Armored Saint)
2 - White Oak Music Hall – Houston, TX
3 - Concrete Street Pavilion - Corpus Christi TX
4 - Eaton Arena - San Antonio, TX
5 - Amplified Live - Dallas, TX
6 - Tulsa Theater - Tulsa, OK
MSG - US Tour 2022 Lineup:
Michael Schenker - lead guitar
Ronnie Romero - vocals
Bodo Schopf - drums
Steve Mann – keyboards, guitars
Barend Courbois – bass
