Brian May Talks About Carmine Appice’s ‘Guitar Zeus’ Project
by admin on Sep.19, 2009, under News
“An influence on John Bonham, Keith Moon and Mitch Mitchell, [Carmine Appice] has shaped the role of the modern rock drummer more than anyone before…..” - UK Drummer Magazine
Los Angeles, CA - Fuel Records released the Guitar Zeus project by legendary drummer Carmine Appice, featuring a compilation of 24 of the best Guitar Zeus songs. Conquering Heroes hit the streets on August 25th. The double-disc set showcases the prolific talents of many world renowned rock guitarists. Queen guitarist Brian May’s extraordinary lead guitar stylings are featured on the prolific song Nobody Knew (Black White House), a prominent track on the Guitar Zeus compilation.
Media personality Dave Lawrence recently interviewed Brian and excerpts from the interview are now featured on the Official Brian May web site. To view an interview excerpt transcript, please visit http://brianmay.com/whatsnew.html. To hear the entire interview, please click here or visit http://brianmay.com/brian/briannews/briannewssep09a.html# .
“As soon as I heard the track, I thought it had a very haunting quality to it,” remarks Brian May about the song Nobody Knew (Black White House), “evoking the 70’s in some ways perhaps, but with a very modern slant. I also found the backing track itself very powerful and appealing, driven by Carmine’s very recognizable style so I was keen to play on the track straight away, despite being incredibly snowed-under with work at the time!”
Author, clinician, drummer… Carmine Appice first came to prominence as the percussionist with the late 1960s psychedelic band Vanilla Fudge. He contributed distinctive background harmonies with bassist Tim Bogert, adding to the group’s high decibel sonic assault. After five albums, Appice and Bogert left Vanilla Fudge to form the blues rock quartet Cactus with vocalist Rusty Day and guitarist Jim McCarty. Eventually, Appice left Cactus with Bogert to join Jeff Beck in the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice, and then later joined Rod Stewart’s backing band in 1977, co-writing hit songs such as “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” and “Young Turks”. In 1978, Appice played drums on Paul Stanley’s first solo album. He was a member of KGB featuring Ray Kennedy, Rick Grech, Mike Bloomfield and Barry Goldberg, and has recorded with Stanley Clarke, Ted Nugent, and Pink Floyd. He was the drummer for the bands King Kobra and Blue Murder, and toured with Ozzy Osbourne.
Appice first created Guitar Zeus in 1995 when he recruited some of the most famous guitarists in the world to be a part of his project, from Zakk Wylde and Ted Nugent to Brian May (Queen) and Slash (Guns N Roses), even tennis legend John McEnroe. Songs also included guest vocals by Dug Pinnick and Edgar Winter. Throughout the late 1990’s, three Guitar Zeus CDs were released to worldwide critical acclaim.
“Guitar Zeus for me was an amazing experience, working with so many great guitarists”, Appice affirms. “It was fun picking out songs for each. Each guitarist loved the songs. It was awesome. I would do it again in a minute even though it was alot of work. I consider these drum tracks to be some of my best drum performances in my career!”
For more information about Carmine Appice’s Guitar Zeus, please visit the following web sites:
http://www.carminappice.net
http://www.myspace.com/guitarzeus
http://www.myspace.com/officalcarmineappice
-
Hi! Welcome to We Will Rock You!
Thanks for dropping by! Feel free to join the discussion by leaving comments, and stay updated by subscribing to the RSS feed. See ya around!
Subscribe Here
