Nurse the Hate: Leo's Solo Record

An exciting new album concept is coming closer to fruition.  For years we have discussed an idea of a Leo P. Love solo record.  Now, normally when one hears about a drummer threatening to make a solo record, it’s time to head for the hills.  I don’t know if you have listened to the Peter Criss solo record.  It was released when all the guys from Kiss simultaneously made solo albums.  Shiver me timbers.  The bottom line is when drummers write songs, bad things happen.  If you doubt me, listen to “That’s The Kind of Sugar Papa Likes” off of “Peter Criss”.  And before some Rush fan emerges from his basement to start up with the Neil Peart nonsense, stop it right there…  We are not going to have that conversation.

The record idea we have is really pure genius.  It comes from years of sound checks and watching Leo’s burned out memory somehow dredge up obscure lyrics to oldies.  Our concept is we will place Leo into a studio and call out songs for him to play the drum parts for and sing.  Specifically, we will have him do Beatles songs by request.  He will play as much (or as little) or the song as he knows, and then will be quickly peppered with a new song.  So for example, consumers may enjoy a drums and vocals only cover of “Dear Prudence”, but it may only be 26 seconds.  It’s only what he can remember.  No second takes, and absolutely no practice beforehand to keep the session “pure”.

You may be saying to yourself, “Yes, but if he knows there is a session, he will listen to Beatles songs beforehand to prepare”.  Allow me to ease your mind.  There is no chance whatsoever that Leo will prepare in any way, even if you drove over to his house with a functioning stereo and every Beatles record on every available format.  This is a guy that has had every vehicle he has ever owned break down in spectacular fashion due to having done no regular maintenance.  I mean, he had a drive shaft fall out of a truck for Christ’s sake.  That doesn’t just happen without prior warning that something may be amiss.  This is a guy that forgot to pack his bass drum pedal, snare, and drum sticks for a European Tour.  This was an issue as all he needed to bring for the tour was bass drum pedal, snare, and sticks.  This is a man that has had a fifty pound roller fall out of his work truck onto his foot twice because he hasn’t secured it and let it roll loose.  When I asked him if he learned a lesson after the second time, he angrily yelled at me “I learned no lesson!  I LEARNED NO LESSON!”.  To reiterate, there is no chance he will prepare.

The interesting part of the record will not be the songs he forgets.  The really interesting ones will be the ones he remembers.   He has been to Dresden three times, a city called “the jewel of the Elbe” because of its striking museums and natural beauty.  He can’t recall having been there even with prompting.  At practice we will sometimes play an old song we haven’t played in a long time.  The rest of the band will notice he’s playing a different drum beat.  He will stubbornly say, “That’s the way I ALWAYS play it”.  When we bust out the actual recording of the song he played on with a different drum pattern than what he just played, he will counter with “Well, I’ll play it that way if you want, but that’s not how we have always done it” despite the irrefutable evidence to the contrary.  We have played with bands six or seven times, and he has no recollection.  Yet he once almost came to blows with a member of the Wolverton Brothers because the poor guy correctly told Leo we had never done a show together.  Leo would not waver, and insisted he had.  It was only after I figured out he had confused the Wolverton Brothers with the Gibson Brothers did the thing get sorted out.  It should be noted that we had never played a show with the Gibson Brothers either…

I see this record has having a limited commercial appeal.  I realize that not everyone will want to hang out on their deck and listen to Leo beat out the drums to “Fixing A Hole” while struggling through the second verse.  However, I think there is a real core group of real Leo fans that will treasure this record as much as I will.  Also since it will probably take an hour to record and mix on the fly, and maybe another two hours to come up with art work, I think we can make this thing happen.  The great news is that no matter what happens, it will definitely be better than “Peter Criss”.