“I probably got the same thrill most people get when they visit Abbey Road for the first time,” says Lyle Workman, who recently tracked an orchestra at the famed London studio complex. “You go into Studio Two, where the Beatles recorded, and there’s the ‘Lady Madonna’ piano. And, down a hallway, you can check out the little console with the big levers that they used on so many Beatles sessions.”
But Workman’s business was in Studio One - “the big room” - the room where the Beatles tracked the orchestra on “A Day in the Life.” On his own dime, Workman hired a full orchestra to perform on seven of the nine new songs that make up Uncommon Measures, the guitarist’s forthcoming solo album.
It all reflects Workman’s strongly held ethos that a guitar album should be more than “just a guitar album.”
“When it comes to great guitar records, I’ve always been influenced by the music behind the guitar playing,” says Workman, who shares exclusive previews of his new album on the latest episode of the No Guitar Is Safe podcast.
“The music has to be at least as compelling as what the guitar is doing. What’s happening before, after and under the solos is really important to me. Maybe that’s due to me growing up loving the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Steve Morse and the Dregs, and, of course, the Beatles.”
Presented by Ernie Ball and their clever new two-in-one volume/tuner pedal, the VPJR Tuner, the interview is hosted by Jude Gold and also finds Workman reflecting on everything from his tenures playing guitar for Sting, Beck, Todd Rundgren, Jellyfish, Bourgeois Tagg and other headliners to his soundtrack work scoring such memorable movies such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Get Him to the Greek and Superbad, and television series such as Crashing and Good Girls.
From tracking orchestras to hiring Bootsy Collins and other legendary funk players (for Superbad) to catching people’s ears as a young shredder as early as 1981 (when he appeared on the Mike Varney compilation, US Metal), Workman’s widely varied career stems from his passion for so many different genres of music.
“I’m a rock guitar player who happens to like a bunch of other music,” says Workman. “I like James Brown as much as I do Ravel and Stravinsky.”
To hear the interview, stream episode 110 of No Guitar Is Safe below, or listen on iTunes, Spotify, your favorite podcasts app or wherever else you get podcasts.
* This article was originally published here
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