Timothy B. Schmit Talks New Solo LP, Future Of The Eagles & Seeing The Beatles at Candlestick (INTERVIEW)

Let’s get this out of the way first – Timothy B. Schmit doesn’t know what the future holds for the Eagles following the passing of founding member Glenn Frey in January.

Now we can move on to other things, like Schmit’s new solo album, Leap Of Faith, released last month. A labor of love for the bass playing singer-songwriter, it took several years for him to finish. “Although this project took some time to complete, this is what I came up with. This is who I am,” Schmit said prior to the CD’s release.

A compilation of songs that accentuate his still-serene vocals, Schmit tries to convey positivity in an oftentimes cruel world while soaring his melodies on the wings of guitars and even a vibraphone on such songs as “Red Dirt Road,” “Goodbye My Love” and “Pearl On The String.” He adds some country tinges here and some doo wop there. And it’s probably his most heartfelt recording to date … and he’s sang on some noteworthy songs in his career, from The Eagles “I Can’t Tell You Why” and CSN’s “Southern Cross” to Toto’s “Africa” and Steely Dan’s “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.”

Born and raised in California, Schmit started in folk and never really has veered that far from those basic roots. He joined the Eagles following their mega-successful Hotel California, when Randy Meisner up and left; a move reminiscent to Schmit’s joining Poco in 1969 following Meisner’s departure from that band.

Unfortunately, his tenure with the Eagles was short-lived at first, when infighting hit it’s boiling point and the band went on a fourteen year hiatus, finally reconvening in 1994 for the Hell Freezes Over tour. But Schmit was kept busy during the Eagles off time. He did session work, sang on many songs, released solo albums and toured with Ringo Starr, Jimmy Buffett and Dan Fogelberg. It’s a nice life if you can get it.

Once the Eagles returned, time to work on his own material minimized. But now that Leap Of Faith has finally landed in fans’ hands, Schmit is ready to take the songs on the road, which he hopes to do in 2017. Glide spoke to Schmit recently about his new material, working on classic Steely Dan records, seeing The Beatles and being honored by his hometown of Sacramento.

Where are you enjoying your day from today?

I’m sitting in my studio at my home in the Los Angeles area.

Don’t you spend enough time in there already?

(laughs) I spend quite a lot of time in here, yeah. It’s kind of my little toy room.

You just released Leap Of Faith. What got the ball rolling to finally do a new record?

Actually, the record took me several years because I was so busy, mostly with the Eagles. But I didn’t say to myself, I’ve got this song that sounds like a good start. Basically I try to write all the time and I’m not particularly fast at it so that was another factor. So when I get a song written that I like, I turn on the mothership and start recording it. That’s kind of how it went this whole time. Because I was so busy with the band I had to do it in-between legs of touring.

So some of these songs were already recorded and ready to go?

Yes, that’s right. I recorded them as they came or sometimes they’d be in groups of two or three maybe. I wasn’t thinking of any particular genre or concept. I would record a song as it came to me as I felt it should be recorded, regardless of where it was taking me. That’s really how it went.

What was the last song to come in?

The last song I recorded was actually a song I had written probably ten years ago. It’s a very simple song called “It’s Alright.” I had sort of forgotten about it and then I went back in my own archives and dug it out and I thought, this is it, this is the final song, even though it’s not the last one on the record. It’s the last one I cut. Some of these songs, like “Red Dirt Road,” were written and recorded probably four and a half or five years ago. So I’ve just been kind of collecting songs and putting them in my back pocket and then recording them as they came.

It’s funny that you say that because there’s such a good flow to the record.

Thank You. One of the important things when you’re making a record or doing a performance is the sequence of the songs. It really matters a lot because you want your project, your show or your albums, to sort of have a life. There has to be some tension in there, there has to be some relief and that’s kind of what I went for with this.

What made you think to put a vibraphone on “Slow Down” because that’s not an instrument you see every day?

I’m friends with one of the great vibraphonists on the planet, Gary Burton, and he actually did play on my last album. I met him through a friend. Honestly, I listen to a lot of Jazz and I thought this one song on my previous album, I’d see if he wanted to do it and he said, “Let me listen to it.” I knew he didn’t do anything other than Jazz but he said, “Yeah, I’ll do it,” and we worked that out. So when this album was ready, for that song and one other, I just thought it was perfect. I thought, this is the way to go. And he was happy to oblige. He’s a master and it’s just unbelievable to watch him work let alone hear him. It’s an instrument I like and I love the way he plays and I love that he’s willing to expand out of the Jazz world a little bit. That’s the reason.

What can you tell us about the song “All Those Faces”?

I sat down one day and started strumming the chords that became the crux of that song and I started sort of free-flowing, started to sort of freely sing whatever came out of my mouth, and I kept a lot of it. Then before I knew it I sort of knew what I was talking about (laughs). It’s just really sort of an abstract, biographical piece, I guess. I mean, it’s hard for me to define the song but I really liked the way it came out and it’s actually one of my favorites. I just kind of threw caution to the wind. I didn’t overthink it, I just wrote these things down and put them into my song and it came out pretty well.

Also, I’m really happy to have my oldest daughter Jeddrah sing all the backgrounds on that song. All the backgrounds are her. She’s quite talented and that’s why I used her. I didn’t use her because she is my daughter. She’s very good and it was very satisfying to hear her do her work so masterfully. Plus there was a common thread, obviously, a genetic thing, a great vibe. We were both sort of marveling at how great our voices fit together and part of it is because we’re family I think.

What about “What I Should Do,” because that has a little doo wop flavor to it

Yeah, you know, I’m a fan of all music and probably my first, well, not the very first music I listened to, but back in the late fifties when I first started hearing rock & roll it was definitely tinged with doo wop and also Elvis and all those great songs. There’s a bunch of not-so-great ones in any era but there were some really great ones. And I’m an R&B fan. Like I said, I come up with these ideas and then I see how it develops as to how I’m going to treat it. And that’s what happened with that. That’s my rendition, my version, of I guess R&B, for lack of a better description.

With you being such a seemingly nice guy, does that sometimes interfere with you allowing a song to be angry or negative when you’re writing a song?

You know, I’m just a person. I get angry and sometimes negative but I don’t believe any of my songs are negative (laughs). There is a song called “I Refuse” and I get a bit scolding, I suppose, in a way. But it all comes back to elements of hope and in the case of that song, it’s basically, okay, you’re trying to suck me into this world of negativity and I’m not going to go there. I’m going to live my own life.

To you, what is the most powerful line or lyric on this record?

First of all, there’re so many things that are meaningful to me on this record. But maybe one that is sticking out right now is in the song “All Those Faces,” where it says, “I’m in training, living out my life.” We’re all still hopefully growing even though we’re past childhood, teenagehood. I mean, I’m really on the other half of my life now and there’s still so much more to learn, so much more to be excited about. I’m in training.

Are you going to be playing more shows for the record?

I hope so. The reason I didn’t continue on is because we sort of rushed trying to throw a tour together and I didn’t want to do it that way. So instead, for right now, I’m doing a lot of press and trying to get the word out. I’m doing a lot of radio. But I will be talking to management later today actually to see how it looks for next year. So maybe right after the first of the year hopefully.

Will anything be happening with the Eagles?

There has been no talk yet. It’s still pretty new, Glenn’s passing. It was only ten months ago. Everybody is kind of involved with their own thing right now. We’re taking a break. I wouldn’t be surprised if we started talking about something but I don’t know what form that would take or what that something is. I really don’t have any information and that’s the honest truth. We’re all still just processing everything and we’ll see what the future holds.

Being a session musician, you sang with so many people and played on so many records. So what was it like working with Steely Dan, because they can be a little intense in the studio. Was it easy for you to go in and work with them?

When I was asked to go sing, I believe they were probably trying me out to see how it would work. I went in to sing on one song off their Pretzel Logic album called “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” and it was a pure joy. Now, they are very picky and very particular about what they keep on their record, but I am too, and I was happy to get it as close to perfection as possible. And that’s what they did. I sang on a lot of that album and two others. The overall answer to that question is that it was a pure joy, a feather in my cap, to have ever worked with them. I still love their music. If I ever hear it on the radio, I immediately turn it up cause it is so great and I’m very proud to have been any part of that at all.

Getting back to your new record, there are some bluegrass touches on there that I noticed. Where does that come from? How did you discover bluegrass music?

You’re probably talking about “Red Dirt Road” mostly. First of all, I didn’t want to go full bluegrass so instead of a banjo I used an accordion, which is sort of towards your area there (laughs). I love bluegrass. I think it’s a different kind of soul music but it’s so soulful, especially really old stuff like the Stanley Brothers and so many more bluegrass performers and artists. You know, I love to sing, I love harmony, and when you hear great bluegrass harmony, it’s just soulful, a great soulful R&B song. I don’t really have any roots there at all but I think I’m attracted to great singing.

When you first started writing songs were you writing in more like a country/Americana vein or were you wanting to rock out?

My writing career kind of came later on. When I joined Poco, for instance, in early 1970 – actually this was the end of 1969 – basically I auditioned with them, and they already knew that I could sing and I could sing high harmony, and they already knew I could play. But they were hoping to get somebody who was also a songwriter. And when I was first approached with this concept of joining them I was so happy, I just said yeah to all three things. Yeah, I’m a songwriter. So I went, Oh I better write a song (laughs).

I actually was sort of backed against the wall before I really started writing at all. Then I discovered that it’s really a craft that you really need to nourish. So I kept writing, but not that much. Then as I got older and through the Eagles and doing solo records and up to this day, I still feel like I’m getting better and better at it. That’s the great thing that I have in my life cause I’m not considering quitting on any level. I feel like I’m getting better and have more to offer and it’s a lot more satisfying.

I understand that you got to see The Beatles perform.

I saw them twice. I saw them both times in San Francisco. I saw them at a venue, I believe it’s still there, called the Cow Palace. Then I saw them at Candlestick Park, where the San Francisco Giants used to play. I saw them there and that performance turned out to be their very last performance. So yeah, I was there twice. The Beatles taught me a lot about music, as well as a lot of people. That was a great memory.

How close were you to the stage?

Well, here’s a great story. It’s a baseball stadium and we were behind the first base, my friends and I were behind the first base dugout. And the stage was at second base, pretty far away, and nobody on the infield at all. So the stage was way out there and the opening act was a band called The Circle. They had a couple of hit records back then. Halfway through that band’s performance, an armored truck came driving in from the outfield, through a gate, and pulled up behind the stage and everybody went, “Oh my God! The Beatles are in there! They’re in the armored truck.”

I was, I don’t know, three to six rows behind the first base dugout and after the opening act quit, we’re all looking out there for them to come out of that truck, and all of a sudden the four Beatles came out of the first base dugout. Right there in front of us, lifesize, and that was such a thrill. It was so great. You know, I had the mania like everybody else. It turned out that the truck was their escape not their entrance. So I got to be pretty close to them. Then later on I actually at different times met each Beatle. I met them all.

I met John one night in the studio. When I was recording with Poco, one day George Harrison came in. Then Ringo, I played in his All-Starr Band. I actually got to play with him in 1992. Then the last one I hadn’t met, and I have met a couple of times now, was Paul McCartney. Pretty great, pretty fortunate; a lot of great things have happened to me.

You were honored with a star on the Sacramento Walk Of Stars. That must have been exciting.

I was born in the Bay Area but probably from about the first grade through the end of my college days was all done in Sacramento. That’s where I considered myself being from. They’re trying to revitalize downtown Sacramento, which is a small city, and they’ve got this new arena for their basketball team. Paul McCartney is going to open it up. It may have already happened but they are trying to revitalize downtown, which like a lot of other cities, it started to go in the other direction. But it’s got a lot of great restaurants, it’s got a music scene, it’s got this new arena. And these companies got together as part of this revitalization to start looking around for people who either lived there or who were born there or who grew up there to be part of this first batch of people to be inducted into this Walk Of Stars. So I went up there with an Olympic swimmer, LeVar Burton the actor and a doctor/scientist who has done a lot of work for breast cancer and a working artist. And it was kind of fun. We went up there and they made a big deal out of it. They had a big unveiling and had a lot of press. It was a nice thing and I was honored to have that.