Long-running rock trio, The Blitz Brothers, have released a new career-spanning album, Anthology. Originally formed in 1973, the band—led by 2020 SDMA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, guitarist/producer Richard Livoni, and now featuring bassist Barney Roach and drummer Calvin Lakin—is still going strong, gigging throughout Southern California.
The album is a labor of love and the first listen to some of the gems in Livoni’s collection of unreleased recordings. “I never got the ‘big label deal’ in The Blitz Bros,” he said. “We had a lot of close calls and deals that we either turned down or just went south in those days.” Luckily for fans, Livoni’s production skills were beginning to blossom at the same time. “I had always been the guy who got the first 4-track, the first 8-track and then the earliest 16-track tape machines,” he recalled. “So, I was always recording the songs that we would write, thinking that we’ll do this correctly when we get to the big studios. We used to figure about a grand a day to go into those places, and the results were disappointing more often than not.”
One exception to the latter: “I do wish I had recordings of the stuff we did at Capitol Records with (legendary producer) Al Kooper,” Livoni said. “I spoke with him a few times years later, and he said he could probably find them, but that, like so many other ‘brushes with fame,’ never panned out.”
Restoring the Old Recordings
Getting the old tapes shipshape for release took a significant amount of work. “I started going through tapes that I had made over all those years,” Livoni said. “I would take the tapes and bake them in a convection oven for 8 hours because they were unplayable due to what they call ‘sticky shed syndrome.’ Then I would transfer them to Pro Tools and go to work.” Some parts were re-recorded. “In some cases, I would recut new live or programmed drums to replace the original drums because there was barely any high end left on those old tapes. Everything required a lot of EQ and plugin tricks. I also rewrote and re-sang a bunch of the vocal parts that didn’t hold up and added new guitar solos and keyboards here and there. I wrote the song, ‘The Blitz,’ in 1973 on my Teac 4-track machine. It has been my ‘theme song’ for 52 years!”
Livoni notes that it was important to him to have this collection of songs represent both past and present Blitz Brothers. “As I was deciding what to put in and what to leave out, I chose whatever would include as many Blitz members as I could find. I have a lot more of these tapes in the vault, but I thought these 15 cuts would be a good Volume One.”
A Special Cover and Standout Tracks
While the album focuses on original music, there is a notable cover, sung by early Blitz Brothers drummer Dickie Dodd. “People have asked about our version of The Standells’ 1965 garage rock classic, ‘Dirty Water,’” Livoni commented. “My dear friend, the late Dickie Dodd, was the original singer and drummer in The Standells, and sang that track. We played together for about six years in The Blitz Bros. The song was something that I wanted to have on Anthology, but all I had was a bad cassette copy from a session we did for Motown Records back in 1977, which for various reasons, had never been released.”
Livoni was able to give the track new life using the same sort of technology recently pioneered by The Beatles. “I revived an old cassette with AI stem-separating technology and then added new drums, bass, keys, guitars, and background vocals,” he explained.
Another highlight of Anthology is a live track recorded at the 2020 San Diego Music Awards called “Don’t Look Away,” co-written with his bandmate from Sons of Edison, Michael Casinelli. “It’s a political song for these insane times, and it represents the current live lineup.”
Looking Back and Moving Forward
Livoni is happy with the results of all the hard work that went into this project. “Honestly, when I listen to what we were able to do on these ‘demos,’ I’m very proud. It took me many years to get the tools and gear, along with the mixing skills, to breathe life back into these home-made recordings.”
Currently, Livoni remains busy running his Blitz Recording Studio and gigging. “Of course, I would always welcome a record deal, but the record biz is even weirder now than ever,” he said. “I just keep trying to make good art and keep moving forward. I feel lucky to have the opportunity to perform, write, and inspire others to continue their dreams of making music.”
Livoni notes one particularly important person in the Blitz Brothers’ long road to creating Anthology. “Overall and in looking back, I have my wife Stella to thank for putting up with an obsessed husband for 49 years,” he said. “She’s also a co-writer on the first track on Anthology, ‘Let It Out.’ She gets me, and I love her like crazy!”
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