- Jan 7, 2002
- 3,859
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[ame]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CjRur5T5DiA[/ame]
My favourite JPP track.
http://www.dailyindependent.com/news/article_27410110-27ab-11e4-b2e9-001a4bcf887a.html?mode=jqm
By TIM PRESTON, The Independent | Posted 1 week ago
ASHLAND — Ralph Morman, once the voice behind rock bands including Savoy Brown and The Joe Perry Project, died Sunday.
Morman, 65, was the lead singer for Savoy Brown as well as the first version of The Joe Perry Project when the noted guitarist departed from Aerosmith (he is the original vocalist on Perry’s “Let the Music Do the Talkin’” and co-wrote “Discount Dogs” and “Rockin’ Train” on the band’s first album).
Musician Jeff Preston said Morman’s last jam session was likely a session with himself and other members of the band CARRIER, along with David Prince.
“He still had it man ... that day. He was becoming sick, but he could still play that harp and he could still sing,” Preston said.
Morman’s career included many stages around the world, as well as time with some of the rock world’s well-known celebrities. “He hung around with the best of them,” Preston said, recalling a few X-rated stories Morman shared from his days alongside Gene Simmons of Kiss. In many ways, Preston said Morman embodied the music he wrote and performed.
“He lived my favorite song — Rockin’ Train. He rode the Rockin’ Train,” he said.
Upon hearing of Morman’s death, guitarist David “Chico” Prince said, “He returned home to the Ashland area years later and used to work at a local appliance store. I used to go in there just to see him and I would stare at him from a distance and think ‘that dude was in the Joe Perry Project!’ I bought an air conditioner from him just so I could say I did. Years later I got to know and jam with him, and among other things, we played ‘Get the Lead Out’ by Aerosmith. It was a huge thrill for me.”
Guitarist Larry Collinsworth met Morman when he was a member of The Outcasts along with his brother Al Collinsworth.
“He sort of mentored me and inspired me to play. Ralph was very motivational to me and I’m sure he was to a lot of people,” Collinsworth said, explaining Morman always encouraged others musically. “Ralph was very inspiring.”
Bassist Corky Holbrook, who helped record Morman’s final studio song “Killing Time on Planet Earth,” said he was well aware of the local man’s rock&roll accomplishments, and had long wanted to meet him.
“He was royalty. He was the guy who went that extra step or two and made it beyond,” Holbrook said, recalling times when Morman would reminisce about his days in the big leagues of rock. One story, he said, involved a highly-humbled Morman introducing himself to John Lennon on the roof of the Record Company in New York City. Holbrook said he plans to personally complete mastering work for Morman’s “Killing Time on Planet Earth” recording from 2011 to make it available to his fans.
Morman was working on the recording in 2011 when he gave an interview with The Ashland Daily Independent:
“I’ve got about 50 notebooks full of songs. When I write them I hear the whole song ... you know, complete,” Morman said during a break in recording at Thunder Bay Studios in Ashland.
Morman said he has lived a quiet life in the Summit community in recent years, providing him with plenty of time to develop new songs.
“I was pretty much a nurse from ’06 on,” he said, explaining his father required assistance after breaking a hip and his wife re-injured herself trying to help his dad up from the floor. “I just sat around, listened to music and wrote lyrics. I said when my wife gets better I’m going to get back into it while I can. I’ve got so many songs laying around ... I can’t let them lay around like that.”
At the time, he joked about dubbing his new band “Rev. Ralph and the Morman Fishing Tackle Choir” chuckling as he explained “I always get accused of being a Mormon even though my name is spelled with an A.”
Morman’s career in music began in Ashland with The Outcasts, although he could have never known the crazy path his time in the spotlight would follow before he “called it quits” and came back to Kentucky “around 1984 or ’85 — something like that.”
“The music business was whacko,” Morman said, shaking his head as he remembered his last band’s efforts to get a record deal before losing their drummer, Randy Castillo, to Ozzy Osbourne’s band.
“I just got fed up with the whole L.A. scene and decided to go home ... come back to Kentucky. My brother’s girlfriend set me up with her neighbor and it was just an instant thing,” he said of meeting his future wife, Debbie Secord.
“Her mom was in Florida and wanted some help. So, we got married in ’87 and ran condos in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral. There was a karaoke bar within walking distance, so karaoke was the only music I did for years. I just kind of went underground in ’87. Then, in ’97 we moved back to Kentucky for my first grandchild, Hannah, here in Ashland. Actually, my wife flew up and left me with the condos. She had planned to be here for the birth, but she called me and said, ‘Pack everything up. I’m not leaving this baby.’”
Looking back, Morman is the first to say “It was a long journey ...” when he left The Outcasts and joined a band called The Store, a group with a three-piece horn section that played “a lot of Blood, Sweat and Tears stuff,” and had all of their equipment stolen when they accepted an invitation to play at the Goose Lake Music Festival.
“We had no gear — no P.A. We couldn’t play anywhere. We had rent due ... everything was due. I had enough money for a plane ticket to Boston,” he said, explaining he made the trip and joined forces with a band called Tangerine in response to an ad for a singer in Rolling Stone magazine, leading to other gigs with other bands and eventually another unsuccessful attempt at stardom. Morman decided to hitch a ride to Florida to visit his brother and stopped in Washington D.C. along the way.
“I ended up staying in D.C. almost three years with the band Magnum. We were a house band and had packed shows every night. $300 a week and no bar tab — it was a pretty cushy gig,” he said, noting the band had great players, but no strong songwriters. “That was the first time I quit music since I was 15.”
Explaining his eventual connection with Joe Perry, Morman said he met the members of Aerosmith before the now-legendary band ever sold their first record.
“I’d known Aerosmith since they all lived in one house,” he recalled, adding he and his sister approached a member of the band’s road crew and got to talk with them after the show at a time when the group was on the verge of breaking up.
“Before I left I told Joe, ‘I’ve been doing construction work for about a year. If you run into a band that’s ready to record, give me a call. About three weeks later Joe called and said, ‘I found a band for you.’ I asked what kind of stuff do they do? He said, ‘Kind of Aerosmith stuff.’ I asked, ‘Do I know any of them?’ He said, ‘Me’ and explained there had been a huge fight and he had quit Aerosmith. I said, ‘Have you lost your mind?’”
Complete obituary information for Ralph Bernard Mormom is included in this edition of The Independent.
My favourite JPP track.
http://www.dailyindependent.com/news/article_27410110-27ab-11e4-b2e9-001a4bcf887a.html?mode=jqm
By TIM PRESTON, The Independent | Posted 1 week ago
ASHLAND — Ralph Morman, once the voice behind rock bands including Savoy Brown and The Joe Perry Project, died Sunday.
Morman, 65, was the lead singer for Savoy Brown as well as the first version of The Joe Perry Project when the noted guitarist departed from Aerosmith (he is the original vocalist on Perry’s “Let the Music Do the Talkin’” and co-wrote “Discount Dogs” and “Rockin’ Train” on the band’s first album).
Musician Jeff Preston said Morman’s last jam session was likely a session with himself and other members of the band CARRIER, along with David Prince.
“He still had it man ... that day. He was becoming sick, but he could still play that harp and he could still sing,” Preston said.
Morman’s career included many stages around the world, as well as time with some of the rock world’s well-known celebrities. “He hung around with the best of them,” Preston said, recalling a few X-rated stories Morman shared from his days alongside Gene Simmons of Kiss. In many ways, Preston said Morman embodied the music he wrote and performed.
“He lived my favorite song — Rockin’ Train. He rode the Rockin’ Train,” he said.
Upon hearing of Morman’s death, guitarist David “Chico” Prince said, “He returned home to the Ashland area years later and used to work at a local appliance store. I used to go in there just to see him and I would stare at him from a distance and think ‘that dude was in the Joe Perry Project!’ I bought an air conditioner from him just so I could say I did. Years later I got to know and jam with him, and among other things, we played ‘Get the Lead Out’ by Aerosmith. It was a huge thrill for me.”
Guitarist Larry Collinsworth met Morman when he was a member of The Outcasts along with his brother Al Collinsworth.
“He sort of mentored me and inspired me to play. Ralph was very motivational to me and I’m sure he was to a lot of people,” Collinsworth said, explaining Morman always encouraged others musically. “Ralph was very inspiring.”
Bassist Corky Holbrook, who helped record Morman’s final studio song “Killing Time on Planet Earth,” said he was well aware of the local man’s rock&roll accomplishments, and had long wanted to meet him.
“He was royalty. He was the guy who went that extra step or two and made it beyond,” Holbrook said, recalling times when Morman would reminisce about his days in the big leagues of rock. One story, he said, involved a highly-humbled Morman introducing himself to John Lennon on the roof of the Record Company in New York City. Holbrook said he plans to personally complete mastering work for Morman’s “Killing Time on Planet Earth” recording from 2011 to make it available to his fans.
Morman was working on the recording in 2011 when he gave an interview with The Ashland Daily Independent:
“I’ve got about 50 notebooks full of songs. When I write them I hear the whole song ... you know, complete,” Morman said during a break in recording at Thunder Bay Studios in Ashland.
Morman said he has lived a quiet life in the Summit community in recent years, providing him with plenty of time to develop new songs.
“I was pretty much a nurse from ’06 on,” he said, explaining his father required assistance after breaking a hip and his wife re-injured herself trying to help his dad up from the floor. “I just sat around, listened to music and wrote lyrics. I said when my wife gets better I’m going to get back into it while I can. I’ve got so many songs laying around ... I can’t let them lay around like that.”
At the time, he joked about dubbing his new band “Rev. Ralph and the Morman Fishing Tackle Choir” chuckling as he explained “I always get accused of being a Mormon even though my name is spelled with an A.”
Morman’s career in music began in Ashland with The Outcasts, although he could have never known the crazy path his time in the spotlight would follow before he “called it quits” and came back to Kentucky “around 1984 or ’85 — something like that.”
“The music business was whacko,” Morman said, shaking his head as he remembered his last band’s efforts to get a record deal before losing their drummer, Randy Castillo, to Ozzy Osbourne’s band.
“I just got fed up with the whole L.A. scene and decided to go home ... come back to Kentucky. My brother’s girlfriend set me up with her neighbor and it was just an instant thing,” he said of meeting his future wife, Debbie Secord.
“Her mom was in Florida and wanted some help. So, we got married in ’87 and ran condos in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral. There was a karaoke bar within walking distance, so karaoke was the only music I did for years. I just kind of went underground in ’87. Then, in ’97 we moved back to Kentucky for my first grandchild, Hannah, here in Ashland. Actually, my wife flew up and left me with the condos. She had planned to be here for the birth, but she called me and said, ‘Pack everything up. I’m not leaving this baby.’”
Looking back, Morman is the first to say “It was a long journey ...” when he left The Outcasts and joined a band called The Store, a group with a three-piece horn section that played “a lot of Blood, Sweat and Tears stuff,” and had all of their equipment stolen when they accepted an invitation to play at the Goose Lake Music Festival.
“We had no gear — no P.A. We couldn’t play anywhere. We had rent due ... everything was due. I had enough money for a plane ticket to Boston,” he said, explaining he made the trip and joined forces with a band called Tangerine in response to an ad for a singer in Rolling Stone magazine, leading to other gigs with other bands and eventually another unsuccessful attempt at stardom. Morman decided to hitch a ride to Florida to visit his brother and stopped in Washington D.C. along the way.
“I ended up staying in D.C. almost three years with the band Magnum. We were a house band and had packed shows every night. $300 a week and no bar tab — it was a pretty cushy gig,” he said, noting the band had great players, but no strong songwriters. “That was the first time I quit music since I was 15.”
Explaining his eventual connection with Joe Perry, Morman said he met the members of Aerosmith before the now-legendary band ever sold their first record.
“I’d known Aerosmith since they all lived in one house,” he recalled, adding he and his sister approached a member of the band’s road crew and got to talk with them after the show at a time when the group was on the verge of breaking up.
“Before I left I told Joe, ‘I’ve been doing construction work for about a year. If you run into a band that’s ready to record, give me a call. About three weeks later Joe called and said, ‘I found a band for you.’ I asked what kind of stuff do they do? He said, ‘Kind of Aerosmith stuff.’ I asked, ‘Do I know any of them?’ He said, ‘Me’ and explained there had been a huge fight and he had quit Aerosmith. I said, ‘Have you lost your mind?’”
Complete obituary information for Ralph Bernard Mormom is included in this edition of The Independent.
