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Roy Rogers and Chuck Leavell
Blues Guitarist, Stones Keyboardist Hold Impromptu Jam
 Listen to Bob Edwards' interview with Roy Rogers.
Hear Edwards' interview with Chuck Leavell.
Hear Edwards' complete interview with Rogers.
Listen to Roy Rogers' performance in NPR's Studio 4A.
Listen to Chuck Leavell's performance in 4A.
Listen to Roy Rogers jam with Chuck Leavell in 4A.
Oct. 24-25, 2002 -- Blues guitarist Roy Rogers and Rolling Stones pianist Chuck Leavell ran into each other while visiting NPR for separate performance chats with Morning Edition host Bob Edwards. Rogers and Leavell did more than say hello. The two musicians jammed on a couple of tunes in NPR's Studio 4A.
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers (not that Roy Rogers, but more on that later) modestly describes his song "Swamp Dream" as "just solo acoustic slide, a foot-slap for the beat... and a moment of reminiscing about that kind of place in the (Mississippi) Delta."
But close your eyes while listening to Rogers play that tune and you can easily imagine that another guitarist or two are accompanying him.
The slide blues guitarist and record producer -- who is best known for his work with Bonnie Raitt and the late bluesman John Lee Hooker -- recently joined Morning Edition host Bob Edwards for a "performance chat" in NPR's Studio 4A.
After listening to Rogers perform "Swamp Dream," from his latest CD, the all-instrumental Slideways, Edwards, half-kidding, says: "I can attest there was only one guitar there. I think listeners might have imagined an ensemble, but (there was) only one..."
Rogers explains how he arrives at his sound. "I'm a very rhythmic player. I respond to the rhythm in just real important ways as far as approaching what melodically you're going to do, how you're going to improvise. And if that rhythm is blazing, you know, that's when you're feeling fine..."
The 52-year-old guitarist lists blues legend Robert Johnson as his major influence. Rogers' older brother, Bill, brought home the Johnson record, King of the Delta Blues Singers -- and "that was it." Roy Rogers was hooked.
"I heard the slide guitar and something clicked," Rogers says. "One of the most expressive ways to play... is to play slide guitar. Just the whole evocative feeling of the human voice. You can get all those nuances, so that really struck me when I first heard it. Still does."
Now, about that other Roy: Rogers says he hasn't forgiven his parents for naming him after the late singing cowboy actor. "But I enjoy it. I am the real Roy Rogers because it is my real name..." The other Roy Rogers' started life as Leonard Sly. "I love pointing that out to people," the guitarist says with a chuckle.
Chuck Leavell
Most teenagers can only dream about playing with the biggest names in rock 'n' roll. Pianist Chuck Leavell has made a career of it. Over the past three decades, he has played with Eric Clapton, the Allman Brothers Band and George Harrison, to name a few. Not a bad series of gigs, if you can get them.
"A lot of guys play in only one band their whole career," Leavell says. "I've been so fortunate to have been able to dance around... It's so great because I get to take information that I've learned from one setting and apply it to the other."
He's currently on tour with the Rolling Stones, with whom he's performed for 20 years. Leavell says that he's evolved into the Stones' "record keeper." He's not talking about their accounting ledgers. Leavell carries around two "huge books" with music to the band's prolific catalog. "They've written hundreds and hundreds of songs," but "often times, they can't remember how they go," he says with a laugh. A typical question from the Mick and the boys: "What key is it in?"
His recent solo album, Forever Blue, features a variety of piano styles, including gospel. But "no matter what the style is, I'm a blues player and that's where it all comes from," Leavell says.
Leavell was barely 20 years old when he was invited to joined the Allman Brothers. He played on the band's classic Brothers and Sisters album, which included the hits "Ramblin' Man" and "Jessica."
"It was really an accident," Leavell says. "I just happened to be around when I happened to start playing with them and they said, 'Oh, this is different.' And the next thing I knew they asked me, 'Would you hang around and do this record?' and the next thing I knew they asked me if I'd hang around and be in the band, so it worked out."
Despite his long and busy career, Leavell says he has no intention of leaving the music business. "I know one thing: I'm going to do it as long as I can because I just love it."
Other Resources
• The Slide Zone: the official Roy Rogers Web site.
• Chuck Leavell's official Web site.
• Chuck Leavell and the Allman Brothers Band.
• Roy Rogers at Blind Pig Records.
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