Ep555: The Taj Mahal Interview
Blues legend Taj Mahal shares rare stories about Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, and the unreleased Bill Withers song that shaped his stunning new record.
Topics Include:
- Taj Mahal discusses his new album, Time, and its origins
- Reveals his decades-long friendship and mutual respect with Bill Withers
- Explains how Bill Withers heard and loved this unreleased demo
- Bill Withers' wife gave final approval before the song's release
- Withers walked away from music rather than change his sound
- Why the industry pushed Withers to sound more commercial
- Taj shares why vinyl beats digital for capturing real sound
- Breaks down the "bell curve" problem with digital audio quality
- Approaches albums as full journeys, not three-minute singles
- Reveals how effortlessly he sequences songs like a live set
- Traces his musical roots to a tight-knit 1940s community
- Recalls learning piano, clarinet, trombone before finding the guitar
- Explains how guitar evolved from rhythm to lead instrument
- Names the blues legends who shaped his earliest influences
- Credits Ray Charles as one of his deepest musical influences
- Shares rare stories of jamming with Jimi Hendrix live
- Discusses bootlegs, tape trading, and the ethics of live recordings
- Compares the Grateful Dead's bootleg policy to other artists
- Tells the wild story of Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus
- Recalls dancing Stones and Clapton watching him at the Whisky
- Explains how British rockers reintroduced blues to American audiences
- Describes his first-class trip to London and Stones' hospitality
- Reveals why Labor of Love was released only on vinyl
- Shares the surprising stat: vinyl never drops below 6% globally
- Talks new tour dates and hopes to return to Australia
Photo by Mike Coeyman
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