Blues in the 21st: A conversation with Jimmy Vivino
Jimmy Vivino will play Asheville March 16. File photo
When it comes to the vast, vibrant landscape of American blues guitarists, few six-string aces have had as varied and as illustrious a career over the last 30 years as that of Jimmy Vivino.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Vivino came of age right when the “British Invasion” of rock music overtook America in the 1960s and 1970s. It was there where Vivino discovered the blues influences of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Yardbirds, The Who, Led Zeppelin and so forth.
From there, Vivino went down this endless rabbit hole to find the origins of the blues, these musical pioneers and creative visionaries — Robert Johnson, Son House, Jimmie Rodgers, Muddy Waters, Charley Patton — who helped shape this intricate, mesmerizing sound that continues to captivate and inspire audiences the world over.
Beyond his decades of touring and live performances, Vivino also held a 25-year tenure as a member (and later band leader) for Conan O’Brien’s late-night programs. Recently, Vivino released his latest album, “Gonna Be 2 Of Those Days,” to wide acclaim.
Smoky Mountain News: So, how does a boy from New Jersey end up leading arguably the best late-night band of all-time?
Jimmy Vivino: The “New Jersey Music Mafia Connections.” [Laughs]. Max Weinberg (drummer for Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band) secured the gig with no band, so he talked his way into an audition. And then called me. At the time, I was staying with Clarence Clemons (saxophonist for Springsteen) in Sausalito, [California], and we had a band together.
Related Items
This must be the place: ‘I don’t expect you to listen, but the show goes on’
‘From Harlem to Shanghai and Back’
'Tip Toe High Wire': Sierra Hull rolls into WNC
This must be the place: Ode to the torchbearers of tomorrow, ode to why I got into this gig
SMN: You’re in familiar territory.
JV: Oh, sure. All those [New Jersey] guys, who all played the club circuits together and everything. [Max] said the funniest thing, he gets on the phone and calls me at [Clarence’s] house and goes, “Don’t tell Clarence about the audition because we won’t get the gig.” All [Clarence] has to do is make a phone call and he’s got the gig — his stage presence was so dynamic, everybody wanted him to do anything. So, I started doing [the late-night show] for 25-plus years.
Before that, I just worked and worked and toured and toured with people. And before that, when me and my brother got out of high school, I was a [Hammond] B3 player. We had an organ, saxophone and drums trio. We played seven nights a week in 1973. We were making 350 bucks a week each, more than my father was making at that time.
SMN: Did your parents show you support for being a musician?
JV: Oh, yeah. Always. And because they weren’t allowed to, my father being an Italian immigrant. [We were] a family of carpenters. Imagine a guy (Vivino’s father) who was the most gifted trumpet player I ever heard in my life and he was not allowed to do that? There was no rebellion allowed either.
And then, [my father had] three sons that don’t go into construction, that go into music and show business. I think he was driven to make sure not only that we did what we wanted to do, but that we were good at it and that we practiced. Because if we were going to do it, he didn’t want us to fail.
[The culture] was always like, “Well, your Uncle Nick plays the accordion real good, but he’s working on the job mixing cement. You know, doing a real man’s work.”
SMN: It’s like here in Southern Appalachia, where your mailman could be the best mandolin player ever, but they never left the front porch.
JV: No. Never left the porch. Music doesn’t stop people from being great musicians. It’s just they’re not always encouraged that that’s a vocation. And, of course, it was in the 1930s and 1940s when my father grew up. It was a different time. It was looked at in a different way.
SMN: With the late-night band dissolving on Conan, how have you reflected on that number of years, 25, being on-air?
JV: Well, I always looked at it as golden handcuffs. [Laughs]. I can actually now enjoy the best of both worlds, a compromise where I have more time to go out and play live [and also do work for TV and film].
SMN: What is it about the blues for you? What separates it from other genres?
JV: Because everybody has it. See, George Jones is one of the greatest blues singers in the world. He’ll break your heart. And it’s not about the chord structure. It’s not about singing about cotton fields. I think [the late Delta blues musician] Son House said, “It’s about a man and a woman and heartbreak and a bottle.” And that’s country music, isn’t it?
So, everybody has their own, you know? The lines are blurred now where they used to be. A lot of people never heard this stuff. But, when you hear it? I wish I could get that feeling back of hearing [the blues] for the first time.
Because there’s something deeper about [the blues]. Even on the most surface version that a band might cover a Howlin’ Wolf song or a Muddy Water song, there’s still something in it. And that’s amazing.
SMN: When you think about your career — what you’ve done, where you’ve been and where you continue to go — what really sticks out?
JV: Well, I don’t feel [that] it’s [been] anything but a great ride — the friends I met along the way, the chance to play with people that I never would’ve met. I don’t know [how] else I would’ve got onstage with Al Green or stood right next to B.B. King or Little Milton or James Cotton.
SMN: What you’re telling me, too, is that this applies to why we love the blues, that one of the biggest things you’re taught, subconsciously or consciously, is to stay close to the source.
JV: Yeah. Stay close to the source. And also respect for the artist. You have to be respectful. You know, we were so lucky to be able to play and meet and talk to a lot of these men and women who really just set the groundwork for everything we do.
Musically, what became rock-n-roll started as [the blues]. And we keep learning, we keep working on that.
Want to go?
Guitar legend Jimmy Vivino will perform at 8 p.m. Sunday, March 16, at The Grey Eagle in Asheville.
Doors at 7 p.m. The show is all ages. Tickets are $20.21 in advance, with premium seating $29.25 (ticket fees included).
For more information and/or to purchase tickets, visit thegreyeagle.com or call 828.232.5800.
