The Alan Munson Interview
Born in Northwestern, Pennsylvania before eventually settling in Santa Barbara, California, Munson had a west coast life growing up and would soon pick up the guitar at the age of nine. Once The Beatles hit the scene, it was on. He was heavily influenced by the likes of The Hollies, Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young as his music horizons expanded and at the age of thirteen he was in his first band. He participated in a few different psych outfits throughout the 60’s before meeting his longtime friend and bandmate Bill Cooley. Together the two released the cult classic “In Debt”. Throughout the 70s, Munson would go on to release more wonderful works as well as harnessing and mastering his craft throughout the years. In this interview we explore Munson’s youth spending his formative years in Santa Barbara, playing in local psych outfits, meeting Bill Cooley, writing and recording a wonderful body of work throughout the years and much more!
Where were you born, and what was your childhood like? When did you first begin to fall in love with music and what was it that initially fascinated you about it? Was music something that was relevant around your household growing up?
I was born in a very small town in Northwestern, Pennsylvania. My family moved from Pennsylvania when I was only 5, or 6 years old and we moved through a number of states, coast to coast, throughout my childhood years. I rarely started and completed a full school year in the same state. We moved to Santa Barbara, California when I was in my teen years, and that was the last of our family relocations. We all really loved it there. I lived there for many years, much longer than anywhere else, so I consider Santa Barbara to be my home town. I absolutely loved growing up in Southern California, and especially from a music perspective, it was such an exciting place to be in the late 60's and 70's. My father was a life long guitar player. He encouraged me to take up the instrument and I started learning to play when I was about 9 years old. Dad was teaching me to play on both an acoustic guitar and his Silvertone electric guitar (with a cool Bigsby vibrato), and a 100 watt Silvertone amp. Dad played and performed classic Country music as a solo artist, and with bands all through time. Although I wasn't too excited about learning to play Country songs at that time in my life, we moved forward with the guitar lessons and I enjoyed learning the instrument.
Everything changed for me with the arrival of The Beatles and the "British Invasion" groups. I clearly recall the exact moment when something really clicked. I was intently watching the first U.S. appearance of the Rolling Stones on television. I loved their music, loved the guitar driven sound, they all looked so cool on that stage, and an audience filled with hundreds of screaming girls didn’t hurt the image at all! That was it, I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and my lifetime music goal was set. I went from being mildly interested in the guitar, to obsessively practicing and playing. It’s amazing how a single event like that can become life changing! Of course, the Beatles were a huge early influence on my music, but I was more excited about the harder edge groups like the Rolling Stones, Kinks, and especially the Yardbirds. Beyond that time, my interest stretched across many types of music , so it’s difficult to pick out just a few names. I think my vocal style was most influenced by the lead and harmony vocals of groups like the Hollies, Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. I spent a lot of time singing along with Graham Nash, and those way high harmony vocals that he so expertly delivered. I thank him for all the voice lessons he unknowingly gave me back then.
I understand you played in your first band at just the age of 13. Can you tell me about that? When did you make your live performance debut and what was that experience like for you? Can you tell me about the bands and groups that followed?
Yes, I was in my first rock band when I was 13 years old, and played with several rock bands over the years leading up to my album releases, and beyond. As you would expect, my first couple bands had their rough edges. But, whatever we lacked in our instrumental skills, we made up for with lots of energy, relentless fast tempo and deafening volume. We were getting our first paid gigs when I turned 14; mostly school dances and that kind of thing. At 16, we started playing some night club gigs, and I felt like I was on track with my music goals. My much later Psych-Rock band “Aftermath”, was the hardest working, and probably the most popular group I performed with in the early days. I played guitar, and for the first time, sang all the lead vocals in the band as well. We had skillful players, a solid sound, and a well-connected manager who kept our show calendar very full. “Aftermath” stayed together for a few years. We moved into performing original material, and introduced several songs I had written into our playlist. Some of our “live” performances were recorded, but there were no record releases. After the break-up of “Aftermath”, I joined up with another rock band, “Future Passed”. In that same timeframe, I teamed up with an amazing female vocalist, Suzanne Lukather, and we formed an acoustic guitar duo. It was quite a change to perform shows with only two of us on the stage, playing acoustic guitars. Our playlist included fairly intricate song arrangements and challenging vocal harmonies. Suzanne and I did some demo recordings together, but no releases.
When and where did you play your most memorable performances and concerts? What kind of impact did those leave on you?
The first one that comes to mind, is a concert I played at the Santa Barbara Memorial Auditorium in the 1970’s. I performed three sets in that concert. Played the first set with my rock band “Future Passed”, a second set as an acoustic duo with Suzanne Lukather, and a third set which I performed solo, playing songs I had written. That was the first time I had ever performed solo and I was a bit apprehensive about trying that out in front of a huge audience, but everything that night went incredibly well. I came away from that concert with the realization that I enjoyed the full band, the duo and solo performing styles equally, which changed a lot about my future direction in music. One of the hottest Southern California venues for Psychedelic Rock in the 60’s/’70’s was Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara. The list of groups who performed there is astounding, including Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, Buffalo Springfield, on and on. I attended several concerts there and had the chance to see many of my favorite groups. And then, in 1971, I had the great fortune to perform in a concert at Earl Warren Showgrounds with Bill Cooley and our band “Future Passed”, with a few thousand people in attendance. I was absolutely thrilled to perform on that very same stage where so many rock legends had performed over the years.
How did you initially meet Bill Cooley? Tell me about writing and recording your debut album with Cooley in ‘72 entitled “In Debt”. What was the overall vision and approach for this album and how did the deal with Studio West Productions come about
I had been playing in a new rock band in Santa Barbara, named "Future Passed", and I first met Bill Cooley when he showed up at a band practice to audition for the "Lead Guitarist" role that we had advertised in the local newspaper. It took me about 10 minutes to realize that he was an excellent lead guitar player, and he was immediately invited to join the band. The idea of Bill auditioning for that band really sounds very funny to me all these many years later since Bill is such an exceptional guitarist today, and was a great player even way back then. I'm glad he passed the audition! So, Bill Cooley and I played in the "Future Passed" band together for a year, or so. But, our music interests eventually shifted from performing with the band, to working on all original music together. We had both set our sights solidly on music as a career path, so a move to writing, composing and recording original songs was an essential next step for both of us. We had only been performing cover songs with the band, and we knew that was leading us nowhere. I had written a number of songs over the previous year and I became focused on the idea of someday recording and releasing an album with all original songs. I shared my idea with Bill and he was also interested. We listened to my original song demos and agreed we had enough original material there to proceed with the album recording and production. So, the "In Debt" album concept was put into motion. I wrote eight of the songs for the Cooley-Munson “In Debt” album, and Bill wrote the closing track “One Long Day”. We spent a lot of time collaborating on the song arrangements for the album, prior to recording anything. Those sessions would run into all hours of the night. When we moved into recording, most every instrumental and vocal track on the “In Debt” album was a “first take”. We had some novel ideas, no fear of experimentation with our song arrangements and sound.
In the end, we produced an all original album with our own, unique Psychedelic-Folk rock music style. The “In Debt” LP was released on the Studio West record label (our private press label) in Santa Barbara and was produced by the famed Monarch Records in Los Angeles and mastered by Custom Fidelity record label in L.A. There were only 200 copies in the original LP release, but we believed big production volume would soon follow. There was no doubt in our minds that a major record label deal was coming; it was just a matter of time. We were charged up with youthful confidence, and thought we were unstoppable. Our songs were getting radio airplay, there were special displays of our albums in the record stores, there was a meeting with a concert promoter, several “live” radio interviews; all of that fueled the fire. After the album release, Bill and I did some performing to promote the album, but the major label record deal never came around. We later went off to work on separate music projects. Even without the major label deal, the “In Debt” album release was a huge milestone in our music journey. And, with the reissue of the album by Guerssen Records (Catalonia, Spain) in 2008, the “In Debt” album was re-discovered, and has become very popular world-wide. That album has taken an amazing ride through time. Bill and I have remained the best of friends, and we have continued to record music together over all these years. Also, and surprisingly, Bill and I recorded the follow-up album to our original 1972 "In Debt" album release in 2019. It only took us 47 years to get that sequel album titled "Cooley-Munson II" recorded and released to the marketplace!
‘75 saw the release of your sophomore album “Good Morning World”. Can you tell me about writing and recording that album and how you wanted to approach that differed from the previous? How did the deal with Parallax Records come about? It's a sunrise to know it was originally released as a cassette instead of an LP, why was that?
Soon after the "In Debt" album release, I started making plans to record and release another new album. I planned to take a very different direction with that next album (which became "GOOD MORNING WORLD"). I decided to go with the concept of a 100% solo album release, with me writing and arranging all of the songs, playing all the instruments and singing all of the lead and background vocals. I had acquired my first 12 string guitar and decided to go for an acoustic guitar sound across the album with electric guitar on just a few tracks, and very little percussion. More than anything, I wanted to place the emphasis of this new album on the songwriting, meaningful lyrics and delivery of a mellow sound across the full album. In the early 70's, at some point prior to starting work on the "Good Morning World" album project, I decided to shop some of my song demos around to record labels to see what kind of reception they would receive. I got a meeting with a record producer in Los Angeles, and he listened to a demo tape of songs I had written and recorded. I was certain that tape contained the next big hit he would want to rush into production on the record label. He carefully listened to each song, which I found encouraging. When the tape finished, he paused and said “I like the music, but you don’t have anything to say. You’re young, go out and experience the world, write songs based on that real life experience, and then come back and see me”.
That was not the response I wanted or expected, but as time went along, I realized I had been given the very best songwriting lesson I could ever hope to receive. From that point forward, every song I wrote was based on that advice, which had become my “If you don’t live it, then don’t write songs about it” rule. My songwriting greatly improved with the depth and the passion of lyrics that can only come from direct personal experience. All of the songs written and recorded for the "Good Morning World" album followed that advice. Most of the album was recorded in 1974, and released in 1975 on the Parallax Records label (my own record label) in Santa Barbara, California. The original release came out in cassette format only. I had fully intended for the album to be later released on vinyl LP’s as well, but soon after the initial “GMW” release, I was already in the studio working on songs for my next solo album, and had moved on. For that reason, I was very pleased when Guerssen Records reissued the “GMW” album in 2008, on both CD and vinyl LP formats. The “GMW” album is comprised of nine original songs, with a Psychedelic-Folk style across the tracks. The music is predominately acoustic. I sang all lead and background harmony vocals, and played all instruments on the album; including 12 string and 6 string acoustic guitars, electric bass guitar, 6 string electric guitar and some percussion. I enjoyed experimentation on this album and utilized some fairly unusual song arrangements, chord structures, tempo changes within songs, and multiple guitar harmonies. I had found and defined my own, possibly even unique, personal style of writing, performing and recording music through the course of this album project. It’s a style that I have stayed with, or close to, in most all recordings that followed the “Good Morning World” album.
You released your last album of the decade with ‘79’s “First Light’. Would you mind walking me through the process of creating that album and what led to you kind of pulling back on releasing albums after this?
My third album, “First Light”, was originally released on the Parallax Records label in Santa Barbara, California in 1979. The album was recorded and mastered by Creative Sound Studio in San Jose, California between November 1978 and March 1979. “First Light” was another solo recording project, and like the previous record, I wrote and arranged all of the songs, sang all the vocals and played all instruments on this album. The “First Light” album doesn’t easily fit into a specific music category. The eleven songs on the LP range from Psych rock, to some mellow folk rock, and even a song with a country rock flavor. There is a fairly even balance of acoustic and electric song styles across the album. Instruments played on the record include 12 string acoustic guitar, 6 string electric and acoustic guitars, electric bass guitar and I played drums on a few tracks. A couple of the “First Light” songs received great radio airplay in the San Francisco/Bay area and Northern California. The album sold quite well for an independent record release and was being sold at Tower Records and other major record chains. Copies of the album also found their way into the European market through a distribution connection. In 2008, the “First Light” album was also reissued by Guerssen Records, and one of my previously unreleased songs, “Thirty”, was added to the LP as a bonus track. After the "First Light" album release, I was primarily focused on songwriting, composing and recording studio work for many years that followed. I went through a prolific songwriting phase and created quite an inventory of original songs. Some years later, I had a library of well over 400 songs that I had written, arranged and recorded. In addition to the writing of original songs, I had also recorded and produced over 13 full length albums on CD's of original songs through that time period.
Did you continue to play and produce music throughout the coming decades? Please share what has been going on with your music work in more recent years.
Yes, I have been working continuously in music from my first bands at 13 years old right through to this day in 2023. Here is an overview of what I've been doing in recent years: In 2007, I was contacted by Guerssen Records in Catalonia Spain with an interest in reissuing some of my music work. I contracted with Guerssen and they reissued all three of my 70's albums on their label in early 2008. The "In Debt" and "Good Morning World" albums were released both in CD format and as vinyl LP's. We worked directly from the original album masters to ensure the best possible quality, and the albums were re-mastered by Shadoks Music Studio in Germany. The album cover artwork, liner notes and CD booklet designs produced by Guerssen were excellent. My fourth, solo album "The Road Goes On" was released in early 2010, and is available as a digital download and in CD format. There are ten original songs on the album. The music style is a fairly laid back rock-based sound, with some folk-rock and blues influences coming through. Like my earlier albums, I placed strong emphasis on meaningful lyrics, up-front vocals and background harmony vocals. I performed all lead and background vocals, played 6 string electric, 6 string acoustic and electric bass guitars, keyboards and percussion on this new record. Bill Cooley made a guest appearance on the album, and contributed some great lead guitar work to the title track, "The Road Goes On". I thank Guerssen Records for getting this solo album release out into a worldwide marketplace.
In 2011, I contracted with Yoga Records in Hollywood, California for the release and sales of my albums as WAV, MP3 and FLAC digital downloads on the Yoga Records label. Also contracted with Yoga Records for the licensing of my music for use in Movies, TV and other film / video applications. In 2017, I signed with Sundazed Music (Nashville/New York), for the reissue of my music on the Sundazed /Modern Harmonic Records label. We initially discussed the possibility of them either reissuing one of my albums or perhaps my full record catalog. However, we all loved the idea of releasing a new “Best Of” type compilation album of songs from my 1970’s albums and went with that plan. In August 2018, Sundazed/Modern Harmonic designed, produced and released the Alan Munson “One Man’s Journey” album, distributed world-wide, on Vinyl LP's (cool Blue Vinyl!), on CD's and as Digital downloads. The album includes 13 songs selected from my 1970’s album releases ("In Debt, "Good Morning World" and "First Light"). All of the songs were sourced from the original Master recordings. The album includes a cross section of my music and songs through the 70’s with a good representation of my songwriting, musical composition and arrangement styles. Netflix licensed the use of my music for a new TV series titled “EASY” which premiered in Fall 2016. “EASY” is an original Netflix series, with a strong cast including Orlando Bloom, Dave Franco, and many others. One of my songs, from the “In Debt” album, appears in the last episode of Season 1 (“Hop Dreams”), and plays through the final scenes, closing credits and closes out the 1st season of the “EASY” TV series.
My music was also licensed for use in another TV Series titled “An Interview”, and my songs appear in the TV series “AN INTERVIEW WITH LIV TYLER”, and “AN INTERVIEW WITH PARKER POSEY”. Beyond that, my music has also appeared in some earlier U.S. and Japanese films, TV shows, commercials and a documentary film about Woolrich Woolen Mills and Carters Clothiers. The licensing of my music for TV, movies and other video/film productions has been an exciting new direction for my music work. The new " Cooley-Munson II " album is the long awaited follow-up to the original 1972 "Cooley Munson - IN DEBT" album release. Despite the passage of time, Bill Cooley and I reunited the Cooley-Munson Duo in 2019 to record and release this album to the marketplace. So, it's only taken us 47 years and the new "Cooley Munson II" album is finally available! Bill Cooley played electric and acoustic guitars on the album. I sang all lead and backing vocals, and played bass guitar and drums on all tracks. I wrote all of the songs on the album. All songs were arranged by both Bill and I. The album was released both as a Digital release from the Sundazed Music record label, and as a CD release from ALM Music. My most recent solo album, “ABOUT TIME”, is a compilation of 13 previously unreleased songs that I wrote and recorded in the mid to late 1970’s. The songs on this album should have been released to the marketplace long ago. I wrote and arranged all of the songs on this album, performed all lead and backing vocals and played all of the instruments (electric guitars, acoustic guitars, bass guitar, keys and drums) on the album, except the lead guitar on You Never Know and Returning To The Flame was performed by Bill Cooley. "ABOUT TIME" is available as a Limited Edition CD and as high quality WAV, FLAC, MP3 digital downloads. I'm now working on an "ABOUT TIME" Volume 2 album as a follow-up release.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers?
Thanks! If you would like additional info on my music work or would like to check out my album releases, please visit my web site.
