ROCK 'N' ROLL SURVIVOR
-- JIM PETERIK --
GETS BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM HIS FRIENDS
Text by Tom Lounges/Photos by Roy Ferrer
Few musical artists have had the kind of career longevity that has been
enjoyed by Chicago's Jim Peterik.
But then again, not many artists have the breadth of songcrafting talent
that makes his work popular fare with performers that range from
Southern-fried rockers, to Top 40 icons, to R&B steppers.
In what seems a bold stroke of musical genius, Peterik has taken his
immense popularity as a songwriter and collaborator to the next logical
level...the live stage.
Under the moniker of World Stage, this omni-talented artist has brought
together many of popular music's biggest names to celebrate the music of his
life both in recordings and in a series of ongoing concert performances.
It's true that a fair amount of popular songwriters in recent years have
taken to performing a "storytellers" type of routine on stage a la MTV. It's
also true that a few artists such as Ringo Starr have taken an all-star cast
of name performers on tour.
What sets Jim Peterik's World Stage apart from those types of shows, is
that World Stage is the only such project which combines the most unique and
ultimately best aspects of both such styles.
Unlike a Ringo Starr concert where his famous friends each perform a
mini-set of their own hits. Peterik's famous friends rally together to
perform songs which Peterik has written with and/or for them.
"I was just blown away," said Peterik shortly after giving his first live
World Stage concert (January 15) at the Norris Center in St. Charles,
Illinois. "Everything went so well and we all had such a great time. The
audience really seemed to like what we were doing." An understatement,
considering the venue was sold out weeks in advance of the event and the room
was rocking from start to finish.
Peterik's World Stage members on hand at that very first show were ~
Henry Paul (Blackhawk), Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon), Don Barnes (.38
Special), Kelly Keagy (Night Ranger), Marzette Griffith (The Essence), and
such local Chicago celebs as Cathy Richardson, David Carl, Joe Thomas, and
Jeff Boyle. Adding some slickness and sheen to the sound were the Ides of
March horn section and the St. Charles High School Choir.
All of those artists (with the exception of Joe Thomas) appear on the
new World Stage album, hitting stores nationwide on April 18 via Peterik's
own label, World Stage Music.
The self-titled debut CD, Jim Peterik & World Stage, is a 15-song
collection that is rounded out by such disparate artists as ~ bluesman Buddy
Guy, southern hell-raiser Johnny Van Zant (Lynyrd Skynyrd); hard rocker Tom
Keifer (Cinderella); contemporary singer Margaret Becker; Dennis DeYoung
(Styx) and those randy men of Rockford, Bun E. Carlos and Rick Neilsen of
Cheap Trick.
A BRILLIANT PAST
Since he roared out of the proud Polish community of Berwyn, Illinois in
the mid-'60s with his band, Ides of March, Jim Peterik has remained a
hit-making machine.
Unlike most rock 'n' roll artists, Peterik has continued to defy both
changing trends and a fickle public. As an artist, Peterik has successfully
reinvented and relaunched himself four times over the course of as many
decades.
After a successful run with The Ides through the early '70s and a string
of radio hits ("Vehicle", "L.A. Goodbye" and "You Wouldn't Listen"), Peterik
divorced himself from the horn-driven excesses of that band and slid smoothly
into the role of singer/songwriter/ troubadour, a popular niche in the
mid-'70s.
In the early '80s, as the granola generation realized they had been "laid
back" long enough, Peterik co-founded one of the most commercially successful
Chicago rock bands of all time. While at the helm of Survivor, Peterik
co-authored and took to the top of the charts a long string of
platinum-selling albums and hit singles ("Eye Of The Tiger", "The Search Is
Over", "High On You", etc.) that lasted well into the '90s.
"It was just time to move on," said Peterik about why he parted ways
with Survivor in 1996. "Those were 18 great years that I had with Survivor,
but I needed a change. There is no animosity and no ill will with me and the
guys. Survivor continues on without me and I wish them only the best."
The dawn of this new century has certainly not found the artist sitting
idle. Having already enjoyed success with two top bands, as a solo artist
and as a much in demand songwriter, Peterik now combines the very best parts
of each career phase with World Stage.
THE PLAN AND THE PASSION...
The idea behind World Stage is to have a stellar line up of world class
talent that would consistently change from show to show and album to album.
Having a rotating cast of celebrity friends pop in to visit both in the
studio and on stage would keep the creative levels high.
"As a songwriter, I've always enjoyed collaborating with other artists a
great deal," said Peterik. "For me, there's something really satisfying
about sitting down with talented musicians that you respect and creating a bra
nd new piece of music. I like hanging out with the guys of .38 Special and
jamming together. I like sitting in Kevin Cronin's house in California with
an acoustic guitar and jamming on new song ideas with him. He's such a
creative guy."
Peterik thought taking that kind of easy-going approach into the recording
studio for an album of duets with friends would be a fun project. From that
seed came the notion to take the project to the live concert stage.
Getting the album from the drawing board to the mastering plant was a
complex task with so many artists involved.
Aside from Chicago pop star Richard Marx dropping out of the project, a
variety of other changes took place between the "rough cut" demo version
Peterik had sent to The Midwest Beat in preparation for this feature and the
finished product that will hit stores this month.
The most notable changes between the CDR demo and the slickly packaged
end product are its growth from 12 to 15 tracks and the M.I.A. status of dc
Talk singer, Kevin Max.
It seems that although Max was thrilled to have recorded a new version of
Peterik's "Eye Of The Tiger"(which was a Top 5 chart hit for Survivor in 1982
as the theme song to "Rocky III"), the honchos at his record label were not.
In the end, the song was re-recorded with N.W. Indiana singer/songwriter Jeff
Boyle replacing Max on lead vocals.
"I'm really sorry Kevin couldn't be on the record, because he was real
excited about getting to do that song. He told me that it was his favorite
song when he was a kid and that he still has the tape. As far as Jeff's
doing it with me, I don't want to say it's better than what Kevin and I did,
but it is a more rocking version," said Peterik. "We were not trying to top
what Survivor did with the song, but rather give it a new perspective."
Since the 15-song "World Stage" debut album consists primarily of new
and/or never before recorded Peterik songs, why dust off an old gem like "Eye
of the Tiger"? "Because that song, with the inspired message it has of
'rising up to the challenge' fit the spirit of what I was trying to do with
this new project," said Peterik.
Boyle will perform the song live with Peterik on May 13 when World
Stage gives its sophomore performance at Merrillville's Star Plaza Theatre.
As is sure to be the case with every show World Stage will do, the buzz
factor will be guessing which special guests will be stepping on stage with
the Chicago icon.
"Obviously everyone who is involved with this project has busy schedules
of their own to contend with, so World Stage guests will always vary from
album to album and show to show," said Peterik. "Sometimes we may have
several guests, sometimes only one or two and sometimes maybe it would be
just me and the band. It's really hard to say right now what could happen. "
Fans can rest assured that Peterik will have quite a few friends
surrounding him when he dusts off his songbook at Star Plaza next month.
"Joining me for that show will be Don Barnes of .38 Special, Kelly Keagy of
Night Ranger and Kevin Chalfant of The Storm. Kevin has been a friend for a
long time and even though he and I have done shows together in the past, this
will be his first time with World Stage. I'll also have some very talented
Chicago area artists with me, like Cathy Richardson, David Carl, and
Marszette Griffith".
While he was not at liberty to discuss any details about it yet, Peterik
did confirm the rumor that World Stage would be doing a concert appearance
later this summer in Hammond, Indiana.
With so much work going into each and every aspect of things bearing the
World Stage name, one might wonder what Peterik foresees in the future.
"I'd really like to see several more (World Stage) CDs follow this one,"
he said. "I look at this project as an ongoing thing that is constantly
evolving. Maybe have a few people return from one album to the next one, but
mostly I would try to get different artists performing on each album. It's
really hard to project that far into the future, because this is all so new
and just starting..."
Will Richard Marx be asked back and will Kevin Chalfant do a guest spot?
"I would love to have them both," he said. "Richard originally shared vocals
with me on the song 'Diamonds For Stones' and after we listened to the play
backs, he thought it sounded weird for the two of us to be swapping vocals on
a love song. The Righteous Brothers could get away with it, but we decided
it might be better to have a girl do that song with me. So Cathy Richardson
is on that song on the CD. So, I think Richard might be back on the next
record and Kevin knows he is always welcome. "
As for any expectations or predictions he might have, Peterik explains
that just being able to get this project together and to actually have an
album ready for release has already surpassed his wildest expectations.
"It would sure be nice to see it really take off, but that's not why I'm
doing this. This is something I just felt I needed to do at this time in my
life. World Stage has been a real labor of love for me and it is something I
am very passionate about. Whether we sell 50 copies or 50 million copies of
this record is not an issue for me, I already look at this as being one of
the greatest successes of my career. This is not an album I could have even
dreamt of making 20 or even 10 years ago. This is a collection of lessons I
have learned in life that I have put into songs and that is only something
that could come with age."