Joe Satriani – Flying In A Blue Dream
One of the most important guitar records to have ever been recorded came out on October 30, 1989. “Flying In A Blue Dream” remains one of the albums that has inspired and spawned several generations of guitar shredders. Seriously, go ask almost any mainstream guitarist today and you’re likely hear Joe Satriani’s name when they are talking about their “Mount Rushmore” of guitarists.
I’ve interview dozens of high profile guitar-slingers and the majority of them cite Satriani as that guy. I know what a big fan Jeff Schroeder (Smashing Pumpkins, Night Dreamer) is of Joe, so I reached out for comment as I was preparing to publish this and he told me, “Like most people, I was introduced to Joe Satriani with Surfing with the Alien. By the time Flyin In a Blue Dream was released, I was already a super fan; and as soon as tickets went on sale for his LA area show (Irvine Meadows Amphitheater), my friend and I purchased tickets and eagerly anticipated the show date.”
Schroeder continues, “Needless to say, Joe, Stu, and Jonathan blew our minds that night. Every time I listen to Flying In a Blue Dream, I remember that night and how inspired I was after I left the concert. 30 years later, the album still speaks volumes to me and I consider it a complete masterpiece. If I had to compare it to anything, I’d say it’s Satriani’s Electric Ladyland.“
The effect of his guitar-wizardry and that album is truly amazing.
When Joe and I spoke in April to discuss his new album, Shapeshifting (which is amazing, btw) we both mentioned ‘Flying several times. So it only seemed natural to speak more in depth at a later time to break down this iconic record.
Before we even got into a Q&A-type situation, I was basically gushing over the record and the songs and Joe seemed thrilled to discuss it all in detail. It was less of a formal interview than it was a pick a topic, sit back and simply enjoy the ride type of conversation. I was happy just to be able to hear these amazing stories.
I started by telling Joe that the major rock, radio station in Detroit (WRIF), when I was a kid, used to play “One Big Rush” all of the time. I loved that an instrumental would get major airplay.
Satriani is excited right away. He says, “Wow, what a great story behind that song. It’s one of those stories where you’re reminded of, that good luck and opportunity can really come together if you’re prepared. :laughs: I bring that up because I do these G4 clinics every year and a half or so and the students that come there really want to know the secrets of not only music but getting ahead and getting a foothold in the music industry. I always tell them that they have to prepare for good luck. One Big Rush is that story. I’m always thinking.. like.. it seems like pie in the sky but you keep thinking something could happen, the phone could ring, you know, the proverbial knock on the door and someone says, I can change your life, what have you got to show me that we can take to the top? It’s one of those funny little industry daydreams you have but it’s important for musicians to prepare for that unlikely moment.”
Satriani goes on to explain a similar moment like the one he described. “When I got a call from Cameron (Crowe) that he was making a movie and he needed some music for a kick-boxing scene for this movie called “Say Anything”. That was so out of the blue. He sends me, this is back when we still had video cassettes. He sends me outtakes of the film to show me what he had going so far. Then I wrote that song right there on the spot. It didn’t take more than four minutes. Got it recorded with all my friends at the time. Jeff Campitelli and of course my producer and engineer, John Cuniberti. We went down the coast and recorded this thing in like one day, sent it off to him and Cameron loved it and said, we’re going to use it in a few places in the film.”
Joe then tells me how it got on the record. “We keep going with the production of the “Flying In a Blue Dream” album and I kept saying, you know, this song would really be great if it was part of it. So it took a little bit of legal work to convince, I guess it was 20th Century – Fox, who insisted on owning half the publishing, but I said, look, I don’t care. That’s what you want, I don’t care. This is about the fans and I know they’re going to like this. It’s got something to it. It’s got some kind of magic to it. It wound up on the album and to the surprise of the guys at Relativity (Records), it wound up, as you said, being on the radio. It exploded on the radio and it was a very important connection between myself and my fans. It was that connection that was made possible not only by those unusual events starting with Cameron Crowe but also by all of the fantastic DJ’s across the country who jumped on the song.”
That was all before we got into the actual question and answer part of our conversation. I was truly inspired by his thoughts and I continued to be amazed and enlightened throughout the course of our interview.
Instead of writing the words of Joe Satriani in this article, I encourage you to go listen to the interview in its entirety. The words here would not do him justice.
I’ll leave you with this. I had a question planned that was in the nature of asking him for some sort of magical story that came out of those sessions. By the time he finished telling me how the intro to the opening song and title track came about – I knew I had my magical moment. It was one of those moments I will never forget.
I have since listened to the album and specifically the opening track many times since our phone call and I will probably never hear it the same way I once did. It has a little extra meaning to me now.
Maybe even a little magic to it.
-Tommy Marz
You can follow Tommy on Twitter and Instagram let him know what you think.
For More On Joe Satriani, Visit:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER |