Our pal Barry Stoller has a cool interview with Grand Funk Railroad and Bloodrock impresario and producer Terry Knight on the Perfect Sound Forever site:

PSF: Andrew Loog Oldham - an obvious inspiration - said in 1965 'the Rolling Stones are more than just a group - they are a way of life.' An obvious blueprint for GFR's marketing...

TK: I met Andrew back in the 1960's - he was first on tour with the Beatles' manager. The Stones played Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago [where Terry Knight & the Pack opened those shows]. Great guy. I hear he's living in Colombia now, very well enhanced.

PSF: Do you remember meeting Phil Spector [in 1963]?

TK: Yes, the president of A&M, Jerry Moss, sent me to Los Angeles to record a demo and knocking at my hotel door there was this little tiny mite and Rosy Grier - what a couple! - and I was strumming a guitar. I asked Phil if he played. He picked up that guitar and proceeded to play Bach's Tocata and Fugue in D minor - very well, too. Tremendous talent. Grier sat there doing needlepoint.

PSF: John Sinclair also had an in-your-face media style...

TK: Not really the same, our styles were at odds. I never let the foundation of his philosophy influence me, his adversarial support for marijuana - I stayed away from that arena. I didn't take one side or another with marijuana. I do remember the "Fuck Hudson's" ad, though - but that was the MC5, not Sinclair.

PSF: Ever heard of Malcolm McLaren?

TK: I wasn't a big fan of the Sex Pistols. I knew they were huge but they slipped by my radar at that point in my career. [Knight effectively retired from the music business in early 1974.]

PSF: Do you recall meeting McCartney [in 1968]?

TK: Yes, I recall meeting McCartney very well. We first met in Detroit and shared a brief hello. Later, he called me to England, Apple bought me a plane ticket, he invited me to sing. We had lunch in London with Linda and Twiggy, Roger Moore and Peter Sellers - and then I went to the studio where Yoko and Ringo and everyone else was assembled. It was the session where it was over [Ringo walked out during White Album sessions]. I went back to New York empty-handed and wrote the song "Saint Paul" on the flight.

PSF: Are you aware that the song is credited with starting the "Paul-is-dead" rumor?

TK: [Smile.] Oh, yes, I've heard that before.

PSF: I want to praise your production touches, such as the backwards guitar on Bloodrock's "Fatback" and the wind/chimes on "Sable & Pearl" - they seem to pick up from the Beatles, only with a 1970s dread...

TK: I recorded backwards guitar before the Beatles - back with the production for a band named the Jayhawkers. It's the producer's job to set up the sound on tape, record and mix that sound with the right equalization. It's the producer's duty to enhance that sound with whatever effects work to bring the performance about. I'm pleased and proud of the end results on the Bloodrock albums.

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