Quintessentially Soul Brothers.
The Sales Brothers- In Their Own Words.
Hunt & Tony Sales eBook.
Text and Interviews: Stephanie Lynne Thorburn.
The Sales Brothers- Hunt and Tony.
The Sales brothers have survived a diversity of musical incarnations and invariably collaborated in esteemed company since the inception of their careers. Having recorded with Todd Rundgren in their teens, they were conscripted into Iggy Pop’s solo band in 1977, forming the rhythm section for the legendary Lust For Life album, recorded in Hansa Studios, by the Berlin wall. Over a decade later in 1988, Tin Machine was established on the foundation of David Bowie’s first-hand experiences of the Sales brothers’ ‘gale force’ contribution to the Lust For Life sessions. Tin Machine proved to be an iconoclastic project genre wise, re-conceptualising Bowie in context of a full democratic unit of challenging personalities, offending the sensibilities of fans and critics alike. The band was based on the principles of roots rock ‘n’ roll and was a refreshing proto-grunge act, still grounded in the essence of 1960’s live blues-rock. The press reception was polarised, expressing either emphatic opinions of novel appreciation or cutting distain that still stands as an example of the deceptive nature of media critique, which can prove to be a stifling medium for artistic creativity.
For almost thirty- years, the Sales brothers’ personal retrospective of solo recordings remained hidden from the public domain. Their own album ‘Hired Guns’ was recorded at the close of the 1970’s, in a converted swimming pool in the Hollywood hills. The album conveys their true musical roots and captures a quintessentially vibrant form of blue-eyed soul and penetrating R & B, centred on the brothers’ natural affinity with the Stax/ Volt legacy. The project represents a fundamental divergence from popular conceptions of the Sales brothers’ preferred musical genre, without compromising on soulful, cutting-edge, rocking grooves delivered from the heart. The Hired Guns album is without a doubt a lost archival treasure that had been destined for obscurity until Perseverance Records took the initiative of securing a final release date in June 2008 and produced a quality album package. The original tracks possess a remarkably raw, infectious, high-octane quality, featuring ‘The Sales Brothers’ with a capital ‘B’, united as a masterful team. The songs reconstruct a classic era of soul, permeated by the Sales brothers’ love of Sam & Dave, James Brown, Isaac Hayes, Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin. Hunt and Tony’s vocal harmonies and instrumental performances are first-class and augmented by the addition of the funky Blue Ray Orchestra horns on the live numbers, taken from their stunning performances at West Hollywood’s Starwood in 1979.
The Sales Brothers: In Their Own Words.
It was a pleasure to recently have the opportunity of interviewing drummer Hunt Sales and bassist Tony Sales on all the key touchstones of their careers. Hunt Sales proved to be an effusive musicologist and conversationalist. He is still infatuated with the grass roots jazz improvisational virtuosity of mentors Buddy Rich, Shelley Manne and Art Blakey. Together we share a concern for the future of real jazz, soul and R & B music, music ideally formed around Hunt’s philosophy of integrating genuine emotion with formidable technique. His distinctive and flamboyant sense of style is counterpoised by his demonstrations of fluent rhythmic prowess on albums such as ‘Lust For Life’ and a range of Iggy Pop’s live performance material in 1977.
Hunt hits the drums with an inimitable driving beat, forming the basis of a secure foundation for a diversity of Tin Machine numbers from early tracks such as ‘Heaven’s In Here’, to the Machine’s version of Lennon’s ‘Working Class Hero’ and the Pixies ‘Debaser’ live. His early musical C.V. notably also includes a collaboration with Bob Welch in Paris on Big Towne, 2061.
Now based in Austin, Texas, Hunt Sales has worked for many years as a producer, overseeing some fine punk and alternative rock albums. Hunt explores lucidly in conversation, an articulate range of topics that arise as areas of natural curiosity in his mercurial career.
Interview Excerpt: -
Hunt Sales reflects on ‘Hired Guns’ & a variety of musical genres:
Stephanie Lynne: Tell me the story of the Hired Guns album from your perspective- it’s certainly a very distinctive recording. How did the material get released after all these years?
Hunt Sales: The tapes had been collecting dust when Chas Ferry and Perseverance, who mainly release soundtracks, showed an interest. They put up the money for the packaging and mastering, we compiled the strongest stuff so they could package it and put it out- that’s basically how that happened. At this point they liked the material and I’m appreciative; you know how the music industry is now, not that it has always been this way... It’s a thirty- year old record and I think there’s a market for it. The music I’ve done with Iggy and Bowie, you can put those recordings on years later and they still sound viable.
Usually pop music is a disposable medium, you get so many acts who sell ten million records and it sounds very dated quickly, but you don’t want to listen to it unlike a blues or jazz record- they’re timeless and that has to do with the genre of music being rhythm and blues or soul. That music is timeless, it’s traditional music…
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Tony Sales offers an alternative perspective in form of a holistic, cerebrally orientated account of the spiritual components of his near-death experience at the close of the 1970’s. His near fatal car accident sadly prevented the Sales brothers from achieving the success they richly deserved at that stage of their career, although Tony’s accident undoubtedly changed the dynamic of his music and personal priorities as a learning experience.
Tony has a diverse approach to performing and songwriting. He not only excels on bass, but has also mastered the essentials of a formidable guitar technique, performing live with Etta James in ’79 and taking his part on guitar in the impromptu supergroup ‘Chequered Past’. Andy Fraser of Free, and can be heard collaborating with Tony on unreleased solo album‘Till The Night Is Gone’. Tony describes his key influences as confounding expectations of the Sales brothers ’ musical persona, as perceived via albums such as Lust for Life and instead comprising a natural affinity with the essence of Stax, Motown and Chicago blues.
Tony Sales evokes some magical moments and memories of time spent over the years in the company of archetypal musicians including Iggy, Bowie and brother Hunt...
Excerpt- Tony F. Sales on ‘Lust For Life’:
Stephanie Lynne: One of your key traits would seem to be that you have helped artists explore and develop their musical personas.
Tony Sales: Well, I got to tell you that the ‘Sales Brothers’ are a charismatic force and you know that when you are working with us we don’t kowtow to anyone, we bring the best of what we have to the table. On ‘Lust For Life’ we wrote it in ten days- Iggy had ideas and would sing whilst we would do the track. He would sing some stuff and listen to it in the control room and we listen to it and have it! That’s how Iggy works and David (Bowie’s) mind was blown when he saw him doing this. It was a pretty tense time emotionally for all of us. You look out the window during the recording of that album and there were guys with machine guns by the Berlin wall and it was just a different world really.
SL: So, what were the highlights of Lust For Life for you?
TS: Well of course the highlight was not only working with Bowie, but also Jimmy (Osterberg). He’s really different from other people, he’s sort of a Van Gogh, it’s all so improvisational and so right now that it’s a turn on. When we perform he didn’t do the same stuff every night, like Tin Machine II, it was about us having a good time and if you wanted to that was cool and if you didn’t that was cool too!
Tony on the essence of Tin Machine:
SL: What were you distinctive personal memories of the whole period with Bowie?
TS: Just very creative, it was just very momentary stuff which I love because I’ve only got now, I don’t have tomorrow or yesterday. It was always that way, my relationship with David and friendship. There weren’t drugs and alcohol involved, so it wasn’t even a means to loose one’s reality. Primarily the band was based on friendship and the love of the same music, so we just played what we wanted to play... The main thrust of Tin Machine was to rough things up and the idea was to shake everything up and “let’s get this s*** moving!” It was about movement and change. Tin Machine was definitely positive because Bowie was doing something he wanted to do, but people wanted him to be Bowie or Ziggy. One night, on the last US date on the ‘It’s My Life Tour’he came out for the encore in a Ziggy outfit mocking himself and it was light hearted - it was all about having a good time. Like everyone was telling David to change things and to also be himself, but he was just being the David that hung out with the Sales brothers and loved Motown stuff and that’s what was fun. Tin Machine was the sort of music that stopped a party and got it moving!
Feature Interviews: Stephanie Lynne Thorburn
“Some of the most memorable experiences of my life were because of my involvement with Hunt and Tony Sales. I've been privileged enough to work with them on projects with Iggy Pop, Tin Machine and many other well known contemporary artists. Hunt and Tony make up what is undoubtedly one of the best rhythm sections in modern music. I can also tell you from first hand experience that these two have led very interesting lives and make for fascinating reading.”
Chas Ferry- Producer & Mastering engineer
Rock Talk Records
Hunt and Tony Sales are also currently featured on Rock Talk Records’forthcoming extensive three volume tribute to the Velvet Underground.
More information on the Sales Brothersand the Hired Guns album on Perseverance can be found on their homepage:-
Author’s Homepage:
‘Quintessentially Soul Brothers: The Sales Brothers In Their OwnWords’.
The text featuresin-depth interviews with Hunt and Tony Sales in an ‘in their own words’ style eBook vignette. There is a detailed biographical overview and succinct testimonials from some of the Sales Brothers’ colleagues and friends, namely guitarists James Williamson (Stooges), Reeves Gabrels and Brian Ray. Extensive discography links and online resources are included.
Archival photographic material is provided courtesy of Tony Sales’ personal collection.