Gary James' Interview With
Davie Allan





Davie Allan, along with The Arrows were a pioneering Rock group in the 1960s. They supplied instrumental music to many of Roger Corman's American International Pictures. Davie spoke with us about his past and what occupies his time these days.

Q - Davie, what is this recording project you're working on? How will it be distributed? Do you have your own label?

A - I will say that I'm on the project of my career, although it's not doing a film like in the '60s. I had a series from 2009 to 2013 called Retrophonic 1 to 4 . I am writing new tunes for the first time in three years and I'm planning Retrophonic 5 for later this year (2018) and Retrophonic 6 for next year (2019). It looks like it will be eight new tunes for each CD plus a couple of covers, plus some previously unreleased tracks. No label, just mine unless I find someone interested in releasing it. I will need a distributor.

Q - I recall reading that Vernon Presley told his son, "I never met a guitar player yet who was worth a damn." I don't know what year he said that. When did guitars really come into their own? Was it the 1960s when amplifiers got better?

A - That's a bit of a shocking statement from Vernon when you think of some of the great players back then such as Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore, Les Paul.

Q - It used to be you could turn on the radio and hear instrumental songs. And the songs were hits! What happened? Is the public just too restless to sit through a song without vocals?

A - That fact is quite frustrating for me today. I did have some success with instrumentals, but the greatest vocalists from the '50s and '60s couldn't help but take away the thunder from the instro guys and bands. It's even worse today with what I call non-melodic poetry and Rap. Speaking of vocals, I've done a lot of them and would sneak a few into my albums, but The Arrows fans wanted no part of that. Another mistake I made recently, and I guess I've gotten off track here with your question, but I may have lost some fans last year. I featured female vocalists on two on my albums and I got razzed for it. Also, it didn't help that the two albums were downloads only.

Q - When you were in high school, what types of places were you playing? And who was doing the singing?

A - Private parties, fraternity parties, but no clubs yet. We did Rock And Roll songs plus I sang Beatle tunes with the keyboardist and we had three African-American ladies doing the girl songs of the day. After high school a different set of musicians and I were getting into the clubs. The rhythm guitarist and I were doing Beatles, Everly Brothers, plus most of the big Rock hits. No keyboards, just two guitars, bass and drums. Then The Wild Angels came into our lives and things were never the same. Unfortunately, not all good. But it's been a blast.

Q - How did the British Invasion affect your career? Did it help or hurt?

A - Except for Elvis being my hero, the British Invasion made for my greatest time in music. I loved so many of the groups and to this day The Beatles are my favorite band, although my favorite album is the first Traveling Wilburys. Plus, we did almost all the big British hits and for a time, no instrumentals.

Q - Where did The Arrows' name come from?

A - The first official Arrows' recording was "Apache '65", so we figured we would go with an appropriate name for the band. The Warriors was one choice, but The Arrows won. It started out as The Arrows featuring me, but it was soon changed to my name and The Arrows. I don't know if this messed up the follow-up to "Blues Theme", but The Devil's Angels singles were listed one on the East Coast, The Arrows featuring... and the other way on the West Coast!

Q - You were/are known for your soundtrack recordings. How do you come up with a soundtrack for a movie? Are you watching the daily rushes? Do you get to see the completed film before it's released to the public? How do you get the feel of what the approach music should be?

A - Not the answer you wanted to hear and not the one I wanted to mention, but everything was timed and I was never part of anything but playing plus writing and co-writing many of the tunes. Doing the motorcycle films was great because when I turned on the fuzz, there was no going back. At times I felt that my low notes were trying to convey what a motorcycle would sound like if it was a musical instrument. Fun times, but unfortunately we made very little money that had to have been huge! You wouldn't see this happen today, but I had to give up my royalties to get my name on the soundtrack albums! Plus, no screen credit! Not a great way to end this interview, but that's the way it was. Having said that, I am more excited about the projects on which I am now working.

Official Website: www.DavieAllan.com

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