"There's an unmistakable clarity in his voice and soulfulness behind his bass playing that makes Timothy B. Schmit one of the genuine treasures of contemporary rock and roll. He shined in Poco from 1969 to 1977. Then he added fresh blood to the Eagles, scoring a hit single with "I Can't Tell You Why," the band's last blast of commercial success before their demise in 1981. Now he's stepped out on his own with his first solo album, "Playin' It Cool", on Electra/Asylum Records. Filled with an inviting blend of swaying pop numbers ("Lonely Girl," "Take A Good Look Around You."), funky movers ("Playin' It Cool," "Wrong Number") and bristling rockers ("Something's Wrong," "Gimme the Money"), "Playin' It Cool" is classic Timothy B.
"I'd always been in bands, fairly successful ones," Timothy says. "But I'd always wondered what it would be like to be the frontman, to make my own album."
Since the breakup of the Eagles, he'd been writing and collecting songs, then recording the best of them. His finger poppin' version of The Times' "So Much In Love" was featured prominently on the "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" (Full Moon/Asylum) '82 movie soundtrack and became a hit single. Last year Timothy began cutting a solo album in earnest.
Of course, he got a little help from his friends. Ex-Eagle Glenn Frey suggested that Timothy share production duties with Josh Leo (a talented studio guitarist who'd contributed his licks to Kim Carnes' LP "Mistaken Identity, Frey's solo projects and many other sessions.)
"The combination worked well." says Timothy. "Josh was like an organizer with great ears. I tended to be a little looser and was able to really concentrate on creating sounds. I had no single approach in mind. There wasn't just one cool way to do this record. I had some new songs I'd written with friends: I brought in some older tracks: a couple were hatched in the studio.
"If people hear echoes of Poco or the Eagles, that's because thse bands are part of what I've done. I didn't want to go leftfield, be pretentious and pretend like I'm a new waver or something. I just strived to be somewhat progressive within the already existing sound of Timothy B."
This goal was achieved in the studio over the past year and a half with the support of musicians like J.D. Souther, former Eagles Don Henley and Joe Walsh, Toto's drummer Jeff Porcaro and guitarist Steve Lukather, keyboardist Vince Melamed, bassist Bob Glaub and several other friends.
"I'm real lucky," says Timothy, "to know all of these great players. And when I asked 'em to be on my record, they all came over with smiles on their faces, ready to make some great music. This record was a real joy to make."
Timothy's enthusiasm for quality music has been with him for most of his life. He was born October 30,1947 in Oakland, California, and says, "My dad's always been a musician and was a great influence on me. That's why I dedicated this album to him." Timothy first took up the violin, then trombone and ukelele. "I was also very serious about tap dancing when I was a kid," he says. "Once I was in this variety contest and got to the semi-finals. I was lookin' for the big trophy, but this rock and roll band beat me out. I remember thinking, "Boy, there's something to this rock and roll stuff." That always stuck in my head, even though I didn't start playing any rock until years later."
Instead, Timothy performed in school bands and choruses, then formed a folk group with a couple of friends. He got paid for his first gig when he was 14. A year later, he started playing guitar, then bass, in a Sacramento area rock and roll band called the New Breed - comprised of players that went on to form Redwing.
The summer of 1968 in Los Angeles, Timothy was working on a record with the New Breed when a mutual friend of his and Richie Furay's invited him to audition for the bass playing spot in Poco. He lost out to Randy Meisner. But nine months later, Meisner quit and Timothy was asked to audition once more. "At first," recalls Timothy, "I thought, 'Oh, the second choice, huh?' Then I immediately went, 'I don't like what I'm doing here. I hate school. I live for the weekends to play. I don't have any money.' So, needless to say, I flew to LA and subsequently joined Poco."
For the next eight years, Timothy B. was a stalwart in Poco, one of America's seminal country-rock bands. Some of the great albums he was a part of include "Deliverin'", "Crazy Eyes," and "Cantamos" (all on Epic). "And we were always on the road," says Timothy. "That's how I first got to see the world. I loved Poco. It was as democratic as a band could be." During the same period Timothy contributed background vocals on a trio of Steely Dan LP's, "Royal Scan," Pretzel Logic," and "Aja," - adding, most notably, a distincitve croon on the band's 1974 hit single, "Rikki, Don't Lose That Number."
The next major shift in Timothy's career ocurred in 1977, when Glenn Frey called him up and said Randy Meisner, then the Eagles bass player, was thinking about leaving. "It almost seemed cosmic," says Timothy, "as corny as that might seem. But think about it. I take Randy's place in Poco, then I get asked to replace him in the Eagles."
Timothy didn't pass up the chance and went on to co-author one of the Eagles' biggest hits, "I Can't Tell You Why." "How much better could it get?," asks Timothy. "I remember flying out of Giants Stadium in a helicopter. The crowd was still cheering. Skylights were swirling around. I turned to Jean, who's now my wife and said, 'This is Beatles stuff. This is cool.' And it was."
A part of both "The Long Run" (released on Elektra/Asylum in 1979) and "Eagles Live" (released on E/A in 1980), Timothy was caught off-guard when the Eagles broke up in '81. "I thought it was just another band squabble," he says. "I really didn't believe it would be as permanent as it turned out to be. It took a couple of months before it hit me. Then I said to myself, 'Ok, it's over. Let's move on."
Initially, Timothy added his voice to other artists' sessions, most notably Crosby, Stills & Nash's 1982 Top Ten album, "Daylight Again" (Atlantic). Then came "So Much In Love" on "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and background vocals on Toto's Grammy-winning album, Toto IV (CBS). With the onset of 1983, he was ready to go solo.
"It was just the next logical step," Timothy says. "I thought it might be a little scary being out there on my own, but it's been fun. Now I'm ready for anything."
"Playin It Cool" - (John David Souther, Timothy B. Schmit, Josh Leo, Vince Melamed) "It started with me playing this bass lick in my little 8-track studio with Josh and Vince. We didn't have any words. Then late one night J.D., Josh and I sat down with pads and pencils and started kicking ideas around. The majority of the lyrics ended up being John David's. They were 'cool'. Some of the "Coolettes' who sang on the track were my wife, my oldest daughter, Josh's wife and some other friends who showed up."
"Lonely Girl" - (Josh Leo) "Totally Josh's song. At first I thought I wanted to have something to do with the writing of every song. But I kept myself open. And I'm glad I did. This is just a great song I knew would fit with my voice. I also got my friend (Beach Boy) Carl Wilson to come in and sing harmony. A special sound."
"So Much In Love" - (W. Jackson, R. Straigis, G. Williams) "I don't profess to be a household word, so because this had mid-charted as a single, I figured I'd put it on the album as a reminder of who I am. The original version of this song was cut by The Times...around 1961. All of the vocals on this version are mine. It was a lot of fun."
"Something's Wrong" - (Schmit, Melamed, Leo) "This is a personal statement about some communication problems that have since cleared up. Probably one of the two rockin' songs on the record. I knew I wanted Henley to play the drums and he'd been coming over and hanging out, so when I asked him he said, 'Absolutely!' Same thing with Joe (Walsh). I just wanted Joe's fine slide playing and got it. Then there was Steve Lukather, one of the finest rock and roll players on the planet. A great group effort."
"Voices" - (Schmit) "This is an old song of mine. When I first joined the Eagles, I presented it to them. I always thought the Eagles should do an a capella song, as it turned out, this obviously wasn't the one. That was cool. I just put it in my hip pocket and said, 'I'm gonna do it someday.' So I did it myself. All of the voices are me. And I'm a singer first, so I figured, 'Why not show it off?"
"Wrong Number" - (Schmit, Michael Towers, Scott Strong) "The first song cut and this was the first take. I was a little frightened. So I decided to sit in the booth and watch Bob Glaub play the bass parts - which I 'd demoed. Then we added three sax players from Jack Mack & the Heart Attack, as well as backgroup vocals by J.D. Souther. I wrote this with a couple of friends (Michael Towers and Scott Strong), expressing more personal feelings."
"Take a Good Look Around You" - (Schmit, Kenny Koch) "Written with another friend, Kenny Koch. I'd been taking about doing a Smokey Robinson-like thing. This is what resulted. The song's basically just two chords, except the bridge."
"Tell Me What You Dream" - (Melamed, Leo, Schmit) "Vince had most of this written, then Josh and I added a few things. Vaguely reminiscent of 'I Can't Tell You Why.' It was like pulling teeth to record. But I just hung in there until I was satisfied."
"Gimme The Money" - (Leo, Schmit) "Josh and I wrote most of this in the studio. I wantd something on this record that was dirtier than what people might expect from me. He started playing this lick that reminded me of ZZ Top. I love ZZ Top. I started shouting melodies in his ear. He played better and better. ZZ Top it wasn't, nor was it ever intended to be, but that was the inspiration, and it's always fun to be inspired.?
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