Following is a Rockline interview that Timothy did to promote the Timothy B album.
Bob: Timothy B. Schmit was a member of two of the most popular bands in rock n' roll, Poco and the Eagles. But if Timothy B., his latest album, is any indication, his star will shine brightest as a solo artist. It's a pleasure for Rockline to welcome Timothy B. Schmit. Welcome back.
TBS: Thanks for having me.
Bob: It's been a couple of years. Good to see you again. You have expounded upon your R + B roots with this album. Is this a new direction for you, something we can come to expect in years to come do you think?
TBS: Well, I think it's just kind of been in my bones, lingering there for quite a long time. I've been involved with some country-rockish sort of things in the past and I've sort of been waiting to do this. It's really more where I'm at, what I like to do, so I'm glad you can hear that in this album.
Bob: A lot of the songwriting you did Timothy with Will Jennings, who's worked with Steve Winwood, and Bruce Gaitsch( mispronounces name), who's worked with Richard Marx. It sounds like there was some good chemistry between the three of you. It that the case?
TBS: A real good chemistry. His name is Gaitsch by the way.
Bob: Is it Gaitsch? Thanks for the correction.
TBS: Everybody says that. Oh yeah, it was really good, it was excellent. It like, clicked really fast, the writing went really faster than I can believe really. And it was a matter, more like Bruces tracks, my melodies, and a lot of mostly Will's lyrics, which I sort of fine tuned with him.
Bob: We're going to play a song right now from Timothy B. called Boys Night Out.
Bob: I'm Bob Coburn and my guest is Timothy B. Schmit. this evening on Rockline. From the album Timothy B., Boys Night Out. Let's go to the phone and the first call for you Timothy is from Ken from Rahway, NJ.
Ken: How did that R + B direction that you obviously have in yourself, mesh with the members of your previous bands, most notably, Don Henley and Glenn Frey?
TBS: Well, if I understand your question correctly, I think it meshes quite well. Henley's definitely got some , a lot of that in him. He can sound like Otis Redding if he tries to. He's really an excellent singer, I really look up to him and his roots are exactly that. He's a southern Baptist, or he was and he grew up with that, along with hardcore country music. And Glenn is from Detroit, so he's got that going for him and I don't know where it came from with me. I went to an all-white high school in Sacramento so, I don't know..
Bob: It's just there somehow. Ken, thanks for the good call.
(Commercial break)
Bob: Welcome back to Rockline. We're with Timothy B. Schmit right now. Next caller is Steve. He's in Kamloops, British Columbia.
Steve: Timothy, what's the significance of the lp title, Timothy B. and why did you not choose your first cut off the first side, Boys Night Out. I notice a lot of artists choose to use the title track as the title of the lp. I was just wondering why you titled it Timothy B..
TBS: Well, I was searching and searching for a title and I really honestly didn't think that any of the titles of the songs worked as a title for an album. And a lot of people call me Timothy B. and at Dick Rudolph's suggestion, who's the producer, I decided to use that, it's that simple.
Bob: There you go Steve. Thanks for the call. Let's go to Chris in Yorktown, Va.
Chris: Hey Tim how you doing?
TBS: Hi Chris, fine.
Chris: Hey, I was wondering, I say Jimmy Buffett in concert a couple of years ago and I noticed that you were in the Coral Reefers Band with him. I was wondering how that came about.
TBS: Um, I was at a party with Jimmy once, during the summer and he said "I'm going out for a week, what are you doing?" and I said "I'm not doing anything" and he said, "Why don't you come out and play bass and sing with me for a week." And I said "I don't know if I want to do that", and a bunch of other guys, we were kind of carousing into the night it got and pretty soon I was doing it. And I did it for a couple of summers. He's a good friend of mine but it didn't work out, it wasn't really the right thing for me to be doing. I mean, so I stopped and started doing this again.
Bob: Well, when you're a Parrothead, a week can last a couple of summers can't it.
TBS: That's a phrase I coined by the way.
Bob: Is it really? That's your phrase?
TBS: Yup, Parrothead.
Bob: Well I'll be.
TBS: I used to say God, all the Parrotheads are coming around here.
Bob: Good call Chris. Thanks we appreciate it. Let's let Tony have a turn. Tony is from St. Louis.
Tony: Hey Tim.
TBS: Hello
Tony: I've always admired you, you're the best in the business.
TBS: Well, thank you.
Tony: And my question tonight come from the back of The Very Best of Poco album. There's a bio where the artist describes your relationship with Richie Furay as an alter-ego.
TBS: Yeah, I just read that myself again. I hadn't seen that in a long time. What do you think about that?
Tony: Is is an accurate description and what does he mean by it?
TBS: I think at the time Richie, when I first joined Poco, Richie was my first, he was my real inspiration and he was like the backbone behind me even being there. He wanted me in the group. I really admired his singing a lot at the time. He was so nice to me. He really did inspire me a lot. I was real young and real new and I think I probably, in my younger days back then, probably emulated him quite a lot. But I think it's long gone now. I haven't seen Richie in probably 7-8 years.
Bob: Any idea what he's up to these days?
TBS: Yeah, he's, he has his own church somewhere in Colorado, somewhere I think outside of Denver. I just talked with somebody who had just interviewed him and he's preaching at his own church. That's what he does and he sings I guess in the services and stuff. That's what he does with his life now.
Bob: Well I'll be. Coincidently, out next call comes from Denver. Someone named Shelly.
Shelly: Timothy, could you please share with us your favorite and most special memory with the Eagles.
TBS: Oh, goodness, there's a lot of them. I think one of the coolest times I ever had with them Eagles was when we played Giant's Stadium in New Jersey. And we were headlining and Heart was on the show too and after we played to a sold out mammouth crowd, we were rushed off in NJ State police cars and flown through the parking lot to awaiting helicopters, about 3 of them. We ran into the helicopters and hovered up over the stadium for a while, while these skylights were beaming at us. And then we sailed off and circled the Statue of Liberty and I looked at my then girlfriend at the time, who's my wife now, and said, this is Beatles stuff, this is cool! And I like it.
Bob: Doesn't get much more big time that that, that's for sure.
(Play I Can't Tell You Why)
Bob: The Eagles I Can't Tell You Why, written by Timothy B. Schmit, Don Henley and Glenn Frey. Nice piece of work there. Let's go to Houston, are next caller is Chris.
Chris: Hi Timothy. Happy Holidays. Hope you had a good Christmas.
TBS: Oh thank you. Hello to you.
Chris: I had a couple of questions that I wanted to ask. First, you wrote and performed a song called In The Circle in the movie Let's Get Harry that starred one of your cohorts, Glenn. Is that song available anywhere?
TBS: Gee, yeah. It's not. I did it specifically for that movie and they never put out a soundtrack and you're one of the few people who even know about that song it seems like to me. I've never had anybody ask me about that.
Chris: I saw the movie again and the actors just wouldn't quit talking through it for me to really get to hear the song real good but it sounded nice.
TBS: Thank you. Chris: My second question was, back in your earlier songwriting days with Poco, your songs appeared to be more about your own personal relationships, where as now you're covering a broader subject matter. I was wondering if perhaps when you sit down, do you still write from personal experiences or do you gather more from observation and about just people and relationships and life in general?
TBS: Well I think that, first of all, just the fact that I'm older now gives me a broader perspective about things but also if I, some of the songs you're probably talking about were co-written and a lot of their lyrics are, were, they really derived from somebody else. Of course, I had a lot to do with it too, I mean, I won't sing anything I don't feel good about or anything. But I think if I write a song totally by myself, I think it's still more directly from my heart than outside influences. I think I still write about personal things if I'm the only one involved.
Bob: There you go Chris, good call. We thank you for it. Let's talk to Kevin. He's in Fresno.
Kevin: I was just kind of curioius, what was the inspiration for the song Boys Night Out?
TBS: Well, the inspiration was jus the obvious. We just wanted to write something that was a lot of fun. What we did, that's really my melody and Bruce Gaitsch's track and I took the music and this scatting melody of mine over to Will Jenning's house one day and he heard it once and hs just lit up and he said that sounds like boys night out and I said that sounds good. And so I let him run with it for just a few days and I came back and he had most of it written and I helped him just kind of fine tune the rest of it. It's just a real simple song about having a good time, and you know, hanging out with the guys and talking trash and eventually coming to your senses.
Bob: We're going to play another song from the album Timothy B.. This is Don't Give Up.
Bob: That is the current single by Timothy B. Schmit. We're with Timothy for quite a while longer as we go to the phones, we're going to Cleveland. We have a call from Kelly.
Kelly: I was wondering-you have experience now both as a solo artist and earlier with the Eagles. And I was wondering which you prefer -being a solo artist or being in a group.
TBS: Well, I think that it's easier to be in a group because there's more people to take the blame or the success along with, but I'm really, especially after the success of Boy's Night Out, I'm sort of getting into this mode here. I'm enjoying it a lot. I think, umm, this is kind of new for me so we'll see what happens. I guess that's my answer there. I sort of like them both I guess. I'll take them both.
Bob: Now on Playin' It Cool, the previous album, you worked with a lot of guys that you were in a band with before. There were a lot of stars on that album but you consciously shied away from that this time. Why? What led you to that decision?
TBS: I decided to stay out of the real glamour studios and to keep the clientele down too. I did it on purpose mainly for less distractions. I mean I really knew what I wanted to do on this album and I decided puposely not to use my famous and semi-famous friends just to have it be more of what I can do on my own. And that's really the reason.
Bob: Kelly, that's for the call. Let's talk with Sherry now. She's in Knoxville, TN.
Kelly: Tim, I have a question for you. When is your tour coming up this year, coming up for that famous album you've got out now.
TBS: I like that kind of talk. There's no tour planned as of yet. I'm really trying to pull that together. I really can't say when that will be but I really do plan to do it and I hope as soon as possible. That's as close as I can get for you.
Bob: Is that just a necessary evil for you, touring or is that something you like to get out and do?
TBS: No, I miss touring. I like to be onstage, yeah.
Bob: And of course you joined the Eagles and how long were you in the band, two years?
TBS: No, about three years. Yeak, I did one studio album and one live album. We did, we toured, we didn't tour that much. We only stayed out for like twenty days at a time tops. We only did it about four times.
Bob: A band of that stature can ge away with that.
TBS: Yeah, but I was just getting warmed up. I wanted to stay out there. I like doing it.
Bob: Let's talk to Bill now. Bill is in Lexington, KY.
Bill: Tim, how's it going?
TBS: It's going real good.
Bill: I was just wondering, you got any Miami Vice episodes lined up yet?
TBS:(laughing) No, they haven't approached me with that yet. We'll just have to wait on that.
Bill: I know Glenn Frey was in there.
TBS: Yeah he was.
Bob: Made a whole episode out of one of his songs as a matter of fact, Smuggler's Blues.
TBS: That's right. It brought that whole album back to life.
Bob: Yeah, it sure did didn't it. Now, you were involved in Fast Times At Ridgemont High a few years ago. Any projects like the forthcoming? Do you kind of have the antenna out so to speak?
TBS: I've done some music for some movies here and there. It's not really what I'd like to do first of all but I mean, if something comes up that looks good and I'm interested in, I'll definitely do it.
Bob: Bill, thanks for calling. Let's listen to some more music now from Timothy B. Schmit. This is called Everybody Needs A Lover from the latest album Timothy B.
Bob: Our next call for you Timothy is from Stockton, CA, it's Charles.
Charles: I'd like to know how you think you're music has changed since the beginning when you first started.
TBS: Oh, let's see. If you could've heard the first song I wrote you wouldn't even ask this question. That's really a hard question. I think that, I really do feel that I am getting better though and that's a really good feeling to have. I don't know specifically how to answer it though, other than I think that being more seasoned at it and knowing that I can do it and I can expand makes things better for me.
Bob: There you go Charles. That's a good call. And your first song must go back quite a ways. You were in band at an early age.
TBS: Oh yeah, I did it in early high school. I started getting paid for playing music when I was about fourteen or fifteen.
Bob: Amazing. Let's talk to Jeff. Jeff in in Concord, CA.
Jeff: Hi Timothy, how are you?
TBS: I'm good. How are you?
Jeff: I'm fine. I've got a question concerning your collaboration with Richard Marx. How did it go?
TBS: You mean how did it come about?
Jeff: Yeah, how did it come about?
TBS: One of the co-writers of the song Don't Mean Nothing is the co-writer to a lot of songs on my album and he, that's Bruce Gaitsch, who helped Richard with that. They were old friends from Chicago and he just asked me one day, Bruce did, his friend Bruce asked me if I wanted to sing on this song that they wrote together and I said sure. And I went to the studio and Randy Meisner was there and it turned out Joe Walsh played on it too. And that's really how it happened. It was through a friend.
Bob: We have time for one more for Timothy now. It's Gary from Whittier, CA.
Gary: How are you doing Timothy?
TBS: Good, how are you?
Gary: Pretty good. I was wondering how your influence with the Eagles helped you in your solo career.
TBS: Well I mean, I think that it was definitely a good history to have in ones life if you're going to pursue music because the band was really such a huge entity. I think that, I'm sure it helped with confidence and it definitely helped to pull a few strings and yeah, here I am on Rockline talking to you.
Bob: You've done a lot over the years, Eagles and Poco and one of the things I ran across that I honestly wasn't aware of was you sing on three Steely Dan albums.
TBS: Oh yeah, I do.
Bob: And some of the big ones too-Royal Scam, Aja..
TBS: Pretzel Logic
Bob: That amazed me. Also, on another odd note, your the only man in the history of rock n' roll to replace Randy Meisner twice, which is really odd.
TBS: Yeah, that's right.
Bob: How did you get into Poco? Was that you're big break do you think?
TBS: I was, lets's see, how did that happen - a mutual frend of mine and Richie Furay's, this girl who said she used to hang out with the Buffalo Springfield, and we used to go like "oh yeah, sure, sure you did". She called me - this band I was in from Sacramento, was in LA trying to finish an album and she called up and said that these people were looking for a bass player who can sing and so I kind of said "Oh sure", but I made an appointment. I actually just went and met them. Met Richie, went to his house and just had a regular audition. And it looked real good from there, even though they did take Randy Meisner the next day, for various reasons that I don't need to go into. About nine months later they called me back and I was in for good.
Bob: That's amazing. Timothy, thanks for being here. It's always a pleasure to talk with you. Good luck with the third single what will be coming off the album and I'd like to see you on the road too. I know your fans would as well.
TBS: Thank you very much.