As a founding member of one of Australia's most successful musical exports Little River Band , Beeb Birtles' unique vocal style, masterful songwriting and skillful guitar playing was an integral part in the group's many hits from 'Happy Anniversary' and 'Its A Long Way There' to 'Help Is On Its Way' and 'Lonesome Loser' . In 1983 he left the group to pursue other songwriting opportunities and projects and in the early part of the 1990s, relocated from Melbourne to Nashville with his family. In 1998, he formed Sonic Sorbet Records with Bill Cuomo on which Birtles' first solo album, Driven By Dreams appeared in 2000. In 2002 along with fellow LRB founding members Glenn Shorrock and Graeham Goble, he formed Birtles Shorrock Goble (BSG). I recently caught up with Beeb Birtles to talk about his musical legacy, Maton guitars and Nashville .

Can you bring us up to date with what you're currently doing musically?

2005 was a pretty prolific songwriting year for me and I kept at it pretty much the whole year through. This year is a different story.  I've felt the need to purposefully not go near a guitar because lately I feel I have nothing to say so I'm taking my hands off for a while.  It's impossible to force creativity, it's got to come naturally. However, Bill Cuomo and I did co-write five new songs with our Austin , Texas artist, Pete Benz recently.  We've recorded three CDs with him over a 7 year period for our Sonic Sorbet label and now we're putting together a "best of" collection to be titled, "Pete Complete" including the five new songs.  We're currently working on completing these tracks.  The CD will be released early in the New Year.

Who were your musical influences?

I started listening to the radio in the late ‘50s when the popular music of the day was mostly American. People like Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, Connie Francis etc. were who were played before the British Invasion in the early ‘60s.  I was always drawn to harmony groups and so my greatest influences were The Hollies, The Move, The Beach Boys and later Crosby, Stills & Nash.  To this day, I still regard David Crosby as my number one influence when it comes to songwriting.  There are really too many musicians to mention in this question.

You live in Nashville now can you give us an insight into what the music scene is like there today, compared to when you first moved there?

When I first moved here, I caught a glimpse of a musical shift back to what made Nashville an international music town with the likes of Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, Brenda Lee and Roger Miller etc. back in the ‘50s but it didn't really happen.  I gravitated more toward the L.A. musicians who moved here because I felt I had more in common with them.  During the ‘90s Nashville was dominated by the major country music labels but that has changed as more and more independent labels are being formed.  Nashville now has a very healthy rock scene with quite a number of good rock bands playing around town.  It also surprised me that not more major tours come through here and I think it's maybe because there are so many artists who make Nashville their home that they leave here to go play elsewhere around the States.  I did see the Keb Mo/Bonnie Raitt show not too long ago.    

Do you find there's a lot of fierce competition amongst artists trying to break onto the scene there?

I don't know whether there's any fierce competition anymore these days with the internet and iTunes and myspace.com around.  If you're a live working act, why do you need a record label at all?  Form your own label! During my years on the road, the focus was to promote albums, it was about album sales but nowadays you not only make money selling your CDs and DVDs at your gigs, but all of your other merchandise on top of that.  It's a totally different music scene now.  Then you have that other medium called reality T.V.!  So what if you're not the winner of American Idol?  By the time you've appeared on that show ten times, you've got your built in audience already there waiting for you to do whatever if they like your talent!  That's how artists are marketed these days.  There is a lot of fierce competition between the major country labels vying for that next great artist but if you're on the waiting list, you can hang around this town for years waiting for it to happen.  I don't see that same competition happening for rock bands who live here. 

You've been a Maton player for many years now, can you tell us about your Maton guitar collection?

My very first Maton ever was an F-hole acoustic my parents bought me when I was about twelve years old. The only problem with that guitar was that it was right handed and I promptly turned it over to play it the right way! After the demise of ZOOT and Darryl Cotton and I formed Frieze, we approached Bill May for a deal to play Matons. He was fantastic in the way that he always helped Australian musicians out and pretty much ever since that day I have been playing Maton acoustics exclusively.  Currently I am the proud owner of seven Maton acoustic guitars as follows:

1.  The oldest Maton I own is a December 1977 Southern Star with an ebony finger board.  I mostly keep this guitar in an open G tuning because it sounds amazing tuned that way.

2.  My February 1980 Maton Messiah Select Model was smashed courtesy of the airlines but Maton repaired it as best as they could.  I actually use this guitar as my open G tune guitar for those few songs we play live with BSG.

3.  I have an April 1981 Maton Messiah 3.

4.  By far my favourite Maton is a November 1991 MSH-210 "Custom Diamantina".  In conjunction with a friend of mine, my wife had it made as a surprise for my 43rd birthday and at the time when I opened the case up, my words were, "oh great, just what I need, another @#$%&*^ acoustic guitar!"  Yeah well, I've had to eat those words many times since!  This guitar is the best sounding acoustic in the studio.  If you don't believe me, just ask Bill Cuomo!

5.  October 1999 Maton Messiah "Beeb Birtles Custom".

6.  May 2002 Maton MSH-210.

7.  The Daddy of them all, a January 2005 "Lyrebird" Limited Edition that sounds absolutely amazing! 

And what about with your current outfit BSG?

Still being able to sing the way we did 30 years ago and to hear that magic vocal blend. The "Full Circle" CD and DVD both going gold.

What are some of your favourite records of all time?

When I was young and just starting to play music, The Zombies released, "She's Not There".  I couldn't get enough of hearing this single and must have spent hundreds of dollars putting money in jukeboxes to play it. I liken my voice to Graham Nash from The Hollies.  We both have sharp nasally sounding voices that when mixed with other voices give it a certain sounding blend.  When Graham left The Hollies and joined Stephen Stills and David Crosby to form Crosby , Stills & Nash, their first album just blew me out of the water.  It was so fantastic. Continuing to listen to CS&N I became a much bigger fan of David Crosby's song writing and when he released his first solo album, "If I Could Only Remember My Name", I couldn't get enough of listening to it. I have to say that over the 45 years that I have been listening to music, there have been many albums that have come and gone that influenced me.  I always remember what Mike Rudd said in an interview when he was asked what is being original. He said, "when you are a songwriter, being original is how clever you are in disguising your influences".  And that is so true.  My explanation has always been this.  Over so many years, when you take in many influences, you have to allow yourself to become one big melting pot with the result of what you produce is you.

What sort of modus operandi, if any, do you adhere to when it comes to songwriting?

I mostly just let it happen with finding an interesting groove or chord progression followed by the words.

Is there any specific method you use when recording guitars in the studio?

I'm not very technically minded so I usually leave that up to the recording engineer.

What is your most prized possession?

My most prized possession would have to be my marriage to my wife, Donna, and my two daughters.

What do you think has been the secret to your longevity in this tough business?

I don't think it's a secret, I think it's called "passion" and never wanting to give it up.

Any chances of an autobiography sometime in the future?

Do you think people would be interested in reading about my life?  It has crossed my mind a few times.

Finally, how would you like to be remembered?

I would like to be remembered for having left something good and positive in the world.  Whether it be through some of the words in my songs having touched people's lives or for having set an example as a good husband and a father.  Donna and I have raised two very responsible and caring daughters with whom we maintain a very tight bond.  Plus I would like to be remembered for believing in that, when something is of good quality, like Maton Guitars, I am proud to stand behind their product. Maton Guitars and I have been together many years.  

By Joe Matera
www.joematera.com

Friday 24th Nov, 2006