not sure which year this is from maybe 1998?

With a little help from his friends

It's a bitch being a sensitive nineties guy trapped in the body of a multi-platinum, '80s pop metal guitarist. But armed with an earnest batch of songs, a new child and loving (lovely) wife, plus assistance from some of music's biggest names, Richie Sambora is giving it a shot.
Better known as the rugged axeman for blue-collar rockers Bon Jovi, Sambora has made repeated, but relatively fruitless attempts in this decade to establish himself outside that particular purview. For better or for worse, Sambora's marriage to Melrose Place mainstay Heather Locklear has earned the New Jersey native more notoriety than his first solo outing -- 1991's Stranger In This Town. His production and benefit work on various soundtracks, compilations and hometown miscellany like last month's Jersey benefit with Springsteen have all met with similar oversight.

Undiscovered Soul is Sambora's latest and most notable attempt to reintroduce himself to the music world as a songwriter and musician in his own right. Unlike Stranger in this Town, where Sambora's lyrics took a backseat to a sometimes stifled series of blues licks, Undiscovered Soul assumes a more rootsy posture. The album eschews û for the most part û soaring, searing and vapid guitar solos in favor of more reflective expository, which is supported by understated, but talented musicianship.
The latter is due mostly to studio auteur Don Was, who arrived to the project with his pack of A-list musicians in tow.

Sambora's supporting cast on Undiscovered Soul includes some of rock's most established workhorses, like Wallflowers organist Rami Jaffe, the Kevin Bacon of percussion Kenny Aronoff (John Fogerty, John Mellencamp, Iggy Pop, Neil Diamond, etc..), and Billy Preston, whose innovations on the Hammond B3 provided a folksy backdrop for albums by artists like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Under the guidance of Don Was, and with the help of these heavy hitters, Sambora comes a long way towards breaking out of sidekick status.

JAMTV caught up with Sambora as he was camped out in his New York hotel room, ready to kick off a massive radio promotion campaign. The erstwhile icon for the hair generation addressed each question with the vigor of a man reborn, handing out kudos to Don Was and company, and extolling the virtues of family life.





How much of an effect did Don Was have on Undiscovered Soul?

A big effect. Just from the outset -- the fact that he wanted to do the album at all was a great source of inspiration.

What made you think of him?

I've always loved his records, but it was actually a mutual friend who put us together. He loved my songs and said, "I know Don Was. You want me to give him a call?" I said, "That would be a serious salad."

When Don was first approached about an initial meeting with you, he was afraid you'd show up at his house in a limo and fall out clutching a bottle of Jack Daniels. Was there any basis for this fear, or is it simply an unfounded "Richie the Rock Star" stereotype?


I've fallen out of many limos before (laughs). But that comes with being in a band. When you're doing the solo artist thing, you have to be much more responsible. You can't hide behind the band. It's your thing.

The songs on this album seem more introspective than your first solo album.

It's a product of being with Don Was. And also, the batch of songs I wrote. Not only are they introspective, but they're also communicative. We all share a lot of human experience. What happens is that I think we share more common human experience than we don't share. With Bon Jovi being such a big band (selling 10 million records every time you put one out), you can't get too personal. This record is a more one-on-one record.

What are you trying to communicate with this record that you can't with Bon Jovi?

Well, number one, I can sing. In the band, I don't get a chance to sing as much as I like, and what I realized over the past couple years is that I really missed it. Number two, when you're in a band, it's always a compromise. On my records, its my vision and I have a wonderful producer in Don Was, and some unbelievable musicians who are helping me discover who I am at this point in time.

You had two of rock's most established Hammond organ players behind you.

Yeah, Rami Jaffe and Billy Preston. Rami's fantastic! For such a young guy he's got such a wonderful soul, a mature soul. He just really plugged into this music. He probably won't go on the road with me, though, because he's gotta go back to work with the Wallflowers. He's got a little band of his own, you know?

Billy Preston changed the way B3 organ was approached in rock 'n' roll. I mean, up until Billy came along, I don't think they ever played B3 organ in rock. He played all the B3 on the Stones stuff, and the Beatles stuff. Up until that point I think it was primarily a rhythm and blues and gospel instrument.

Rami's thing is more like Garth from the Band and Billy's thing is more gospel. It's just different flavors.

What have you learned from this album?

I've discovered myself as an artist by writing the songs and recording this record. I think that what I've learned is to finally find my style apart from the band.

Do you think that the musicians you worked with helped you learn?

Absolutely. That was a very very important thing. These songs housed a lot of the passion of these great musicians, engineers and producers.

I'm sitting in the studio with Billy Preston and Don Was and Kenny Aranoff and Rami Jaffe and Chuck Levell from the Stones and the engineers Bob Claremont and Ed Churney who all got Grammys. And I'm looking around the studio and I'm going, "We're good for about a half a billion records in accountability." At that point, all of us looked at each other and said, this is gonna be fun!

Whenever you work with a producer like Don Was, you wanna do well. The talent is good, and everybody has a good time. The spirit of the record prevails.

Was it hard to keep that spirit up when Don kept interrupting the project to do other albums like the Stones and Paul Westerberg?

What Don's leaving did was give me time. He basically handed me the keys to his studio and said, evolve, man. When he came back, we did our stuff. It gave me breaks, and of course, during one of those breaks I had my child. I was able to look back and live inside the material instead of rush through it. It afforded me a chance to really take a look at everything.

I hear Heather sang backup on one of the tracks?

Yeah, it's "Graceland." I brought her into the studio for the fun of it. Heather was such a supportive influence that I should she should be around to have a little bit of the fun, because we had a good time making this record. There wasn't anything special about that particular song; it's just how the timing worked out.

How does this album compare to John Bon Jovi's solo album, Destination Anywhere?

It's very different. I went for a very humanistic approach. I made a record; as a musician, I love to work with humans. He went for a whole different, machine-oriented thing.

Can we expect an extensive tour to support the album?

Not extremely extensive, but everywhere big. I'm going to try to make it out there as much as possible so I can sell some records.

It's a while since you've been on the road. With a new baby, how will that affect your home life?

I've been home for a year and a half, which was real nice. When I do go on the road, I'm sure my wife and child will come with me.