Ron Keel is a Hard Rocking legend. Starting out with Tennessee-based ‘Lust’ he soon came to prominence first with Steeler (which at one point featured Yngwie Malmsteen) and then ‘Keel’ who toured the world at the peak of Hard Rock’s popularity from 1984 to 1989. But he’s never stopped rocking, and last year with the Ron Keel Band might even have produced his best album yet in ‘Fight Like A Band.’Ā We caught up with Ron ahead of his trip down-under for the Melodic Rock Fest.
Ron: Hello Mark
Mark: Hi Ron, how are you?
Ron: Iām great man, how you doing?
Mark: Very good Sir, thank you so much for doing this. We really appreciate it.
Ron: It is my pleasure thank you for making it happen!
Mark: well great news! Ron Keel finally making it to Australia can you believe it?
Ron: I cannot believe it, this is a dream come true for me. If you had told me Mark in 1985, when āThe Right To Rockā came out, my first major label release. If you had told me 35 years from now youāll be doing your first ever tour of Australia Iād think you were crazy. For a couple of reasons ā first of all Iād be thinking Iām probably not going to live another 35 years, and second of all Iād be thinking if I do Itās not going to take me that long to get to Australia and bring āThe Right to Rockā to our fans over there. But man, better late than never, we got there eventually and I am super excited about this Melodic Rock Fest event, and the club tour leading up to it.
Mark: It should be fantastic Iām looking forward to it so much! I go back quite a way with Keel, the first time I saw you on stage was way back in 1986 on āThe Final Frontierā Tour.
Ron: Where was that?
Mark: In the UK, at the since renamed but forever iconic, Hammersmith Odeon.
Ron: Oh my goodness! What a great memory, three nights sold out at Hammersmith Odeon opening up for Dio on the ‘Sacred Heart’ Tour.
Mark: Exactly and what a double bill, itās not often a support band just clicks with me, but you did it.
Ron: An amazing memory and Iāll never forget that experience in so many ways. I could tell you an hoursā worth of stories jut about that three night stand! Iām looking forward to getting back to Australia and make that dream come true, you canāt put a price on that, Iāve had an amazing run, an amazing ride and the journey’s not over yet!
Mark: aside from the wonderful original music you’ve made over the years one of the things I always loved about Keel is that you always picked some great cover songs to play and I notice that you still play what is one of my favourite covers ever I think – your version of āBecause The Nightā.
Ron: Absolutely, āBecause the Nightā has been an important part of just about every show that Iāve done in the past 35 years, you know the thing is Mark, once you record a song and the album is finished and that experience is behind you from then on youāre still covering the songs whether I wrote it or Bruce Springsteen wrote it or The Rolling Stones wrote it, youāre still covering the song. And Iām fortunate that I only do songs that I love and songs that mean a lot to me, and that song was certainly a big fan favourite and one thatās a part of every show I do and you can bet Iāll be doing it loud and proud in Australia on this next tour.
Mark: In our Melodic Rock Fest interviews Iām trying to get an Australian connection and Iāve got there Ron in a roundabout way, itās another song you covered with Keel āRock and Roll Outlawā.
Ron: The Rose Tattoo classic! And what a huge thrill and honour it was to be asked to record that song for that film. Penelope Spheeris who directed the movie āDudesā had chosen that song as the theme song for the movie and chose Keel to cover the song for the film and the movie soundtrack. Itās a great sound track album really ā itās got W.A.S.P., Megadeth, Keel, Steve Vai, Janeās Addiction and some other great acts as well. Ā That was a very important moment in my life and my career when we were able to shoot the video. That was really the birth of the āMetal Cowboyā when we got to ride horses and shoot guns and wear cowboy hats. I thought āthis is really coolā I felt very comfortable in that environment and I feel that was really the birth of my current persona āThe Metal Cowboyā and a huge honour to cover that song by Rose Tattoo. Itās OK for me to put that song āRock and Roll Outlawā in the Australian show right?
Mark: Yeah, of course people will love it!
Ron: OK thatās good, no disrespect to Angry Anderson and Rose Tattoo because I have nothing but love and respect for them and the history of that band. Ā And I certainly wanted to put that song in my show.
Mark: Weāre good friends here at The Rockpit with Angry and talking to him next week about his new album, heāll love it Iām sure.
Ron: Awesome.
Mark: Take us all the way back now Ron, what are your first memories of music, what got you hooked in the first place?
Ron:Ā Well Mark for a lot of people of my generation that Beatles performance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 as the pivotal moment. It was that one epiphany, and I was two years old! Only two years old and I remember it like it was yesterday on a black and white television on the floor, as we didnāt have any furniture. So on a black and white TV I saw The Beatles play on Ed Sullivan, I think it was āI Want To Hold Your Handā and from that moment on I was hooked on Rock and Roll, the electricity, the excitementā¦ I think I was very fortunate to know at a very early age what I wanted to do and from then on I was jumping up and down on the bed with a hairbrush in my hand. I started playing guitar at the age of six, I started playing drums at the age of nine but I credit all of that to The Beatles and my sister who was ten years older than me. She was what, twelve or thirteen years old at the time, and whatever my older sister thought was cool, I obviously wanted to be a part of it. So she sat down to watch The Beatles on Ed Sullivan and I sat down with her, saw that and my life was changed forever. Of course I then gravitated to the Top 40 and anything that was on the radio at the time. And by the late 60ās early 70ās I got hooked on whatever was the loudest, rudest, most aggressive, most exciting kind of music, which in the early 70ās was Kiss and Alice Cooper and Foghat ā bands like that, who really got my Rock and Roll spirit energised. And I went through the 70ās with Kiss and then of course came AC/DC and then in the late 70ās Van Halen, more AC/DC, Scorpions, Judas Priest! I was always drawn and electrified by that Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Arena Rock sound!
Mark: Not a bad trajectory to take. So we have the seed planted, letās find out where that led to. Can you remember the first song you ever wrote?
Ron: (laughs) I do, I do remember the first song I ever wrote, it had two chords (laughs) it was a love song, a cheesy ballad love song and I think I was fourteen.Ā By that time I had started writing songs and playing guitar for real and trying to express my thoughts and feelings was hard because I was a drummer. I started out playing drums – I thought guitar was way too difficult for a guy like me and I loved beating on stuff! I was the lead singer and the drummer in my first bands when I was a teenager and I started to hear these songs in my head. And the songwriter in me tried to tell the guys in the band what I was thinking and hearing and I couldnāt communicate that without actually picking up the guitar and learning to play it properly. And you know my song writing has gone through a lot of evolution through the past forty plus years. And as I went from that first song to some of the first good songs that I wrote which I believe was in my time in Steeler in the early 80ās when I started to write songs like āSerenadeā and āCold Day In Hellā.
Mark: Oh yes.
Ron: Some of these songs that are gonna be, and I donāt want to give away the setlist, but we are bringing some Steeler music to the Australian Tour as well.
Mark:Ā As long as āSerenadeā is in there Iāll be more than happy.
Ron: Well as I said, I donāt want to give the setlist away, but why not Mark (laughs) for you.
Mark: (laughs)
Ron: No, āSerenadeā is definitely in the show, I love doing that song, and I probably do credit that with being the first good song that I wrote, what was it the summer of 1981 maybe? And I still do it live, I put it on my acoustic album, and I think that it has stood the test of time, and Iām glad to bring that song and the emotion behind it to the stages of Australia.
Mark: Iām sad to say that after those dates at Hammersmith it took me another 23 years to see you again at one of the first dates the reformed Keel played at Rocklahoma in 2009. That was a great moment to see you back on stage and there has been plenty of great music over the years but the oddest thing happened last year when you put out that last album āFight Like a Bandā I donāt often say this but I think itās my favourite to date.
Ron: Wow, Iām honoured to hear that. And that was a great show at Rocklahoma, Iām glad that you were there and got to experience that. It was a very special moment for me as well and Iām really thrilled to know that youāre still enjoying my music to this day, I must be doing something right.
Mark: It was quite a show and I know that there will be at least six other Australians who saw you on that day at Melodic Rock Fest.
Ron: Well Jules Millis was there from White Widdow, he was a kid in the front row with his fist in the air yelling at me, and I thought it was so cool. I got to meet him after the show and he was saying āWeāre gonna get you to Australia mate, weāre gonna get you there and my band is gonna back you upā And that was 10 or 11 years ago now Mark and now Jules has stuck true to his word heās been a good friend and supporter of mine and believe he was instrumental in convincing the promoter to get me over there and for White Widdow to back me up and now itās really happening, and itās just right around the corner. Dreams do come true man!Ā Ā But I have to give a huge thank you to people like Jules and all those involved behind the scenes at the Melodic Rock Fest and to people like you at The Rockpit for helping me promote this tour and these fantastic shows.
Mark: Itās my pleasure and completely selfish of course. One of the names that was on my list was Keel! (laughs)
Ron: My goal once I hit the ground running in Australia is to justify everyoneās faith, belief, support and friendship that weāve shared through the music through the years and weāre gonna bring that to life onstage live in Australia.
Mark: I actually met you once briefly on the Monsters of Rock Cruise in 2015, I was hanging out at one of the āmeet and greetsā with my mate Derek and the guys from Babylon A.D. and just watching how you interacted with the fans and put them at the centre of everything was so cool.
Ron: Cool, so we go back along way! Youāll have to put the photo up! Iām glad you and I have got to share some of those experiences over the years ā at the Hammersmith Odeon, Rocklahoma and the Monsters of Rock Cruise and I am going to see you at least at one of these shows right? Youāll be at the Melodic Rock Fest?
Mark: Iāll certainly be there, wouldnāt miss the chance to see you on my home continent!
Ron: Yeah a little less far to travel this time! Weāll have a beer when you get there, celebrate the Rock and Roll, the friendships and the good times.
Mark: Pencil it in your diary!
Ron: Itās done!
Mark: Imagine youāve hit Australia and weāve booked you a table at the best Rock and Roll restaurant there is ā you have four guests to invite and chat to all evening. Who are you going to invite?
Ron: Oh my goodness thatās a great question. I would probably be so star struck if I were to pick my choice four but it would have to be Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Rob Halford and Iād have to invite Gene Simmons, because Gene is an old friend of mine and heās the one guy I was never star struck by. I just met Gene, we hit it off great, we worked together for a couple of years on āThe Right To Rockā and āThe Final Frontierā and it just always felt like we were kindred spirits cut out of the same cloth. I have nothing but huge admiration and respect for Geneā¦. Damn give me Sammy Hagar I need to invite five! (laughs) I need Sammy there too!
Mark: (laughs) Sammy can come definitely!
Ron: OK Iāll pull up another chair, we may need a bigger table. Me, Sammy, Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Gene Simmons and Rob Halford. (laughs)
Mark: I actually met Gene once when Kiss were touring Australia with Motley Crue and Thin Lizzy. I was at the hotel talking to Scott from Thin Lizzy and Gene came over and said hello, not to me obviously, but to Scott though he smiled and shook my hand. It was about the most surreal moment of my life to that point and then Gene said something to me and I replied and he laughed and for the life of me I canāt remember what I said! (laughs) I was too busy thinking āI canāt believe this is happening ā I had posters of you two guys on my bedroom wall as a kid!ā
Ron: (laughs) Heās a great guy man, he certainly had a huge impact on my life, my music, my career and he was obviously a huge help to us back in the day when he produced the āRight To Rockā album and āThe Final Frontierā. He really got my career shooting up the charts like a rocket. But he also taught me a lot of great lessons about music, about production, and about making records and about life and business. And Iāll always be forever grateful to Gene Simmons for his contribution to me and my life and my music.
Mark: If you could have been a fly on the wall for the creation of any great album just to see how the magic happened what would it be and why? What’s the album that most resonates with you?
Ron: Oh man it would have to be āBack in Black.ā After Bon Scott passed away those guys went right to work with a brand new singer in Brian Johnson, and youāve heard the stories about how they were tracking the music and Brian was out in the other room trying to write lyrics at the same time. What an amazing experience that would have been to have been a fly on the wall during the recording of that album, one of the biggest selling records of all time, and one of my favourite records of all time. Ā But thatās such a loaded question, there are so many great albums, āVan Halen Iā or any of The Beatlesā albums or so many others. But I have actually had the chance to really be a āfly on the wall for a couple of records that were recording in the studios next door – Barbra Streisand, Scorpions and Ozzy! I got to sneak in through the side door and take a peek into those moments in history. Itās a thrill just to be able to say you were there. Back in the day before we had easy video or audio or social media those experiences were only open to those that were actually there and lived it so Iām grateful for all of those incredible moments. I got to see Ozzy sing a studio vocal for āI Donāt Want to Change the Worldā and to look behind the glass as Ozzy was cutting that vocal – it was priceless! And while Iām grateful for all of those experiences as a fan āBack in Blackā would have to be the one Iād love to have been part of that session. Just an incredible moment in Rock history.
Mark: One of the all-time great albums and done under such intense pressure.
Ron: Exactly, exactly and when it came out to all of us young Rock fans at the time it was a game-changer. And still to this day you canāt say enough about it, though most of it has been said. But that āBack in Blackā record its pure magic. Imagine having your lead singer die, one of Rockās greatest front-men, and getting right back in the studio and right back to work with a guy Brian Johnson who still to this day rocks! How cool is that that AC/DC is now continuing to create and tour with Brian Johnson, thatās true right?
Mark: Thatās what weāve heard from a reliable source.
Ron: Oh man thatās so exciting. So many great stars from that generation: Brian and Angus, Sammy Hagar, Steven Tyler, Rob Halford, these guys have been doing it so long and theyāre getting up there in years and I am pushing sixty myself! I take so much inspiration from that generation, these are guys I grew up with, that I bought their records and played their songs when I was just a kid in high school and they are still delivering great quality music, songs, albums and shows, it really is a source of inspiration to me as I get into my final couple of decades in the business.
Mark: My heroes as well Ron, and a source of inspiration for many generations Iām sure. You actually covered a song by my absolute musical hero too on a track from āLarger than Liveā!
Ron: Oh Steve Marriott!
Mark: Now that is a great cover again.
Ron: That is a great version, thanks for mentioning that, I love āFool for a Pretty Faceā, when we chose the cover song for āLarger than Liveā I also had some very dear friends help me with the session ā Kevin DuBrow from Quiet Riot sang on that session with me and Jamie St James from Black āNā Blue. The session was live with me, Jamie and Kevin ā the three of us surrounding the microphone and each of us trying to outdo each other ā it was just an amazing moment ā talk about being a āfly on the wallā.
Mark: Thatās one I would have liked to have seen.
Ron: (laughs) I would scream than Kevin would scream then Jamie would scream, weād all just be screaming at each other and with each other trying to bring that song to life. It was a great memory and one of my favourite cover songs of my career.
Mark: Itās not often people do justice to āThe Pieā but you certainly did.
Ron: And that was a special vocal for me too because doing Steve Marriott and doing him justice was certainly a challenge.
Mark: I always loved his quote āYou can dress up a song however you like but if you can touch people with just a voice and acoustic guitar then you know youāve made itā.
Ron: And that will always ring true. No one said it better and I live by those words.
Mark: And we always end with an easy one Ronā¦
Ron: (laughs) I already know this wonāt be easyā¦
Mark: What is the meaning of life?
Ron: (laughs) Thatās easy! (laughs) The meaning of life man, I think thatās something that everyone has to decide for themselves. For me it is living my life to the fullest, not wasting a minute, or a day, or a song, or an opportunity or a chance to share my happiness or my energy with people that I care about. I donāt know what happens after this, I donāt know about Heaven or Hell or the afterlife but I know that Iāve had an amazing time on this planet. Iām on a one day contract, I know that life is all too short, Father Time is undefeated and at some point Iāll have to say goodbye but until I do Iām gonna live like thereās no tomorrow.
Mark: Great words to end with. I will hopefully bump into you again in a few weeks in Melbourne.
Ron: I sure hope so. I plan to be out and about. I will do my show and then I will also be out with the crowd doing as many meet and greets as possible, shaking hands, having a beer and enjoying the other bands on the bill. Hey we go back to the Hammersmith dude, we gotta at least have a hug and a handshake and a beer!
Mark: (laughs) It was a great night I knew Iād seen you play with Dio and I knew the venue but I had to think back to get the date!
Ron: Do you know what night it was because we played three nights there?
Mark: I had tickets for the first night of the run, we got them as soon as they came out, and there were no online bookings in those days it was hard work to get a ticket to a show like that!
Ron: (laughs) The first night was good, the last night was incredible. The last night was the last day of the tour and we did what 14 countries with Dio on that tour. The last night after the how was over Lemmy, yes it was that night, Lemmy came backstage to my dressing room and said āCome with meā and when Lemmy says āCome with meā you do it right?! (laughs) So Lemmy guides me up this stairway at the side of the show room up to this side bar, thereās this little bar up in the corner… And Lemmy and Ronnie James Dio and so many other Rock Stars and friends, the guys from Keel were there, and Lemmy locked the door and shut the bartender out! And he was in charge, I mean Lemmy was serving me drinks all night ā how cool was that!?Ā Itās one of my favourite memories, the last night of the tour sat there with Ronnie James Dio and Lemmy and I donāt even remember who else, there were some other big time cats there but our drummer I know remembers a lot more than I do because I was drinking whatever Lemmy was serving! (laughs)
Mark: (laughs)
Ron: (laughs)
Mark: I could imagine that Lemmy a bartender might play havoc with the old memory!
Ron: It was a great moment man.
Mark: Thank you so much Ron, itās been great to chat, you just keep making great music, like I said thereās not a lot I like more from your catalogue than that last record.
Ron: Thank you Mark that means a lot and thatās why I do it, there would be no point if you werenāt trying to make music that was at least as good or maybe better than youāve done before.Ā Weāve got a new record deal and there will be a new album of original material out in January 2021. Weāre in the writing process at the moment trying to do something at least as good or better than we did with āFight Like a Bandā so the pressure is always on! I try to keep the peddle down and I enjoy it that way.
Mark: It should be great and I canāt wait to hear both the old and the new stuff when you get over.
Ron: It should be a great show Mark, weāve got one hour! A one hour set in which to condense all of my career and try to give everyone a little taste of everything. But we will do all the Keel hits, new material from āFight Like a Bandā, a couple of Steeler songs and Black Sabbath as well!
Mark: Black Sabbath, I think I might know what youāre hinting at there!
Ron: (laughs) Weāll see! I get there a few days early, were gonna rehearse for a few days before the tour starts and I canāt wait for that experience.
Mark: Neither can we! Look after yourself Ron and safe travels.
Ron: You too.
Mark: Thank you so much.
Ron: Thank you Mark, my pleasure, I appreciate it and canāt wait to see you in a couple of weeks.
Here it is Ron…
