"Key Master" Jim Wacker Interview
Facebook
Interview by Roger Zee (05/17/23)
Roger Zee: Who inspired you to take up the keyboards and sing? What other instruments do you play?
Jim Wacker: I used to listen to my dad's Jazz records. Especially one Boogie Woogie piano record that included performances by Jay McShann, Mary Lou Williams, and Pete Johnson. I wore it out. I got a Dave Brubeck album for Christmas. Bill Evans, "Conversations with Myself" which discouraged me until I read the liner notes which said he triple-tracked it!
At some point, I realized Jazz musicans don't get laid and switched over to Rock bands. Turns out it wasn't Jazz musicians that don't get laid; it was keyboard players. So I started singing. I like it at least as much as playing.
My addiction to playing music spread to other areas -- guitar, bass, sax, harmonica, drums, violin (with a pick only), mandolin, but more than anything, to writing and recording.
RZ: Tell me about the musicians and groups you gigged and recorded with.
JW: For decades I played, sang and musically directed Chubby Checker and the Wildcats. I also played and/or sang in the bands of Len Barry, Jon Bon Jovi, Bowser, Rocky Burnette, the Cadillacs, the Capris, Freddie Cannon, Mel Carter, the Chantels, Lou Christie, Jimmy Clanton, the Coasters, the Crystals, Spencer Davis, Bo Diddly, the Drifters, the Dubs, Duprees, the Emotions, the Excellents, Fabian, Johny Farina, the Fireflies, Frankie Ford, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Chuck Jackson, Johnny and Joe, Billy J Kramer, Dickey Lee, Bobby Lewis, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Darlene Love, the Marcels, Peggy March, the Marvelettes, the Passions, the Platters, Randy and the Rainbows, Billy Joe Royal, Mitch Ryder, Tommy Roe, Bobby Rydell, the Shangri-Las, Del Shannon, Dee Dee Sharp, the Shirelles, Jimmy Beaumont & the Skyliners, Bruce Springsteen, the Tokens, the Toys, the Teenagers, the Tymes, Johnny Tilotson, the Videos, the Volumes, Voyage, Kathy Young, and Roger Zee among the greats and some greats who aren’t famous.
RZ: What keyboards do you currently play?
JW: I use an Alesis Fusion, except with Chubby and other acts that rent me a Hammond with two Leslies and sometimes a grand piano. Usually a small powered PA speaker too.
RZ: Tell me about the Uptown Jam
JW: JW: I've run the Uptown Jam for twenty-two years. Started it right after 9/11. Seemed an act of courage just to get us all out of the house. Our goal's to play and sing cover songs with creativity and soul. We now meet Tuesdays at Richie's Pelham Pub from 6pm til whenever. Occasionally we do originals but that can become a real project.
RZ: Talk about your home studio.
JW: I use Cakewalk on a PC with a Prosonus Project interface, an AKG 414 mic, some near-field speakers, and Sony MDR 7506 headphones. Works pretty well.
RZ: Do you teach music privately?
JW: Funny you should mention it. I do and love it.
RZ: What and how do you practice?
JW: A good two thirds of my practice now amounts to listening. Most of the actual practice consists of learning songs for the Uptown Jam. Teaching's a little like practicing too.
RZ: How has the Pandemic affected you? What's on the horizon?
JW: Touring shut down for a couple of years. It's slowly coming back. I just stayed home, wrote, recorded, and for once, got unemployment.
RZ: Describe your most special and/or unusual gig.
JW: Back in the crazy days, on the way to a Coney Island Chubby show, the tour bus ran out of fuel. That's expensive. The driver, rather than wake anyone, for some reason decided to jump-start it using my piano tuning wrench. It melted and of course, the bus didn't start rolling.
Chubby woke up and started yelling at the road manager. HE pulled out a gun. At that point, I awakened and saw the New Haven RR tracks. I called to my drummer, "Those tracks lead to NYC. Let's go!" So we walked to the station and took the train -- leaving a busload of angry, hot (AC runs off the engine) musicians and roadies, and Chubby to sort it out.
The bus eventually made it to Coney, and although the show turned out with one of the oldest crowds, it went well. Chubby Checker's a great performer. Still.
Here's another: We played in a place in California. Only time I ever met Hank Ballard. During a spot in the show where I didn't play or do anything, I needed to go to the bathroom really bad. I spotted a small DJ booth on stage and in it found an empty Big Gulp. As I watched the audience, while out of their sight, I filled it. Worked out well.
As soon as the show ended. I ran back to the booth to collect the full Big Gulp. I asked the DJ, already there, if he'd seen it. His look said it all. Smoke coming out his ears. Unfortunately I made it worse by laughing! I couldn't help it. I mean, he should known it wasn't his. And it was piss warm. Literally. Well, he WAS a DJ I guess. I exited quickly.
A couple of years later, I ran into a sound man in Disneyland who recounted the story to me. I'm famous around there I guess. Apparently he's still 'pissed' at me.
I got a million stories.
RZ: How do you see the future of the music business?
JW: Music's an art. It's less and less of a business. That will continue. Little of the money made goes to the musicians.
RZ: What advice do you give up-and-coming musicians?
JW: It's about the feeling. Playing the notes correctly, while frequently necessary, has little to do with it.
RZ: Do you live with any animals?
JW: A cat-Moosie, fish-Stanton, and turtle-Lita who we named before finding out he's a male red-eared slider.
YouTube - "The Twist" - Chubby Checker & The Wildcats
YouTube - "Yours" - Jim Wacker
©2023 Roger Zee
Jim Wacker, Eric Burden (The Animals)
Roger Zee, Jim Wacker
