Interview: Bill Medley of THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS at Lied Center For Performing Arts

First of all I just have to thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today. I mean, talk about speaking with someone who is a part of music history. It is an absolute honor to speak with you today, Bill.

Sure! Thank you.

Starting at the beginning... Was there much music in your house growing up, or where did your love of music come from? And who were some of your biggest influences in the earlier days?

Well my mom and dad actually had a band and were both very musical. Everybody in my family was into music, but I wasn't necessarily brought up around it because once my parents started having kids they kind of put it to rest. They broke their band up so I don't really know them as those band members. But growing up, Little Richard was huge to me. And obviously about a year later I heard Ray Charles and BB King. I just loved rhythm and blues honestly. Ray Charles and Little Richard are probably my biggest influences.

They absolutely were both incredible performers and songwriters. One fact that surprised me about you is that you are not only a master vocalist, but also an accomplished songwriter. Do you still write today?

Well I write a little. I used to write a lot as a kid. I basically started out as a singer songwriter, but now I call my piano the shrink. I just go to the piano and bang out some stuff that's bothering me. Some of it's pretty good and some of it wouldn't make sense to anybody else but me. After Loving Feeling and meeting all of these incredible writers like Carole King and Cynthia Weil and Berry Mann... We really just got so busy on the road that it just ate up all my time and maybe even my artistic energy. But really, once I heard Carole King's songs I thought maybe I'm not a writer. *laughs*

Do you remember hearing yourself on the radio for the first time? What was that experience like?

Yeah. I had written a song called Little Latin Lupe Lu, and that was a West Coast hit that Bobby and I had recorded. When we were driving to a job that we were going to do one night, we were listening to the radio and the song came on. And oh boy, Bobby and I went from two 22 year-old guys to two 13 year-old screaming teenagers. It was exciting. Every recording artist in the world who has ever had their music played on the radio can tell you the first time they heard their song on the radio.

The music industry has changed in many ways over the years, but there is this ever present idea that musicians who have "made it" must be living the dream and not have any real worries anymore. What would you say were some of the biggest challenges you faced throughout your career in the industry?

Well you know I've been pretty blessed and the Righteous Brothers were pretty blessed. At least looking back at everything I can really look at it as kind of college you know. I turned down five or six songs that became huge number one hits. There have been a lot of ups and downs in my life, but mainly in my personal life. My first wife and I were divorced at the time and had a two-year-old son, and she was murdered. That just blew me away because she was one of my best friends, and so my son came to live with me. I was a bachelor living on the beach. So all of a sudden I'm doing that, and that was a real change in my life. It ended up being kind of important in my life because it took me out of being Bill Righteous and made me step into being Darrin's dad. There have been a few things not necessarily that heavy. I was told in 1973 that I would never sing again. The guy said, "Well your voice looks like hamburger meat and you'll never sing again." It took a couple years of working with a vocal coach, but I gradually got my voice back, and oddly now I'm probably singing better than I ever have. If you're going to be a singer there's a right way of doing it and you better learn the right way so if you love it you'll be able to do it for the rest of your life.

When recording songs like You've Lost That Loving Feeling or I've Had The Time of My Life, did you have any idea how those songs would take off and still be as well known and beloved as they are today?

Well it's always a happy surprise. Loving Feeling was a record that we loved. When we were finished with it, we thought it was a great record. We recorded in 1964 and it was a hit in 1965. It was a pretty dramatic song for that time. Pretty much selling that song to maybe 14 to 16-year-old girls just seemed to be very heavy. And it was way too long. It was a little over four minutes and you were only supposed to have about 2 1/2 minute records. My voice also sounded like I was on the wrong speed - it was very low and dramatic. We loved the record but we never really thought it had much of a chance. But boy did it take off, and I think that everything that was supposedly wrong with it ended up being a plus for the song. Right now You've Lost That Loving Feeling is the most played record in the history of American radio, so Phil Spector did something right.

You've shared the stage and even friendships with some of the other biggest names in music history such as Elvis and The Beatles and Frank Sinatra and Carole King. What are some of your most treasured memories from those interactions or experiences?

Well I would like to say The Beatles but I can't. I love The Beatles. We were on the first American The Beatles tour, but we didn't even know who they were. We were the opening act for The Beatles and all of the screaming girls were crying out for The Beatles, and they didn't know they had to wait for an hour or so for three or four other acts before The Beatles came out. So it was great on the West Coast because we'd had some West Coast hits. But we did the Rolling Stones first American tour and that was great because they hadn't taken off yet. That was fun. Elvis Presley used to come see Bobby and I all the time when he was in California and he was a big fan. And obviously we were big fans of his. So to get to know him kind of on a one on one deal was wonderful. Frank Sinatra brought us to Vegas for the first time. So we just kind of had a blessed situation.

Looping back to Carole King... You two have worked together a few times over the years and you are even a standout part in the musical based on her life. Have you seen Beautiful: The Carole King Musical? And if so, how surreal was it to see yourself being played on stage in a musical like that?

Well I've seen a couple of tribute acts do the Righteous Brothers, but boy to go see this play... And I saw it in New York when it first came out. It just knocked me out. I thought it was great. And yeah these guys do Loving Feeling in the show and they show how Barry and Cynthia wrote the song. It was pretty touching. And then I got to meet the guys after the show and I got to meet the girl who played Carole. Pretty amazing to sit there and watch something that happened 45 or so years ago, and to watch it come to life on stage. It's really really amazing and they did an a great job.

Looking at the music scene today, who are some of your favorite artists? Is there one person you have yet to collaborate with but would jump at the chance to work with?

That's a great question and I wish I had a great answer. I love Bruno Mars. Bobby and I knew Bruno from Hawaii when he was just a little kid doing an Elvis Presley imitation. But I kind of really listen more to country. I mean everybody I would name is still from yesterday, like Elton John or James Taylor or Carole King. I love the singer songwriters. I just love them. And I love country music but I'm not a country singer. I relate to a lot of their songs though - especially the older country guys like George Jones. And I toured with Alabama for a year. That was wonderful. I hate to say it because I sound like such a jerk but I don't really listen to the radio or music that much anymore. By the time I come off the road it's just... It's not that I don't enjoy it. I really love a lot of the artists, but I just don't listen to a lot of it. I listen to a lot of talk radio.

I heard that your daughter frequently tours with you and performs duets with you. How special is that for you two to share the love of music and have these shared experiences?

Well it's wonderful. It's a blessing. And it's really great because she's really really a great singer. And she's a wonderful girl and great for the show. She sings I've Had The Time of My Life with me, and she was just born when it was recorded. It's just the best. She kind of has become Bucky's and my personal road manager out on tour. She takes care of us and make sure we don't get lost or anything. But yeah it has certainly made the road a lot more comfortable for me and for Bucky.

What can audiences expect at your concert this weekend in Lincoln, NE?

Well we do all the hits. We know why they're there. They're there to hear those songs. I've been to enough concerts where they want you to listen to their new stuff and you just sit there waiting for them to do the hits, so we do all the hits. We do all that stuff and then there's about two or three moments in the show that are different. The best thing that somebody can say to me after the show is is that the show is great but that we just did so many things that they didn't expect and they thought it was wonderful. But we do all the hits because we know that's what they wanna hear.

Perfect! Well I know that everyone is so excited to have you all here with us this weekend and that it's going to be a great concert. It's nice to have music back after 18 months of almost silence due to the pandemic. So it's a huge blessing for us to have you back up and touring, and we are eager to have you with us.

Well we are thrilled to death... Just so excited.

The Righteous Brothers will be performing at Lincoln's Lied Center for the Performing Arts this Saturday, October 23, at 7:30pm. Visit https://www.liedcenter.org/event/righteous-brothers-0 to grab your tickets for what is sure to be the most righteous concert in town.