In Episode 90 and 91 of The Double Stop, Brian is joined by guitarist Michael Thompson (Michael Thompson Band, Animal Logic, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Shania Twain).
Michael Thompson discusses his life and career, and explains how he became one of the most sought-after session guitarists of the last twenty-five years. A small sample of his sessions includes Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, 'N Sync, Toni Braxton, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, Christina Aguilera, Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey, Bette Midler, Madonna, Animal Logic with Stewart Copeland and Stanley Clarke and Shania Twain. And producers such as Mutt Lange, Quincey Jones, Babyface, and David Foster. In part one we go through his personal history, and in part two we talk about specific sessions.
On working with Mutt Lange (with Shania Twain), and the grueling hours - part 2 58:30 "He make it great because he's not busting your ass. He's trying to get the great performance - that's his whole thing. He's not looking for you to play it correctly, he's looking for you to play it with what he calls "The Grease" on it. "
On working with Madonna Part 2 41:00 "She was sitting like two feet behind me, commentating on every note I played. And not in a great way. 'Oh no, I don't like that. That's ok. No. No.' So I just had to survive it."
On working with Michael Jackson (on The Earth Song) Part 2 44:45 "They had the lighting really low in the studio and we were working on the tune for an hour or so. And I'm doing a part, and I'm looking down. And I realize that Michael's come in and sat down right next to me while I was playing... Originally they wanted Michael Clapton to play on that, but he was either on tour, or busy or something."
Michael Thompson Online: http://www.michaelthompson.cc/
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