Interview with Christian Musician Magazine

Christian Musician: Caleb, paint a brief picture of your musical heritage (even though it was rough) and how that set the course for your own musical ambitions.

Caleb Quaye: I was born into a musical family. My father was a professional jazz musician who was quite famous in England and Europe. As a child, growing up, I enjoyed a rich musical heritage, because some of the world’s greatest musicians and singers came through our house, as friends of my parents. My dad was good friends with Django Reinhardt, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and members of Duke Ellington’s orchestra, along with Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Billie Holliday and many others. We were the odd family in our very conservative, English neighborhood, because we were listening to a lot of jazz and blues.

My dad played records all the time, as well as playing the piano or the guitar. Music was the air we breathed in our house. He also had his own band. My mother and grandmother would cook the Sunday dinner and, after we were through, my father and these musicians would go into the front room (what Americans call the living room) and they would jam. 

His band had sax players and trumpet players. So, they could really put out some noise, especially in that enclosed space.  We'd sit in the dining room and listen to them play and, after a while, I would sneak into the front room and sit on the floor to watch them.  It wasn't hard to sneak in without being seen, because the air in the room would be filled with smoke, as thick as pea soup.  Every member of the band, including my father, would be smoking marijuana.

I had inherited my father’s gift for music and started playing the piano when I was four, drums when I was seven and then the guitar when I was twelve. As a young boy I wanted to be like my dad. I never wanted to be what other boys of my age aspired to, such as policemen, soldiers, firemen, etc. I just wanted to be able to make this wonderful, musical sound that I used to hear in my house. One thing that I observed, but could not understand as a young boy, was how these incredibly gifted musicians could be so messed up in their lives, with alcohol and drugs. Little did I know that, later on, I would traverse the same path and find out for myself, the hard way.

CM: There is much more behind the statement "guitarist for Elton John." Tell us how you met Elton and the role you played in his first demos.

 Caleb: I met Elton shortly after leaving high school at age 15. At that time he was not Elton, but Reg Dwight. We were both office boys in what was known then as Tin Pan Alley – which was the center of the music publishing industry in the heart of Soho, in London. Shortly after meeting him, I landed a job at Dick James Music, which was the company that published the Beatles’ music. This was in 1965, when the Beatles were the gods of this world.

Within a few months of landing a job at Dick James, they decided that they wanted to branch out into recording music, as well as doing the sheet music publishing. So, they built a studio by converting some offices. Dick James’ son Stephen was running the studio, but he could not stay there, as he was being groomed by his father to eventually take over the company.

At this time I had expressed interest in recording and writing. So, they gave me the job of studio manager and A&R Director for the fledgling label called This Records. It was about eighteen months later that Reg Dwight – whom I had not seen for awhile – showed up to record some demos in the hope of landing a recording contract with Liberty Records. He had been working with a band called Bluesology, which I would also later on play with.

It was at this point that I recorded his demos and this turned into a work in progress, after he found a partner in lyricist Bernie Taupin. In 1967 I was called on the carpet, after having been found out to be giving free studio time to various artists, in order to help them with their music – being the benevolent guy that I am.

Under threat of expulsion from the company, I pleaded with Dick James to listen to the songs we had recorded with Reg & Bernie. Dick listened and promptly signed them to their first recording and songwriting contract and the rest, as they say, is history. Not only did I play on the demos, but played guitar on most of Elton’s “early stuff” or “the classic period,” such as the Tumbleweed Connection album, Tiny Dancer and Levon.

CM: How did your industry career and your own musical career start taking off?

 Caleb: I started playing the guitar when I was twelve and basically took to it like a duck takes to water. By the time I was sixteen I was good enough to be doing studio work. In 1966 Andrew Oldham – who was the Rolling Stones’ manager – launched the first, independent record label in England, called Immediate Records. Their office was right next door to Dick James Music, where I was working. I became friends with a songwriter who worked for them, whose name is Billy Nichols. In later years Billy has done a lot of work for Pete Townsend, on many of his solo projects, outside of The Who.

 It was while recording for Billy’s first album, for Immediate Records, that I met a music contractor. That’s the guy who books musicians for studio work. His name was David Katz and he said to me, “Caleb, I love your playing and I was wondering if you could help me out; I have a bunch of studio work lined up and I usually use Jimmy Page, but he has just quit doing session work to join the Yardbirds. If you’re interested, I need you to join the musicians union.” Needless to say, I jumped on that like white on rice and that’s how I became the youngest guitar player to join the musicians union, back then.

 Later on that year I got to play on most of the records by a group called The Troggs. So, you can hear me on their version of “Wild Thing”, “I Want To Spend My Life With A Girl Like You”, “Love Is All Around”, etc. I was fortunate to work up close with so many people of that era. For instance: many of the Liverpool groups that were under Brian Epstein’s management, such as Gerry Marsden, The Fourmost, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas.

 I learned a lot from a guitar player who was a hero to many of us in England. His name is Mick Green; he used to play for Johnny Kidd and the Pirates in the early sixties. This is a band that the Beatles used to open for, in their formative years. Mick went on to play for Billy J Kramer and then did a long stint with Englebert Humperdinck, which was a surprise to many. He was a great guy who could handle a Fender Telecaster like no other. I loved it whenever he came into the studio. For me, it was an education to record him, as he was a huge inspiration to me.

I read your story of hearing the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album by the Beatles first, before anyone else did. Tell us about it.

 Caleb: While working for Dick James Music and running the studio, one of my jobs was to make publisher copies of the masters of the Beatles’ albums. These copies were to be meticulous in quality and involved a lot of secrecy in the process. The masters would be sent over from EMI studios in Abbey Road, by security courier. I would have the studio blocked out on that day. I would have to make the copies after hours, when nobody else was on the premises and then call EMI to have them picked up again and taken back to Abbey Road for storage. Nobody was allowed in while I was doing these copies and it was quite nerve wracking to realize that I had the Beatles’ masters in my hands – and I had better not make any mistakes, like putting a crimp in the tape.

So, this is how I became the first person outside of the Beatles’ immediate circle to hear their recordings from Help, through to the White Album. I was the person who played it to Graham Nash for the first time. At that time he was still with the Hollies, but I think that hearing Pepper was the catalyst for him to leave the Hollies and join Crosby and Stills. I still remember his reaction to the album, as the last piano chord of “A Day In The Life” was fading out. He simply got up and walked out of the studio, saying, “They’ve done it!” 

CM: The old adage of “drugs, sex and rock n' roll” started to take its toll on you. Set the scene for us and then share how you started to know Jesus.

 Caleb: I first got involved with drugs in 1966. I was working on a project with Mick Jagger and one day, while working on some song arrangements at his apartment, he said to me, “You must smoke some of this” and he handed me a big, fat joint. Being the impressionable teenager who was working with the biggest names in rock music at the time, I thought, “Well, if this is what the big boys are doing, then here we go.”

Along with that, I thought, “Who am I to say ‘no’ to Mick Jagger, who was also paying me for my services to the album that he was producing?” They told me that, after I smoked that joint, I proceeded to play the piano for four hours, non-stop. From then on, I was all the way into it, non-stop, until 1982.

I found Christ or, rather, he found me first, through a supernatural experience, where I heard a voice speak to me in a hotel room in Atlanta. It was my 30^th birthday in October of 1978. I was playing with Hall & Oates at the time and this was in the middle of a tour. The band and road crew threw a surprise birthday party for me after the concert.

It was about 5:00 am after everybody crawled out of my room. While I was sitting in a chair, I heard a voice very clearly and quite audibly, tell me, “Caleb, from this point on, your life is going to be completely different and nothing is going to be the same for you ever again.” I thought that somebody had walked into my room. I turned to see who it was, but nobody was there. I suddenly became aware that I was no longer stoned on the drugs that had been consumed. I was amazingly sober. All I understood was that I had been spoken to.  As I sat there in silence, I made a little promise to myself that one day I would find out who that voice belonged to. This experience served as the basis for the title of my book, which is called “A Voice Louder Than Rock & Roll”.

When that tour finished, basically everything in my life that could go wrong went wrong. It was about a two and a half year period of my life being stripped away: marriage fell apart, financial ruin and the whole nine yards. During that time I met and became friends with Chester Thompson. He plays drums for Genesis and Phil Collins – also formerly with Weather Report. He was putting a fusion jazz/funk band together and asked me to join the band, which I did and we became great friends. It was through his friendship that I came to Christ.

He took me to church on Easter Sunday 1982 and it was during the worship, while they were singing the Bob Kilpatrick song “In My Life, Lord” that I heard the same voice that spoke to me in the hotel room in Atlanta. He simply said, “Caleb, it’s time for you to come home to me today, because I have a new life for you.” I suddenly realized who that voice belonged to. My promise had been answered. That voice belonged to Jesus. At the end of the service, I responded to the invitation and said yes to Jesus as my Savior and Lord.    

As a young Christian, how did you find your way out of the darkness of your past, into a walk with the Lord?

Caleb: There are two days in the calendar year that are very important to me. The first one is Easter Day, as I have just mentioned, because that is the day when Jesus revealed himself in a deep and personal way, which caused me to say yes to Him. The other important day for me is Pentecost Sunday. It was on that day that, after a harrowing, near-death experience from drugs, I got baptized in water and filled with the Spirit – and instantly delivered from all those years of drug addiction.

Once I was free from that darkness, I could not get enough of the Word. I went and purchased a Bible and devoured it. I have always believed and do preach that the three most important things that a Christian needs, in order to walk in the newness of life that Christ offers us are: worship, the Word and prayer. It is in these three things that “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude vs3) is found. These three things work together to strengthen the inner man and continually set us free from the darkness of our past. My favorite scripture is 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (NKJV)

CM: Tell us about your involvement with the Foursquare church, as a worship leader and musical mentor?

Caleb: In 1995 I was asked to help develop a national department of worship to help resource and mentor churches, primarily in the Foursquare movement. This consisted of traveling to churches, working with a committee of other worship leaders to develop resources, leading worship and doing consulting and troubleshooting, for the purpose of developing healthy churches. I did this from 1995 to 2000. It was an interesting time, what with post-modernity becoming more evident, along with seeker-sensitive churches and all these different ideas of how to do church, be culturally-relevant and so on.

All these ingredients just seemed to make the worship wars more interesting and bewildering, at the same time. The National Worship Department, as it was called, was an experiment for the Foursquare movement and it was also an interesting education, being involved in the corporate headquarters of a denomination. During this time I developed some long-lasting friendships with pastors, both in Foursquare and other denominations. So, it became evident to me that the Lord was developing a network of what I would call “kingdom relationships,” for the purpose of mentoring young musicians and worship leaders.

One thing that I have learned is that, after living and learning from a lot of experience, over a number of years, old-school guys like me are supposed to give something back and invest some of our accumulated experience back into the emerging generation. There is something therapeutic about that that I enjoy. I have learned that, around age fifty, you are no longer living on your heritage, but now you start leaving a legacy. A legacy is not something that you build, but rather something that you invest or sow into others from your own experience, that they, in turn, can take and run with and make it their own.

So, for these reasons, my base of operations today is LIFE Pacific college in San Dimas, California, which is the Foursquare Bible College. I serve there as adjunct faculty and also the worship pastor for Lifehouse, which is the campus church. This gives me an opportunity to influence young students who are studying for ministry and trying to figure out God’s call on their lives.

What advice do you like to tell aspiring Christian musicians?

Caleb: I like to tell them the same thing my father told me, which was, “Son, always listen to the best. Don’t waste your time listening to people who don’t know what they’re doing, because you won’t learn anything from them.” This was good advice, because, when you listen to great players, they set the bar for you. That way you know what to aim for and, even if you don’t end up where they are, you will come up with something worthwhile, because you’re heading in the right direction. Also, don’t be afraid of learning music theory, because theory is the key to application, to any style of music. In today’s wide diversity of styles, it’s essential. Finally: practice, practice, practice. If you are going to be good at it, you must have a healthy obsession with it, which means you have to go after it. It won’t happen for you without it.

Let us know about your gear: Acoustic and electric guitars? Favorite amps or pedals? What do you record with?

I have four electric guitars that I really enjoy playing these days:

1. a modified ’66 Fender Strat
2. Epiphone Les Paul deluxe standard
3. Nashville Telecaster
4. Brazen Signature model (voted best new guitar at NAMM ’07)

For a long time I used a Fender Deluxe amp that I have owned since 1970. These days I have fallen in love with a 30-watt Marshall MG30DFX. For pedals, I have two rigs. One is the Line6 XT Live, which I use primarily for recording. The other is the Boss ME50, which I use for live gigs, because it is more analog-sounding.

CM: You have a jazz orientated CD coming out. Tell us about the musicians involved and the musical scope of the record.

Caleb: About six months ago I was asked to put together some live music for a media conference at Biola University. So, I asked some friends of mine if they would do the gig. After the gig we all agreed that we should do this more often. So, we have been playing on a fairly regular basis, depending on schedules, once a month at a coffee house in San Dimas, called Home Brew. The music we play is a combination of some historic jazz tunes and jazz arrangements of worship choruses and hymns. It is highly improvisational, which serves to be very therapeutic for us and a blessing to those who come to hear us. I am hoping to get a live recording done sometime next year.

The musicians involved are:

• Caleb Quaye – Lead guitar & vocals.
• Doug Matthews – Drums (who plays for David Ruis and played for Promise Keepers and Tommy Walker)
• Charles Williams  - Keyboards (also a Promise Keepers guy and Phillip Bailey and many other black gospel artists)
• Mike Gonzales – Keyboards & vocals
• Robert (Pee Wee) Hill – Bass (has played with Bob Dylan, Billy Preston, Rose Stone and many other, very funky people)

CM: After all of these years as a musician, what does music mean to you now?

Caleb To me, music is a creative gift that is given to us by God. Music has the power to open people’s hearts to receive truth and connect with God. Music is a means of communication of truth; therefore, the purpose of music is to reflect something of the creativity and goodness of God in this world, so that the listener can be motivated to look up in hope, instead of looking down in despair.