Here's the beginning of an interview with James Wilsey that, alas, is only a sample (you've got to order the mag, apparently, to read the rest)...I must admit, I'm tempted, it looks like he led a very different life than Isaak, and am curious to hear some of his take on the legendary early years...



Wilsey interview

Wow. An amazing first part of the interview of Jimmy. Lotta stuff there I didn't know.
He was also interviewed by Spin mag like a year ago as part of a large story they did
about the early punk movement in the late 70s, early 80s, in which they also interviewed
all the big names in the movement.

Jimmy Wilsey of course did such a great job playing on Wicked Game and the early
albums (love him on "Dont Make Me Dream About You," "You Owe Me," "Wild Love").

The man is brilliant and just plain smokes on the rockers. He has a great new
instrumental album of slow stuff out now. Must listen and pick it up.

Sample tracks are up on his my space-- www.myspace.com/jameswilsey
The Rattler is my fav.

Also in talking to him after a couple shows in the early days, found him to be a great
friendly guy with a great sense of humor and great laugh. Sendin all the best out
to ya Jimmy!

Thanks, iamglobal. Did you notice how much that particular issue is to order? I'd like to read the whole article.

Edit: Looks like it's $9.95 plus shipping, which could be anywhere between $10 and $35 to Canada, based on past experience.

I've got Jimmy's CD, "El Dorado". Pretty cool but needs something. Like Chris singing.

I didn't look, but as you found out, apparently it ain't so cheap...my only concern is it just focuses on the punk years, that on the next page it's "So I started playing with Isaak and the rest is history! -- THE END"

But yeah, he seems to be very bright with a strong personality and sense of humor. Somehow I never knew he was in the Avengers, who I fully knew about, if never listened to (not my cup of tea). I mean, I love Hersh, but we cannot marginalize Wilsey...Hersh is a great player, but I really think Wilsey created a signature sound...when he plays his guitar on those first 3 records, it's like he's talking sometimes. Isaak wrote all the material, but Jakobson really had he and Wilsey playing off each other's strengths. I kinda wish they would bury the hatchet, or whatever, and have Wilsey play for a few cuts here and there. There's sort of a recriminating anger in Wilsey's playing sometimes, at the end of "Dancing," Wilsey sounds just as frustrated and aggravated as Isaak at the girl that's got them, well, dancing! And "Wicked Game," well...phew. There's a beautiful sadness in his playing which was the perfect match for Isaak's beautifully sad world...

Indeed, if you like the Isaak sound of the first 3 albums, pick up "El Dorado" -- Wilsey's guitar is just as atmospheric and haunting as ever.

If the article does indeed end with the punk years, that would be a big disappointment. I'd love to read about the Silvertone years. I'm debating ordering the mag.

Jimmy Wilsey's sound was and is "haunting", as you say. He did add an incredible amount to the first few Chris Isaak albums. I like "El Dorado" but the songwriting misses the mark on most of the CD, in my opinion. Chris could carry on without Jimmy but Jimmy needs Chris' songwriting skills and voice. The two of them together were magic musically. Chris has a super strong dedication to his music, however, and I could be very wrong, but I don't think Jimmy had the same dedication to recording and touring that Chris had/has. He had various "issues" that Chris is too polite to elaborate on which leaves us all wondering what happened.

I suspect that too, and indeed, no doubt Isaak's career has endured w/o Wisley quite well. But I also think (and this is largely due to Erik Jacobsen, no doubt) that earlier records, especially the 2nd and the 3rd, created a dark, sometimes dangerous universe that Isaak on his own doesn't seem inclined to pursue. "Forever Blue" fits this bill as well, but the albums since (and I love "Speak of the Devil" way more than most) up to and including Mr. Lucky seem more like a collection of various songs (often excellent) put together, whereas by the end of "Chris Isaak" I kind of feel I've taken a unified journey into the dark, seamy underbelly of rockabilly or some such thing. I mean, by "Waiting for the Rain to fall" I'm depressed, elated, and feel like I've been on some kind of roller coaster ride. And Wilsey, with his perhaps harder leanings, helped create that atmosphere. I think Hershel's playing is a bit more sweet and polite -- Wilsey always seemed on the edge of going somewhere a little out of control, which doesn't seem in the long run to be Isaak's thing. "You Owe Me Some Kind of love" is an angry, stalkerish song ---these days Isaak is more inclined to be hurt than looking for vengeance. It's all good, but Wilsey was the perfect partner for the pissed-off, troubled Isaak of "Gone Ridinm" "Kings of the Highway," etc.

But while "El Dorado" is certainly not the work of a songwriter of Isaak's stature, I also felt in several places a "Chris Isaak sound" that I love and hadn't really heard since "Heart-Shaped World"...

The interview I would suspect does go into the Isaak years, why give a sample that large unless there's a lot more to come (plus the publisher currently assumed Isaak fans would be chomping at the bit, knowing the rockabilly Stray Cats talk was leading momentarily to his meeting up with Isaak...we want more!)

I love "Speak of the Devil" also. There's some pretty desperate stuff on that album. You bring up a lot of good points about the earlier albums like "Chris Isaak". "Lie to Me" has always been one of my favourite Isaak songs. As you said, "You Owe Me Somet Kind of Love" is a pretty angry song. Wilsey did help create the atmosphere of those early albums. He was certainly edgy. Hershel and Wilsey are from two different schools of guitar playing altogether. To me, Hershel is more of a virtuoso. They're just different. "El Dorado" definitely brings back that early Chris Isaak sound. I got it for my birthday last year and it's got some good stuff on it.

Cool! Great birthday present. Read that CI said they will likely do another record together someday. That too would be cool!

I hadn't heard that about Chris and Jimmy. That would be too cool for sure.

Funny that this came up. When I first heard Diabolik, my first impression was haunting and beautiful! When people ask about Chris Isaak's music, I always remind them that they are probably familiar with "Wicked Game." The word "haunting" always comes into my mind when I think of the video. It's always the guitar that defines the song, in my mind--more than even Chris Isaak's voice or emotion.

Anyhow, I asked Jimmy if the sound was something he picked up from Silvertone, or if it was a sound that he left with them--I was just curious. He very politely responded, stating that he has always played that way--that he can't help himself. Listening to his CD, I do think it's his sound. Hershel is amazing, but his style is different. I wonder how much is Chris and how much is Hershel when Herschel plays. Interesting.

I think it will be a cold day in hell before Jimmy and Chris record together again. Jimmy always held himself apart from Silvertone. He has his own thing and is very moody. When those two parted ways, Chris' music changed. It didn't hurt Chris, and Jimmy's career didn't flourish. Part of it is that Jimmy doesn't have vocals. But he is a hell of a guitar player. It seems like there were probably personality clashes about who would be number one in that group or some leadership challenges. It was a long time ago and probably no bridges were burned. And stranger things have happened. It would have to be carefully orchestrated because no one wants to hurt Hershel's feelings. Long time fans would probably like to hear something with Chris and Jimmy. The general public and even some fans probably don't care or know the difference.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No, Chris said they will probably do something together again at some point.

Juice Magazine has some fantastic pieces, though I also don't get it because the shipping is about 7 times the cost of the magazine.

For those interested in the useless facts, the magazine is put out in some part by Jeff Ho, founder of the Zephyr surf shop in Venice Beach, CA, the pioneer who brought us the insanely wicked Z-Boys of skating (Stacy Peralta, Jay Adams, Tony Alva, and every other skater that most haven't heard of).

Steve Olson, the interviewer, is a world skateboarding champion also, and his interest will probably focus on the punk stuff, as that drove most of the scene that he was part of. Still, the interviews in Juice are usually very extensive. I've emailed Jeff Ho before on the topic of the magazine, he would probably answer you if you asked how long the Wilsey article was and the focus, explaining the high shipping cost from hawaii.

Those were good useless facts!

And for some more interesting Wilsey musings (for free!), visit here:

Detailed Wilsey interview about playing with Isaak

Those early photos are awesome...I wonder where Jose tracked them down! He also does a detailed review of "Mr Lucky," but in Spanish, and I can't figure it out...but the Wilsey interview really fills us in on some interesting details about the early days and the patented Isaak/Wilsey sound...

Thanks for that article, what a great read! I love those early pics of Isaak with his Gretsch. Wish he would've stayed with those guitars....

I'm sure I read that article back in the Spring but the date reads this week. (Just another instance of Fifi losin' it.)

Mark, maybe Chris switched from the Gretsch guitars because they weren't as easy to keep in tune during shows?

Here's a video of "Wicked Game" live from back in 1991 when we heard the song EVERYWHERE (and I'm still not tired of it). Listen to Jimmy Wilsey play all around the notes yet still hit the notes doing his bendin' thang that he does.

Cute interview after the Wicked Game performance. Is that Rick Dees? He seems really happy to be interviewing Chris! (I think that's because he is a music lover.)

Well, MY gretsches stay in tune.

Yes, Mark, but you have the SPECIAL Gretsches.