"Jon Tiven believes in the greasy groove," states Dan Penn. "He's a funky fellow, a fine record producer, a writer and player of Soul Music." Although he's best-known for writing songs for the premier blues artists of our time--Buddy Guy, B.B. King and Robert Cray--Tiven's own band treads the fine line between blues and soul that tends to confound those anxious to categorize him. "I don't pretend to be a purist," Tiven admits, "and I don't wear the uniform. I just play the music that's deep in my soul, and you can call it what you want."
Although Tiven has had a substantial career as a producer and song writer for many years, he was loathe to lead his own group as such, "It's a tremendous responsibility, and it's a lot easier to sit back, write songs and listen to great artists do their versions." So Tiven procrastinated for awhile, backing up his writing partners like Arthur Alexander, Don Covay and P.F. Sloan on their gigs. When Tiven decided to assemble his own working unit, the first person he asked to participate was his wife Sally, who is equally at home on guitar or bass. The next to get the call was longtime friend Alan Merrill, a singer who had participated in several musical projects with the Tivens after distinguishing himself as the writer of Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll." The final piece of the puzzle came together in 1995 when Tiven met drummer Todd Snare on a recording session.
Calling themselves Jon Tiven's Ego Trip, they made a first album, Blue Guru, which was hailed by critics and radio alike, although the group name was later changed to simply the Jon Tiven Group. The group achieved a cult following here and abroad, while Jon and Sally picked up their share of recognition writing "Midnight Train" and "Heavy Love" for Buddy Guy,, "24-7" for Robert Cray (recorded by JTG on Blue Guru), and "Married To The Blues," "Has Anybody Seen My Man," and "Big Lovin' Woman" for Shemekia Copeland. In late 1998, they went into the studio to record a second album, Yes I Ram, for New West Records, and shortly thereafter Jon Tiven would get the call from Wilson Pickett to produce and write his new album. The Jon Tiven Group would become the core band on Wilson's first album in 12 years, It's Harder Now, due in September from Rounder Records.
Tiven characterizes Yes I Ram as more focused than the first album, but a little more experimental. "Blue Guru was recorded before we did any gigs - not that we're the most road-driven band in the world; but we had more of a feel for playing together this time, so we could stretch out on songs. It's more of a collaborative effort, even though it's very much my record." With guests like Simon Kirke (Free, Bad Company), Jim Carroll, Peter Wolf, Billie Ray Martin, and Sir Mack Rice, Tiven paints an even more diverse picture of his musical vision. "I wanted Yes I Ram to have two sides, like a record album; the first side is more blues, the second more soul and rock." Like the first album, Tiven wrote most of Yes I Ram with friends like Don Covay, Mick Taylor and Jim Carroll, although one of the songs is actually a cover. Van Morrison, who doesn't ordinarily let his unreleased material out for the public, gave the band a previously-unrecorded song from 1970 called "If You Rock Me." "I was flattered that he let us do it, as we love the song and are huge fans of his work," says Tiven. "Van was incredibly sweet to Sally and me, and treated us really well. I would like to think that we might be able to work together sometime in the future on a project...that would be amazing."
What does the future hold for Jon Tiven and his group? "Idle hands do the devil's work," says Tiven. In addition to some performance dates in support of the new album, Jon is busy producing an album by Sir Mack Rice scheduled for release early next year, and writing songs for upcoming albums by Koko Taylor (a duet with B.B. King), Tinsley Ellis, Shemekia Copeland and Son Seals, among others. He's also been supervising the live recordings for a new film about soul music by D.A. Pennebaker, tentatively titled "Only The Strong Survive."
Jon Tiven Group - Yes I Ram - New West Records - Release Date: September 21