An interview with Will Lee of The Fab Faux

You've seen him at convention, on stage with George Harrison at the Albert Hall and on the David Letterman Show, and you've probably heard him on albums from artistes as diverse as Burt Bacharach to Cindy Lauper. But how did a little boy from Texas become one of the most talented bassists in the world?

Will grew up in San Antonio, Texas, his father was a professional musician and educator and his mother a big band singer. His parents encouraged his love of music, and he had lessons for a variety of instruments including trumpet, piano, French horn and violin. The family moved to Miami, and at the age of twelve a television programme changed Will's life. The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. It was rare to see bands performing close up - 40 years ago there was no such thing as MTV! Will was captivated by Ringo, perched up above Paul, John and George behind his drum kit; it was the inspiration he needed to take to the sticks, and he began to teach himself to play the drums.

Will formed a group called 'The Chances R', who played what he describes as "Surf music without microphones!" After a short time playing local clubs Will took over on bass and was able to buy his dream white Fender precision bass with the money he was earning with the band. He took his influences from 'every sound he ever heard', especially Rhythm and Blues, Stevie Wonder and The Rascals. Will went on to study the French horn and bass at the University of Miami, while continuing to play with various local bands each night. His reputation soon spread and he moved to New York, where he worked with many great artistes and was invited to tour with the likes of Barry Manilow and Bette Midler.

His first ever job as a session musician was with Denny Seiwell, who had worked with Paul McCartney in Wings. It was a sign that the Beatles would play a major part in Will's life!! In the spring of 1976 Will was asked by Arif Mardin to provide the bass overdubs for the album he was currently producing - Ringo's Rotogravure. The song Will worked on, 'Cookin' (In The Kitchen Of Love)', was written by John Lennon. Unfortunately, although John provided the piano part for the song, they never met. George Harrison invited Will to play at his first ever UK gig since the Beatles played on the Apple rooftop, at the Royal Albert Hall on April 6th 1992. Will recalls an unforgettable evening - they played 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' with Ringo on drums, and Gary Moore on guitar. He even duetted with George on 'Roll Over Beethoven', (he was the only band member to know all the words as he had recently recorded the song for the movie 'Beethoven'!).

He finally worked with Paul McCartney in 1998 when Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band were unsure if Macca would actually get up and play with them, and Will commented to Paul, "I f***ed up by not bringing my left-handed (Hofner) bass, didn't I?!" Paul's reply was, "Yeah, you really messed up this time!" "The show was great", recalls Will, "especially when Billy Joel, who was playing the piano, started to play the opening chords to 'Let It Be'. Paul was about to leave the stage and Billy just kept playing those chords over and over again. Eventually Paul gave in and sang!" It was one of those spine-tingling moments!

In 1981 Will was asked by Paul Shaffer to be a part of the house band for a new TV show. They were to provide instrumental links of Beatles, James Brown and Motown songs for a 13-week run of the Late Show hosted by David Letterman. 20 Years later Will, Paul and Dave are still entertaining households across the USA and the world every weeknight!!

A few years ago, on New Years Eve Will was at a party in Bermuda and picked up an acoustic guitar and began to play- he noticed that every tune he played was a Beatles song. About a month later he was back in New York playing The China Club on tour with Hiram Bullock and Rich Pagano. Rich and Will found they had the love of the Beatles in common and traded quotes and licks while playing. Will approached the booker of the China Club and asked him "If I get a Beatles band together, will you put us on?" The booker said he would. Will contacted Rich and between them they came up with Jimmy Vivino, Frank Agnello (the biggest Beatlefan Rich knew!) and Jack Petruzzelli to complete the group. "The idea", explains Will, "was to see how close we could get to the Beatles later stuff - the songs they never intended to perform live!"

The first rehearsal took place at Will's house and the first song they attempted was 'Because', to establish their harmonies and vocals parts. They sing most songs using this arrangement - generally, from top to bottom it is; Jack, Rich, Frank, Jimmy and Will.

On 3rd April 1998, The Fab Faux gave their first ever performance at the China Club. That evening was a success and they were immediately booked for more gigs. They moved onto The Elbow Room in June 1999 and then The Bowery Ballroom where they still play. Although, due to the individual members' commitments, the Faux don't play together very often, they always sell-out their shows! In fact, according to their website, they have only played 32 dates as The Fab Faux in 3 years - see how lucky we are to see them for a whole weekend at Convention each year! They have been invited to play at several prestigious events and parties including May Pang's and a member of Aerosmith's birthdays, and most recently an MTV Benefit for The Caron Foundation at the Hammerstein Ballroom, New York.

Will continues a very busy schedule juggling his commitments to the Letterman Show with many other projects. He released a solo album entitled 'Oh!' on Go Jazz, in Japan, and Europe, which is finally being released in the US in June 2001! (You can buy it online at www.amazon.com or http://uk.towerrecords.com)

At present he is working on The Fab Faux album, as well as designing synthesiser sounds for the Faux to use in their stage shows, and as if that wasn't enough he is also working on some more TV commercials. However, all this is on hold for a couple of weeks as he is currently touring Japan with Hiram Bullock and Edgar Winter.

And then in August he is returning to Liverpool for the Fab Faux's third convention. This year they will be working with The Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra to recreate the Beatles songs live, with even more accuracy than before. It's an event which all the band are looking forward to - and as Will himself said onstage last year; "We LOVE Liverpool". And Liverpool loves The Fab Faux too!

Nina Douglas
TWIL Issue Four May 2001