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An Interview With Bob Kulick, Producer of "Butchering the Beatles"

We're pretty big Beatles fans here at ARTISTdirect, so when a copy of Butchering the Beatles: A Headbashing Tribute found its way into our offices, we were inclined to receive it like a flea-ridden stray cat. But we finally decided to give it a spin, and damned if there aren't some great covers of old Beatles classics on here, done by such a who's who of hard rock luminaries you need a magnifying glass to read the album credits. Here's a very partial list of the people involved in the 12 little supergroups producers Bob Kulick and Brett Chassen assembled for each of the album's 12 tracks: Alice Cooper, Lemmy Kilmister, Billy Idol, Tommy Shaw, Steve Vai, CC Deville. Dude, even Yngwie freakin' Malmsteen shows up! All-star casts don't get much more all-star than this.

We were curious to learn more about this unusual and ambitious project, so we tracked down producer Bob Kulick and asked him how Butchering the Beatles became a reality.

What first gave you the idea of doing an all-metal album of Beatles covers?

I won a Grammy for producing Motorhead's slamming version of "Whiplash" on a Metallica tribute I did. It's one thing to take a heavy song and do another different but heavy version of that song, buts it's another thing to take these classic Beatles pop songs -- like "I Feel Fine," "Magical Mystery Tour," "Hey Jude," "Daytripper," etc. -- and turn them into heavy songs performed by some of the greatest artists of the metal and hard rock genres. It seemed like an awesome concept.

There are 12 tracks on the album featuring over 50 artists in various configurations. How long did it take to line up all the talent for this project?

One and a half years. We started with Lemmy, Eric Singer and John 5 doing "Back in the USSR" and finished with Billy Idol, Steve Stevens and co. doing "Tomorrow Never Knows."

Hearing Alice Cooper, Steve Vai and Duff McKagan on the same track is pretty amazing. Any other musical combinations on here that you were especially psyched to have come together (er, no pun intended)?

"Magical Mystery Tour" with the reunion of Jeff Scott Soto and Yngwie.

The combo Dio/Queensryche version of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds."

Steve Ferone and Tony Levin and Steve Lukather on "Taxman."

Why no "Helter Skelter"? Too obvious?

Too overdone....We tried to do some of the lesser known or esoteric songs like "Hey Bulldog" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" and some hits: "Revolution," "Hey Jude," "I Feel Fine," "I Saw her Standing There."

Who chose the songs featured? Was it you, the other musicians involved, or a combination?

My partner Brett Chassen and I pick most of the songs and matching artists. But Alice Cooper picked "Hey Bulldog" and Billy Idol picked "Tomorrow Never Knows" and both were perfect choices!

I love the album cover, by the way. A play on a famous banned Beatles cover, right?

Yes, it's a parody of the classic Beatles "Butcher" cover -- which by the way was meant to protest the Vietnam War.

Did any songs get recorded that didn't make the final cut?

Yes -- "Sgt Pepper." It will be the first song on Volume 2!!

Have you heard about this "LOVE" project that George Martin put together for Cirque du Soleil? Which do you think is truer to the spirit of the Beatles: hard rock or a Vegas circus act?

Yes, I hear it's awesome, especially the 5.1 mix. George Martin is a genius. Both are true to the spirit of Beatles.

Have you gotten any feedback from anyone in the Beatles camp -- Paul, Ringo, Yoko, etc.?

Not yet but I will.

On a more personal note: What's your most memorable childhood moment that you associate with a Beatles song?

Seeing the Beatles at Shea Stadium 1966, hearing only pieces of songs because of all the screaming girls. But I recall "Baby's in Black" and "Paperback Writer" as two I could make out and they sounded amazing!!

Butchering the Beatles: A Headbashing Tribute is available now in the ARTISTdirect Store.