LITA FORD On Covering 'The Bitch Is Back' - "We Got The Thumbs Up From ELTON JOHN, Which Was Great"
June 4, 2012, 12 years ago
Legendary female guitar icon LITA FORD is featured in a new interview with Niclas Müller-Hansen at Sweden's Metalshrine. An excerpt is available below:
Q: You´re gonna do the DEF LEPPARD / POISON tour. FOrty dates in the US and that will probably a total blast, but are there any plans for Europe and Scandinavia?
Lita: "So far all we have the US, very few parts of Canada and one show in Mexico City, which I´m not even sure if we´re gonna do that one. I know Poison and Def Leppard are doing it, but it´s a bit far for us and it´s only one show. That takes us into mid September, so we still have the fall. Maybe will come to Europe in the fall and if not the fall, the beginning of 2013 for sure. We´ll be out there for this record. This record is gonna have a lot of life because there´s so many good songs on it, plus you haven´t hears the bonus tracks. The bonus tracks are rocking. There´s not a bad song on this record, there is just not. You know, some records have one really great song and then the rest of the songs are just fillers. The problem with this album is that there are no fillers, which is a great problem to have."
Q: The Elton John song, 'The Bitch Is Back', were you in touch with Elton about doing it?
Lita: "I had already recorded it. As a matter of fact, we just got done mixing it and I´d heard that Elton John was playing right next to my house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and I had to go see him. I said 'Is there any way we can send him an MP3 of the track so he can hear it before I get there?', so we sent him over an MP3 and his tour manager listened to it and wrote back right away and said 'This is one rocking track!' and I went backstage and I told Elton John that we´d covered 'The Bitch Is Back' and he said 'That´s my song, you know?' (laughs) and I said 'Yes Elton, I know. Thank you for letting me do your song.' And he said 'Thank you for doing my song..' In other words we got the thumbs up from Elton John, which was great."
Click here for the complete interview.
Ford's new album, Living Like A Runaway, will be released June 19th in North America via SPV/Steamhammer. The album will be available in four configurations: a double LP, limited edition CD, standard CD and digital download.
Today the artwork for the album, created by famed rock photographer Mark Weiss, has been unveiled, as well as the tracklisting for all four versions of Living Like A Runaway. Details can be viewed below:
Standard Jewel Case Version:
'Branded'
'Hate'
'The Mask'
'Living Like A Runaway'
'Relentless'
'Mother'
'Devil In My Head'
'Asylum'
'Love 2 Hate U'
'A Song To Slit Your Wrists By'
Limited Edition Digipak Version:
'Branded'
'Hate'
'The Mask'
'Living Like A Runaway'
'Relentless'
'Mother'
'Devil In My Head'
'Asylum'
'Love 2 Hate U'
'A Song To Slit Your Wrists By'
Bonus Tracks:
'Bad Neighborhood'
'The Bitch Is Back'
Exclusive iTunes Version:
'Branded'
'Hate'
'The Mask'
'Living Like A Runaway'
'Relentless'
'Mother'
'Devil In My Head'
'Asylum'
'Love 2 Hate U'
'A Song To Slit Your Wrists By'
Exclusive iTunes Bonus Track:
'Boiling Point'
Double Gatefold LP Version:
LP Side 1:
'Branded'
'Hate'
'The Mask'
LP Side 2:
'Relentless'
'Devil In My Head'
'Asylum'
LP Side 3:
'Living Like A Runaway'
'Mother'
'A Song To Slit Your Wrists By'
LP Side 4:
'Love 2 Hate You'
Bonus Tracks:
'Bad Neighborhood'
'The Bitch Is Back'
Lita Ford has teamed up with producer Gary Hoey and lyricist Michael Dan Ehmig to work on Living Like A Runaway. Together the team invested a lot of time and effort into this kick ass project: "We worked on the lyrics intensively to really give the songs a lot of meaning and that special emotional depth. I think that these are some of the best lyrics ever, period." Ford is referring to numbers such as 'Devil In My Head', 'Hate', and 'The Asylum', which see her bare her soul in a way which she has never done before.
Unlike many albums today, Living Like A Runaway is an album that truly must be heard in its entirety from start to finish. "Listeners shouldn't pick out individual tracks but listen to the full album," says Ford. "It's a fascinating musical journey, inspired by PINK FLOYD's Dark Side Of The Moon. I had seen a documentary about Dark Side Of The Moon and it really motivated me to focus on Living Like a Runawayas a whole journey rather just an individual song."
Coinciding with the album's release, Lita is hitting the road this summer with DEF LEPPARD and POISON on the Rock Of Ages Tour. The dates are listed below:
Lita Ford on Tour With Def Leppard and Poison:
June
20 - Salt Lake City, UT - USANA Amphitheater22 - Irvine, CA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
23 - Las Vegas, NV - Red Rock Amphitheatre
25 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
27 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
29 - Atlanta, GA - Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
30 - Tampa, FL - Tampa Bay Times Forum
July
2 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center3 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
6 - Cleveland, OH - Quickens Loan Arena
7 - Detroit, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre
10 - Baltimore, MD - Merriweather Pavilion
11 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
13 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon at Jones Beach Pavilion
16 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
17 - Hamilton, ON - Copps Coliseum
19 - Chicago, IL - Allstate Arena
22 - Cadott, WI - Rock Fest
August
9 - Sunrise, Florida Bank Atlantic Center18 - Boston, MA - Comcast Center
22- Bangor ME - Bangor Waterfront Pavilion
25 - St. Louis, MO - Chaifetz Arena31 - Oklahoma City, OK - Zoo Amphitheatre