Rock & Roll High School With Pete Ganbarg
Pure Tone Music
Season 5 Out Now!Rock & Roll High School is an interview series that tells the story of contemporary music one artist at a time - in their own words.Hosted by Pete Ganbarg--------------------------------------About Pete:Pete Ganbarg has been doing major label A&R for over 35 years. He's a 2X Grammy award winning record producer as well as a member of the board of directors of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Pete has held senior A&R positions at Atlantic, Arista, Epic and SBK/EMI and is currently the president of Pure Tone Music.As a music publisher, Pete operates Songs With A Pure Tone and Margetts Road Music, joint ventures currently in partnership with Warner Chappell Music. Songs published by Pure Tone include 2024's Grammy winning Record of the Year, "Flowers" by Miley Cyrus, the global #1 "Ordinary" by Alex Warren, as well as hits by Benson Boone, Justin Bieber, Maroon 5, Katy Perry, OneRepublic, Charli XCX, Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran, Andy Grammer, Lizzo, Beyoncé, and more.Pete is the recipient of two Grammy Awards for his role as producer on the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Dear Evan Hansen and the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Jagged Little Pill. At Atlantic, among the artists and projects that Pete has overseen are twenty one pilots, Halestorm, Jason Mraz, Christina Perri, Melanie Martinez, Skillet, GAYLE, Brett Eldredge, Matchbox Twenty & Rob Thomas, Theory Of A Deadman, and Icona Pop; as well as the Original Broadway Cast Recordings of Hamilton, Mean Girls, Jagged Little Pill, Dear Evan Hansen, and the multi-platinum Billboard No. 1 soundtrack album The Greatest Showman.Pete began his A&R career in 1989 at SBK Records. In 1997, he joined Clive Davis at Arista Records, where, as Senior Director of A&R, he conceived and A&R’d Santana’s 30x platinum worldwide, nine-time GRAMMY-winning album, Supernatural. Additionally, Pete was named International Music Person Of The Year in 2023 by the music industry organization MUSEXPO.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Aug 3, 2023 • 1h 11min
Holly Knight
A vital force behind the sound of some of rock’s most powerful female artists, like Tina Turner & Pat Benatar among others, singer/songwriter Holly Knight’s iconic musical imprint is woven into the very fabric of the MTV generation. Throughout the 1980s, she composed anthems including "Better Be Good To Me, "The Best," "Love is A Battlefield," and many others that have become the soundtrack for millions of people’s lives, and created and crafted empowering odes to independence, liberation, and equality. In 2013, Holly was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jul 20, 2023 • 1h 20min
Felix Cavaliere (The Rascals)
A founding member of The Rascals (AKA The Young Rascals), Felix is an inductee of the Songwriters, Rock and Roll, Hammond, Hit Parade, and Musicians halls of fame. Playing organ and piano with The Rascals, he frequently collaborated with bandmate Eddie Brigati to write some of the band’s most successful songs, such as “How Can I Be Sure?,” “I’ve Been Too Lonely Too Long,” “A Beautiful Morning,” and “Groovin’.” The band had 3 #1 Billboard Hot 100 hits including “Good Lovin’,” a song that the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame has included on its list of the 500 songs that shaped Rock & Roll. Their Civil Rights anthem “People Got To Be Free” became their final No. 1 track in both the U.S. and Canada. Felix went on to release six solo albums, be a touring member of Ringo Starr’s third All-Starr Band, perform with Billy Joel, record an album with Steve Cropper, and starred in a heralded Broadway musical revue, Once Upon A Dream, in 2013. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jul 6, 2023 • 1h 20min
Steve Cropper
Ranked among Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time and named The World’s Greatest Living Guitar Player by Mojo magazine, Steve is a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s, the Mar-Keys, and the Blues Brothers. As a songwriter, he’s co-written some of the biggest songs of all time including Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour,” Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood,” and Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” Over his celebrated career, Steve has worked with Sam & Dave, Stevie Wonder, Carla Thomas, Neil Young, Rod Stewart, José Feliciano, Jeff Beck, Johnny Cash, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, John Lennon, Tom Petty, and countless others. In 1992, Steve (as part of Booker T. & the M.G.’s) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2005, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jun 22, 2023 • 1h 10min
Lou Christie
One of the few solo artists from the 1960’s to have co-written nearly all of his songs and created his own original sound, Lou Christie’s chart-topping, multi-million selling career as a songwriter, recording artist and performer started at the tender age of 18. He co-wrote and released his first Gold record, 1962’s “The Gypsy Cried”, followed quickly by “Two Faces Have I”, a Top 5 pop hit in 1963, transforming him into a national teen idol. In 1966, Christie forever embedded himself and his trademark high-falsetto voice into America’s consciousness with “Lightnin’ Strikes”, a platinum-plus single which hit the top of the Billboard pop charts as well as the UK Top 20 and remains a radio and streaming staple today. More hits followed including 1966’s controversial “Rhapsody In The Rain” and 1969’s Top 10 “I’m Gonna Make You Mine”. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jun 8, 2023 • 48min
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams has the reputation of being one the most exciting live musicians in the world. His energetic vocals and stage presence have proven to entertain for over 40 years. With 17 studio albums, and four new studio albums in 2022 (including, Grammy Nominee “So Happy It Hurts” and “Pretty Woman – The Musical”), his song writing has garnered him numerous awards and accolades including three Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, a Grammy Award and 20 Juno Awards.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jun 7, 2023 • 1min
Coming This Week: Bryan Adams
Ahead of our exclusive interview with Bryan Adams, coming this Thursday, Bryan tells us about his amazing history working with the legendary Tina Turner. Tune in Thursday for the entire episode.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
May 25, 2023 • 55min
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter
Jeff “Skunk” Baxter has been called ‘the most interesting man in music’ by NPR and it’s not hard to figure out why. A virtuoso guitar player and member of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, Skunk is a founding member of the iconic Steely Dan, and later joined The Doobie Brothers, bringing his friend Michael McDonald into the band as their new lead singer, leading to the height of their commercial success. His playing on songs like “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” and “What A Fool Believes” are just two stellar examples of his work with those groups. As an in-demand session player, Jeff’s guitar work can be heard all over all-time iconic classics like the solos on Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls” & “Hot Stuff;” Dolly Parton’s “9 To 5” and classics by Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart and Joni Mitchell. On top of all that, Jeff is also a ballistic missile defense specialist and a counter-terrorism expert who works as a consultant for the US Department of Defense - shattering the stereotype of your typical Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame guitar player.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
May 11, 2023 • 1h 4min
Justin Hayward (Moody Blues)
Justin Hayward’s voice has been heard the world over. Known principally as the vocalist, lead guitarist and composer for the innovating and trail blazing band Moody Blues, Justin Hayward is an enduring talent that has helped to define the times in which he worked. Over the last forty-five years the band has sold over seventy million albums and in 2018 they were inducted into the legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Apr 27, 2023 • 1h 7min
Lamont Dozier
An exclusive never-before-heard interview with legendary songwriter, producer and recording artist, Lamont Dozier, one of the primary architects of the Motown Sound, one-third of Holland-Dozier-Holland and responsible for writing and producing over 54 #1 hits for The Supremes, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations and a host of others. Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame (from which he received the 2009 Johnny Mercer Award), he was named Best New Male Pop Vocalist from Billboard and earned a GRAMMY Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Brit Award, Britain’s distinguished Ivor Novello honor and an Oscar nomination for the song, “Two Hearts,” his collaboration with Phil Collins for the soundtrack for Buster. In 2007, Lamont received the prestigious Thornton Legacy Award from USC, where he served as an Artist in Residence professor for the Popular Music program through the distinguished Thornton School of Music, which has established the highly sought after “Lamont Dozier Scholarship” in perpetuity.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Apr 13, 2023 • 52min
Ann Wilson (Heart)
For this first episode of Season 3, we are joined by Ann Wilson. Known the world over as a founder and the lead singer-songwriter of the barrier-breaking band Heart, she is widely praised among the greatest singers in the history of rock. Her extraordinarily powerful voice has been sending chills down her audience’s collective spine for over five decades, earning record sales of more than $35 million, an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award. “Barracuda,” “Crazy On You,” and “Magic Man” are among the many songs she’s written that now reside in the pantheon of rock’s greatest hits. This past year, Ann sang with Disturbed’s front man David Draiman on the duet, “Don’t Tell Me" from their recently released Divisive album, and lent her voice to Dolly Parton’s forthcoming rock record. From Dreamboat Annie to Disturbed, to Dolly Parton and beyond, Ann Wilson defies genre. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
