[dl] Music

This past April, Bruce Springsteen did something unprecedented. During the encore of an arena show in Houston, Texas, he brought up cult Americana artist Alejandro Escovedo to perform. True, guest stars in Springsteen’s shows are not unusual. But the remarkable thing was that the song “the Boss” and his E Street Band chose to play wasn’t one of theirs but one of Escovedo’s. And it was from an album that was then still months away from release.

Such is the devotion that Escovedo -- who’s just released his eighth solo album, Real Animal-- inspires in his fellow artists. Springsteen is just one of his fans.When Escovedo was sidelined by a nearly fatal battle with hepatitis Cearlier this decade, some 31 musicians united to cover his songs on afund-raising 2004 tribute album called Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo. That kind of devotion has recently spurred film director Jonathan Demme to begin work on a documentary film about Escovedo.

Butwhile Escovedo’s following among musicians is solid, general audiencesmay still be catching on to him and his story. That’s where Real Animalwill come in handy. The album is something of a sonic autobiography.Its songs tell Escovedo’s tale, beginning with his birth in SanAntonio, moving on to his musical coming-of- age as a teen inCalifornia (where his family moved to when he was six), and then goinginto his adventures with a series of wild, colorful bands throughoutthe ’70s and ’80s. Escovedo’s remarkable journey included a run withthe shambolic punk outfit the Nuns, who opened the Sex Pistols’ finalshow in 1978 and later moved into New York City’s infamous HotelChelsea. (Escovedo was living there when notorious punk icon SidVicious killed his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen.) Escovedo eventuallyreturned to his Texas roots, playing with cow-punk combo Rank and Fileand, later, with the True Believers.

We asked the 57-year-old singer-songwriter to talk about Real Animal, literally the album of a lifetime.

Thealbum recounts your four decades of playing rock music. Does it feelstrange to have been playing that kind of music for so long? Keith Richards always said he wanted to learn how to grow up in rockand roll. And I think once you get past the glamour and money and allthat stuff, once you really get into the music, there’s no way you can notgrow up in rock and roll. If you’re a musician, that’s what you are --as well as Duke Ellington was, as Count Basie was. It’s silly to thinkof rock and roll as just a young man’s game. I don’t believe that to bethe truth.

I am older; I’m not 20 years old, and I don’t singsongs for kids. But I do feel that I do every aspect of my craft betternow than I’ve ever done before. So I feel lucky.

Did you have the concept for Real Animal from the outset, or did the songs come first?I decided early on that I wanted to make a record about my musicaljourney. Immediately, I knew I wanted to chronicle the life of thebands I’d been in -- the Nuns, Rank and File, the True Believers -- andthe people that I had met along the way. In a way, I know I’ll never bein a rock-and-roll band like those again. And I think that was part ofit for me -- to look back and try to understand that whole experience.

You wrote the songs with Chuck Prophet, a fellow rock-and-roll traveler. How did the two of you come up with material?We would just get together and hang out, really. We would talk and Iwould tell stories of the people in the bands I’d been in, and we’dtape all of that stuff. That would inspire an idea, and then we’d justkind of start riffing together on a certain lyric or phrase orcharacter. When we’d get stuck, we’d go back and listen to a lot of therecords that had influenced us -- David Bowie, Mott the Hoople, andT.Rex. So it was a great process, a great way to write.

Why did you enlist producer Tony Visconti, who has worked with David Bowie and T.Rex , to helm the project?Part of this record and this story was about going back to the sourceof what it was that inspired me. We spent a lot of time listening tothose great ’70s records and drawing from their influence. And Tonyactually produced a lot of those records. So, in a way, having him workon this brought the whole thing full circle.

Working on something so autobiographical, did you develop a different perspective on your experiences?I learned a lot about these characters and the people I hadn’t thoughtabout for a long time. I ended up having a lot more respect for thesheer act of wanting to be in a band, playing in a band, and the workthat it takes.

What was it like to debut “Always a Friend” onstage with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band?Oh, man! It was like driving a Ferrari. It was unbelievable. I brokethe land-speed limit. I told my managers afterward: “Those four minuteswere more important than the 33 years I’ve been playing music.” It waslike everything focused into that one thing, that one moment. Bruce wasvery generous and genuine about enjoying the song; the whole band was.That night, I had the best band in the world. It was really great.

You’veearned a lot of critical praise, and you’ve never seemed to crave popsuccess in your career. Is there anything you’re still missing at thispoint? I don’t want a lot more. I want for us to play as well aswe can, to stay healthy, to be able to make more records. That’s what Iwant. I’d love to be able to pay my bandmates better; they’ve been withme for so long. My drummer’s been with me for 25 years, and there hasbeen some drought during those years. I’d love to be able to take careof them. But whatever happens, I have to tell you that, for me, thesuccess has been that we’ve stuck to what we believe in and we’vealways played hard. I think that’s enough in itself.

TWO TO WATCH Make your television set happy with these TV shows. By John Ross DVD:Robot Chicken: Star Wars NECESSARY BACKGROUND: It’s a CartoonNetwork stop-motion animated show created by Matthew Senreich and Buffythe Vampire Slayer’s Seth Green. TECHNOLOGICALLY BACKWARD: Thesedays, computers that can (probably) think independently are making thebig-time action-movie scenes. But way back in the days of featheredhair and Farrah Fawcett, back when Star Wars was new, if you had tofilm something in outer space, you employed a guy, a plastic model,some fishing line, and stop-motion cameras -- just like Robot Chickendoes. YOU’D BETTER LIKE BONUSES: The episode is just less than 30 minutes long. The bonus features on the DVD are four times longer. AVAILABLE: July 22 TV SHOW:Flashpoint, CBS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH: USA Network’s Burn Notice. That one’s actually about a spy, and its second season premieres July 10. ALSONOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH: FX’s Rescue Me, which is about firefighters inNew York. You won’t be able to see its new season until 2009. THERE’SNO FIRE AT ALL: Despite the fiery title, Flashpoint is actually aboutother kinds of emergency responders: bomb squads, sniper units, andhostage rescuers. Basically, this is S.W.A.T., except that it’s filmedin Toronto rather than in L.A. and there are no characters named Hondoor Deacon. PREMIERES: July 11