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When Felix Cavaliere teamed up with Eddie Brigati, Gene Cornish and Dino Danelli to form The Rascals in 1965, nobody knew how far their harmonious sound would take them. Nearly 60 years later, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted band stands as one of the defining sounds of the late 60’s charts, and Cavaliere is still cranking out music from his Nashville home. His latest album is called “Then and Now,” and his People Got to Be Free Tour brings him to New York later this week to promote the new tunes. Cavaliere appeared on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program to discuss why the drive to hit the road and make music is still so alluring after all these years.
“Well, I’ve gotta be home and I’ve gotta take out the garbage and all that stuff; I don’t want to do that,” Cavaliere joked with Berman and Riedel. “I came down here [to Nashville] to write because [of] the creative process. Literally, that’s what stopped me from classical music, is that I thought too much. Beethoven was long gone and I’m still playing. I’m breathing his notes and I wanted to do my own notes. I just really loved making music.”
The Westchester-bred Cavaliere says he may not have followed the path his mother would have preferred, but he has no regrets with where it eventually led. “Well, it’s a long story, but to make it [short], my mom wanted me to be a classical musician; I wanted to be a pop musician. So there you go. But it was fun, man, it was great. I got a great education growing up in Pelham, a New Yorker top to bottom, man.”
Felix Cavaliere will be appearing with fellow Rascal Gene Cornish at Sony Hall, 235 West 46th Street, on Friday, May 17th. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com.
Photo Credit: Getty Images