Back in the big-budget glory days of record making during the 1980s and ‘90s, Tim Pierce didn’t exactly travel light. In fact, he estimates that he would routinely bring upwards of 50 guitars to tracking dates. Not that he schlepped his guitars around himself, mind you — as one of the L.A.’s first-call studio aces, he had a cartage company do the heavy lifting.
“We had quite an arms race in our neighborhood,” he says. “People would go, ‘Okay, that sounds good, but do you have a Fender Jazzmaster? Do you have an old Tele? How about an old Supro baritone? Let's try 12-string on this. Say, what acoustics do you have?’ If I didn't bring everything and they asked for something, I’d have this sinking feeling because I wanted to say yes to every request. ‘Do you have an old Jaguar? How about a Gretsch?’ It was endless.”
Pierce’s recording discography is mind-boggling stuff, boasting names like Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, Joe Cocker, Don Henley, Madonna and loads more. Not bad for a guy who left his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, at age 18 with a fairly modest goal. “All I wanted was to move 800 miles west, come to L.A. and work as a musician,” he says.
Throughout much of the ‘80s, Pierce toured and recorded with Rick Springfield, but by the end of the decade he opted to focus on studio work. “The great thing about session work is that you're not married to a group of musicians who might not have your interests at heart,” he says. “It's wonderful to basically stay in one place and work with your heroes. Once I got a taste of it, I was happy.”
In stark contrast to guitarists who strive for a recognizable sound and style, Pierce claims that one of his biggest assets has been a chameleon-like approach to playing. “I grew up on Top 40 radio in the ‘60s,” he says. “You had the Beatles, Petulia Clark, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, Grand Funk Railroad, the Mamas and the Papas — every style of music. I found that I needed to know how to change my sound and my guitar to play pop or rock or country or soul. Versatility was a requirement.”
He adds that a certain amount of intuitiveness also goes a long way. “You try to be smart enough to judge what the artist wants from the guitar,” he says. “Do they want it big and distorted? Do they want it clean and in the background? These are decisions you have to make, often in the first few minutes. Sometimes you’ll play something that you believe in with all of your being, and they’ll say, ‘Nah, we don’t like that. What else you got?’ Your ego gets crushed, but you have to bring it back and try something different.”
And as he reveals below, sometimes you have to force the issue by showing up prepared to do more than you were asked to. That, Pierce explains, is all about making the most out of each session gig — and, as experience has shown him, getting called back to do more.
“RUNAWAY” — BON JOVI
“Jon knew me because I’d spent eight weeks in New York doing a John Waite record at the Power Station. At the time, Jon was living in an apartment upstairs; he’d clean the studio and work as an intern because his cousin Tony [Bongiovi] owned the studio. When it came time for Jon to do demos, he put together a group of mostly local musicians, like Roy Bittan from the E Street Band.
“I was in New York again working with Rick Springfield, and I was able to do the sessions for Jon. We did maybe eight master demos. I played all the guitars on ‘Runaway’ with a Les Paul through Marshalls that were at the studio. I also used a Schecter Strat — you can hear a dive bomb on one of the rhythm parts. The basic track probably went down in three or four hours, and I did overdubs on another day.
“When they went in to do the album, they probably re-recorded it, but it didn’t have the magic of the demo. This was the first single off the album. We were credited on the record as ‘the All-Star Revue.’ The thing about Jon at that moment was, he was 18 years old and knew exactly what he wanted. It was like, ‘I’m going to be a rock star, and I’m not stopping.’ Much later, he formed his band. He asked me if there were any L.A. musicians to consider, and I gave him some names. But he put together his band of brothers in New Jersey, and Richie Sambora was the perfect choice.”
“DON’T DREAM IT’S OVER” — CROWDED HOUSE
“I was working with producer Mitchell Froom. He told me he had a band coming in from Australia called Crowded House, and he wasn’t sure if the frontman, Neil Finn, could record at the level we were used to. He wanted me on the sessions as insurance because he knew I could do reliable studio work. As it turned out, Neil could play great.
“I got a cassette of the songs and did some prep. The band came in and we rehearsed together for two weeks. It was a really joyful experience. They were great guys, super funny, and I sort of joined the band for that time. Neither Mitchell nor Neil gave me direction on what they wanted me to play — I had total freedom. Everything you hear me playing came from me.
“We cut the song live off the floor, though we did some overdubs. I can’t remember which guitar Neil used, but I played a Stratocaster. People assume that I played the intro of the song, and I’m always quick to correct them, ‘That’s Neil.’ He opens the song, and I do a lot of ambient fills. That’s him playing the solo, too. They didn’t exactly need me, but they loved having me there. Our two guitars together — it was magic. I think I added nice colors to that song and on the album.”
“BLACK OR WHITE” — MICHAEL JACKSON
“Bill Bottrell was the producer for Dangerous. I had done a record with him, Pat Leonard and some other musicians called Toy Matinee. It turned out great, and Bill called me up about ‘Black or White.’ He said, ‘Michael Jackson is in love with the Motley Crue song ‘Dr. Feelgood.’ We’d like you to come in and play something that’s inspired by it on the bridge.
“We were at Record One in Sherman Oaks. Bill had played the guitar part at the beginning, so here was another instance where I’m in the room with another great guitar player who’s producing. Michael wasn’t there — he had his own lounge in another room, where he would relax and make phone calls. Bill already had a sound going, so he plugged me into a Bogner Ecstasy, and I came up with something inspired by the riff on ‘Dr. Feelgood.’ It took five, maybe seven minutes. It had to be instant. People have no patience: You either deliver your guitar part immediately or people lose interest and move on to something else.
“Michael came in and immediately loved it. He was a real gentleman. He looked me in the eye the whole time, and that’s as good as it gets. He was very curious about my pedalboard. You have to understand that when you worked on something like that, Michael was surrounded by the best musicians in the world every single day of his life. It was commonplace for him. Everything that was delivered to him every minute of every day was the most fantastic things from the best players in the world. He was very sweet and nice, very normal, supportive and personable.”
“IRIS” — GOO GOO DOLLS
![Goo Goo Dolls – Iris [Official Music Video] [4K Remaster] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NdYWuo9OFAw/maxresdefault.jpg)
“They had tried to get Dean Parks to play mandolin on the song [from Dizzy Up the Girl], but he couldn’t make it. I got a call asking me if I could do it, and seeing as the studio was Record One and I could have walked to it, I said, ‘Sure. I’ll come by and play mandolin.’ Now, in my mind, I thought, ‘This is a rock band. I’m not going to show up carrying a tiny mandolin case. I’m going to bring my rig and try to do some electric guitar.’ I called cartage and had them bring all my electric guitars and gear to the studio.
“I went in to do the mandolin part on a song I’d never heard before. I was alone at the microphone in this studio big enough for an orchestra, and everybody else was in the control room. It was pretty nerve-racking. I did three mandolin passes, which everybody liked. I went into the control room, and Rob Cavallo, the producer, looked at my gear and said, ‘We’ve got this other section — wanna try your hand at a solo?’ I said, ‘Sure.’ My secret plan was working.
“I had my Les Paul, a [Crowther] Hot Cake boost and a Matchless amp. I thought, ‘They’re not going to want typical guitar player licks,’ so I picked up a slide and played a very simple but melodic solo, all in one take. Rob is a great guitar player himself, so we worked on the ending a little bit, those last two bars; he helped me find a simple thing to do at the end.
“I found out later that the band was annoyed at me for bringing all my gear, but Rob was open-minded and said, ‘Let him play something on electric, and we’ll see what happens.’ And it started a love affair between me and the guys in the Goo Goo Dolls that's never ended. ‘Iris’ is the biggest song I've ever played on. In some ways, it might be one of the best songs I've ever played on.”
“YOU’LL BE IN MY HEART” — PHIL COLLINS
“This is what happens when you do the right thing on a Goo Goo Dolls session: You meet Rob Cavallo, who hires you for all of his records. We were doing lots of big artists, and I was super excited. Rob was producing Phil Collins’ music for the movie Tarzan, and I was part of his crew at that point. I remember walking into the session and there was Phil tuning his drums. It was the sound you hear on ‘In the Air Tonight.’ I got chills — I was about to spend the day tracking with Phil Collins!
“We worked on the song — me and another guitarist, Mark Goldenberg. I owned a Gibson ES-175 with P-90 ‘dog ear’ pickups. That's what I used on the song, and I probably used a Vox AC30. We had some trouble with the arrangement at the beginning, but it kind of fell together all at once. Once again, I had no input from anybody. This was 100 percent me creating with total freedom. My basic approach was Mike Campbell from the Heartbreakers. I wanted to give Phil something in the realm of the Beatles and Tom Petty — organic, slightly gained-up rhythm guitar.
“Phil loved what we were doing. I think he was in heaven at what he was hearing. He was very grateful to all of us for helping him win an Oscar, which meant a lot to him — he used to be a child actor. This song started five years of my doing session work with Phil. I went to Switzerland and did a solo record with him. I have to pinch myself for that.”
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