Dick and Brian make their first new album since the 1980s
BY LYNN SAXBERG, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN – FEBRUARY 20, 2010
The Cooper Brothers were hanging out backstage at Bluesfest’s main stage a couple of summers ago, schmoozing with James Taylor and Boz Scaggs, when something hit Dick Cooper.
“That’s when I got the bug again,” says the guitarist and songwriter, describing the moment he decided to plunge back into music. “It coincided with me leaving my day job. Just not working 9 to 5 anymore, I started writing songs.”
Until then, Dick and his brother Brian had been slowly getting back into playing live. In 2006, they released a greatest-hits album that included Rock ‘n’ Roll Cowboys and Dream Never Dies, and reassembled the band. The feel-good harmonies and inventive country-rock inspired fans to come out of the woodwork, reminiscing about the days, nearly 30 years ago, when the Coopers were considered Canada’s answer to the Eagles. In hometown Ottawa, they were rock stars.
Plenty of bands would be willing to milk this nostalgia factor indefinitely, but Dick Cooper got restless. Over a period of 18 months or so, he cranked out a couple of dozen songs, more than enough for an album.
Twelve of them are on Come In From The Cold, the band’s first new album since the early 1980s. Recorded in Nashville, produced by Colin Linden and featuring guest contributions by the likes of Jim Cuddy and Delbert McClinton, it’s a well-executed feast of roots rock that would fit on the table with bands like Blue Rodeo and The Band. The Cooper Brothers will celebrate its release on Feb. 27 with a concert at Centrepointe Theatre.
For Dick, it was the first time he was able to write without a label looking over his shoulder.
“We always had a record company dictating what we should do, the direction we should go. ‘Write more commercial, we need a hit record.’ With this one, there was none of that. It was just me in my backyard writing songs.”
As he began bringing new songs like Hard Luck Girl and Tear Down the Walls to the rest of the band, excitement built.
“We thought, ‘It’s good to have him back,’” says Brian Cooper, who plays bass and sings lead in the band. “He should have been doing that for the last 30 years, but life gets in the way and stuff happens.”
Topping the list of distractions was the need to make a living. Dick was a creative director and Brian got a job with the public service. Dick retired a few years back; Brian is still working. Both brothers are in their 50s.
These days the live configuration of the Cooper Brothers also includes three talented Ottawa musicians of a younger generation. With Tyler Kealey, Darwin Demers and Jeff Rogers in the group, the music never gets stale and rehearsals are fun. “It’s like taking your son to work every day,” says Dick.
While making music still has magic for the Coopers, wading back into the music business does not. The fickle industry was a big part of the reason the band members went their separate ways in the early 1980s.
“We had a few hard knocks with Capricorn and another label, and for some reason you kind of equate that with the music. But it’s not really the music, it’s the music business,” says Dick.
“You kind of get bitter about the whole thing. The reason we’re excited is the music. The music business still sucks. We’re not under any illusions about that, but at least at this stage we’re still excited about the music.”
Despite the challenges of the industry, one thing that may work in the band’s favour is the growing popularity of Americana radio stations. Found mostly in the United States, they specialize in a style of music that lands on the rootsy side of the spectrum, often with a twang and a singer-songwriter bent. It bodes well for the future that the Coopers sound more Americana than most Americans.
The Cooper Brothers
With: Colin Linden and Jonas
When: 8 p.m. Feb. 27
Where: Centrepointe Theatre
Tickets: $39.75 through Capital Tickets, www.capitaltickets.ca or 613-599-3267
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