Mr. Big

Eric Martin * Billy Sheehan * Pat Torpey * Richie Kotzen

“Y’know, you get lemons, you make lemonade. It’s something I say to myself a lot: “Just get over it.” – Eric Martin

Any true hiatus has a beginning, middle, and end… And for Mr. Big, it was time for their two-year sabbatical to come to an end. Now firmly back in the go-zone, Mr. Big releases the much-anticipated “GET OVER IT,” the start of a self-described “Big new chapter” that serves as the formal introduction to new guitarist Richie Kotzen.

Our story picks up in 1997, a year of personal exploration for the members of the hitmaking California-based rock quartet. After performing that winter on a pair of top-rated Japanese television specials, the guys packed their bags and went amicably off in four separate directions in order to rest, rejuvenate, and record.

“We needed a major break,” says vocalist/guitarist Eric Martin. “I knew we needed to stop playing for a while. The band had been on the road for a long time and we needed to spend some real time with our families. We also each had new things we wanted to try.”

“New things” resulted in Martin contributing his “I Love The Way You Love Me” track to the “MUSIC FROM AND INSPIRED BY THE TELEVISION SERIES MAD ABOUT YOU” compilation followed by in 1998 his Atlantic solo album, “SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE.” In making his own 1998 solo debut with “ODD MAN OUT,” drummer Pat Torpey revealed himself to be a talented singer as well as a songwriter while welcoming such studio guests as Matt Sorum and Billy Duffy. Pat’s already completed second album, “Y2K,” is slated for release later this year.

During the time off, ever-busy bassist Billy Sheehan actively recorded with his instrumental fusion trio, Niacin, which includes drummer Dennis Chambers (Funkadelic, Mahavishnu Orchestra) and keyboardist John Novello (along with a guest appearance from Torpey). The critically hailed group is already releasing their third album this year. Sheehan has also recently performed – along with Torpey – on the forthcoming album from the famed B’Z. Meanwhile, Billy’s original, pre-David Lee Roth-era band Talas released a live album in late 1998 from their sold out reunion show at Kleinhan’s Music Hall in Buffalo, New York. Still in the works are a pair of upcoming Billy Sheehan solo albums: one to be a instrumental bass showcase, the other a more song-oriented rock album with Sheehan handling all vocal parts.

For what was designated as restorative time-out, the band remained remarkably on-the-go. Then the phones started ringing…

As Eric remembers it, “I called Billy and said, ‘You know, we ought to do it again. I miss playing rock ‘n’ roll. Let’s get back to it.’”

“It was coming up on a ten-year anniversary for the band so it seemed like the perfect time to start it up again,” says Sheehan.

However, one obstacle stood in the way of a revitalized Mr. Big – original guitarist Paul Gilbert’s surprise decision to leave the band.

“We never wanted to change the band but we didn’t know what else to do,” says Sheehan. “After a lot of talking between myself, Pat, and Eric, we decided to keep the band going. Once we’d settled that, Richie was the first guy to come to mind.”

“I was playing a local club in San Rafael, California and Richie popped his head in and just happened to see me on stage,” remembers Eric. “So we ended up playing a couple of songs together. I called him right after that and said, ‘I have an idea. What do you think of being in Mr. Big?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, sounds good.’ It was that easy.”

A long-celebrated rock guitar hero, Kotzen has of late been busy working with the fusion collective Vert. The group, which reunites the renowned Return To Forever rhythm section of bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White, released their self-titled debut earlier this year. In recent years, Kotzen has also attracted attention with a number of solo albums and his collaborations with guitarist Greg Howe.

Staged at the Sound City Complex in Los Angeles, “GET OVER IT” sessions began early this year with producer Pat Regan. As has been the band’s history from day one, the album and its dozen new songs were composed within a complete band effort. Kotzen, Torpey, and Sheehan wrote individually and as a team. Martin wrote on his own, added lyrics to tracks composed by the rest of the band, and also teamed with longtime collaborator Andre Pessis, who has written for previous Mr. Big albums and Martin’s most-recent solo record. As is rarely the case, the full band also got together to write a few tracks as a unit – “Electrified,” among them.

“This time we really did some woodshedding,” says an enthused Martin. Again breaking new ground for the band, the “GET OVER IT” sessions proved to be an exercise in mixing business with pleasure.

“We’re used to being very business-like when we’re recording but that wasn’t the case this time,” says Sheehan with a laugh. “This time there was beer involved and we goofed around, which is how it should be for a rock band. It was fun and we got into some trouble, even. It was a great experience.”

The light-hearted atmosphere also carried over into the recording sessions. “Instead of doing everything by the strict code of the engineer – ‘do it this way or else’ – Pat Regan made things a lot more relaxed,” explains Sheehan. “When it came time to record ‘My New Religion,’ Pat just set up a microphone in the control room, Eric picked up his guitar and sang the song for us. To me, that added a real spirit and character to the album. It’s natural and was a great way to cut a song.”

Lyrically, “GET OVER IT” finds Martin moving from his best rock ‘n’ rolling word plays to more personal, insightful expressions. Whether taking a close look at the world around him or peering deep within himself, he is poignant, direct, and honest. “Superfantastic” casts a critical eye at those folks who view the world exclusively from a rose-tinted perspective while “My New Religion” addresses the need for one to accept life’s risks in order to find reward.

With regards to sound and style, “GET OVER IT” moves boldly from the down-n-dirty groove of “Electrified” and the heavy Hendrix styled Martin/Kotzen duet “Static” to the bright and bluesy “A Rose Alone” and the soaring “Superfantastic” ballad.

“We’ve got a lot of tasty soulful licks happening and we’ve taken a generally more rhythm-oriented approach,” explains Martin.

According to Sheehan, the 1999 version of Mr. Big is fortuitous in that it precisely matches his earliest goals for the band.

“The original concept of Mr. Big was to have it be like Humble Pie or Rod Stewart and the Faces, Free, or even Bad Company,” says Sheehan. “After all, that was the stuff we all loved. Now we’ve made a record that I think brings us closer to that idea than ever.”

* * * * *

Mr. Big first broke ground in 1989 with their self-titled Atlantic debut, which received extensive radio play with the “Big Love” and “Addicted To That Rush” singles. The group returned in 1991 with “LEAN INTO IT,” an album that further strengthened their rising reputation, and in the process, went on to score RIAA platinum. The album’s “To Be With You” smash single went to #1 in a dozen countries, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and in the U.S., where the three-week chart-topper leapt to RIAA gold status.

Released in 1993, the internationally acclaimed “BUMP AHEAD” garnered solid airplay with the group’s deft handling of Cat Stevens’ “Wild World.” The subsequent tour saw the band opening for Aerosmith during dates across Europe, headlining in front of over 100,000 people in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and staging three sold-out shows at Tokyo’s venerable Budokan arena.

The band’s fourth studio album, 1996’s “HEY MAN,” found the quartet expertly expressing their full stylistic and emotional range. In addition to selling more than 700,000 copies worldwide, the album entered the charts at #1 in Japan, where it went on to cross the triple-platinum mark.

All told, Mr. Big’s remarkable live talents have been captured on six top-selling live albums, among them: the “RAW LIKE SUSHI” series (released as three volumes in 1990, 1992, and 1994, also called “JAPANDEMONIUM”); “MR. BIG AT THE HARD ROCK — LIVE,” the 1996 recording from their special Singapore concert (broadcast over radio stations across Asia); and the 1997 Japanese-only release, “LIVE AT BUDOKAN.”

In late 1996, the band’s “BIG, BIGGER, BIGGEST” hits collection debuted at #2 in Japan, where it quickly went on to cross the quadruple platinum mark and become 1997’s best-selling release by a non-native act. The album has sold more than a million copies and pushed Mr. Big’s worldwide sales total past the seven million mark. The reality of such astonishing figures is something the band takes seriously, for its source is clear.

“Everything I own comes from some fan somewhere buying a ticket, a T-shirt, or a record,” says Sheehan, who has won the Player bass poll an unprecedented eleven times and the Burrn magazine bass poll five times. “That’s my car, my house, all my clothes, my home studio, and any money in my bank account. That’s the where it comes from. A lot of musicians forget about that. They disconnect from the people standing in front of them when they’re on stage. I’ve never done that. In fact, I’ve connected to that idea more and more. I’m very lucky and I owe that to everybody out there. That’s very important to all four of us.”

“Even after ten years, I just like being in Mr. Big,” adds Martin. “And now with Richie in the band and having this album under out belts, I’m looking forward to getting out into the world to shake some hands and kiss some babies. We got some stuff we want people to hear.”