John Corabi: Recording In Muscle Shoals, Cracking Jokes With Ozzy

“There’s all these places and legendary venues and studios all around the world that just still give me goose pimples, you know what I mean?”

John Corabi joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday (May 13) and dove into the new album from The Dead Daisies, Lookin’ For Trouble, out on May 30. Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

“I got to record a record in Muscle Shoals,” Corabi said about Lookin’ For Trouble, which was made at the legendary FAME Studios.

As he reflected on his time in Muscle Shoals, Corabi told Loudwire Nights‘ Chuck Armstrong about one specific moment that will forever stick with him.

“I remember sitting in the vocal booth,” he recalled.

“I had a cigarette and a whiskey and I’m singing in this old microphone and I look out the glass of the window and there’s a giant photo of Aretha Franklin with a whiskey and a cigarette, singing into the same microphone … I’m a musician, rock star, whatever you want to call me, but I’m still a fan.”

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Along with celebrating new music from The Dead Daisies, Corabi spent a bit of time sharing his love and appreciation for Ozzy Osbourne, including a memory of one of his first times seeing Black Sabbath live.

“My dad and my uncle took me to the show and dropped me off,” he said.

“I was a 13-year-old kid, paid $6.50. You saved your paper money and you went and bought a ticket to go see Sabbath. It was just so heavy and loud.”

He started laughing as he remembered his experience after the show.

“I came out and got in the car, they picked me up after the show and both of them turned around and they’re like, ‘Were you smoking weed?’ And I’m like, ‘No.’ And then we looked at The Spectrum, the doors were open and just billows of smoke were pouring out of that thing.”

READ MORE: Sammy Hagar Unveils New Song + Shares Details About Ozzy’s Final Show

From there, Corabi admitted it’s still hard to believe that he would grow up to become a musician and actually get to meet some of his heroes like Ozzy.

“It immediately takes me back to when I was 13, 14, 15,” he said.

“You meet them and they’re like, ‘Oh hey John, how you doing?’ This is so surreal.”

What Else Did John Corabi Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• Two jokes he’ll never forget, one courtesy of Ozzy and the other from Gene Simmons (listen to the full interview to hear Corabi tell the actual jokes): “What’s going on? Pinch me right now. I totally went and saw [KISS] 50 times as a kid and now you’re telling me Jewish jokes in our dressing room? That is crazy.”
• Why he’s so competitive when it comes to making music: “Money has never really been a big driving force with me … I think the thing that moves me or motivates me is that I would just love, even if it’s later after I’m gone, for people to look at the body of work and go, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize it at the time, but he was a pretty decent songwriter.'”
• Why he connects with the idea of selling your soul for rock and roll: “I missed graduations, birthdays and nothing against my ex-wives, but they got tired of dealing with stuff alone. You’re never home, you know what I mean? You give up a lot of things to do a lot of things — it’s just the way of it.”

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

John Corabi joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday, May 13; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.