http://www.billboard.com/amp/articles/n ... al-project
(extract)
The Doobie Brothers have begun work on their next album, but the group's John McFee has also reached back into his way-back past for another project.
McFee was a member of Clover, the San Francisco Bay Area band best known as Elvis Costello's backing band on his 1977 debut album My Aim Is True and as the launch pad for Huey Lewis & the News. The group released a pair of studio albums before breaking up in 1978, but now McFee is re-recording songs from both sets with help from original members Lewis, keyboardist Sean Hopper, Alex Call and drummer Mitch Howie, as well as Costello.
"It's cool for me. It's something I've always wanted to do," multi-instrumentalist McFee tells Billboard. "We had done two albums for the Fantasy label that we were never happy with because we were too young to really know how to make records, and Fantasy assigned a producer to work with us who was a brilliant guy and a nice person and fun to work with but had never produced a record before. We felt like we had some good songs, some good ideas, but we weren't happy with the records. So this is a chance to do it again."
McFee has selected 12 songs from the two albums,
while Costello will sing on a bonus version of Call's "Mister Moon" for which McFee wrote and performed a string quartet arrangement. Original Clover drummer John Ciambotti passed away, but his daughter Gia Ciambotti -- who's worked with Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams, Chicago and the Graces -- appears on the album, along with drummer Pete Thomas from Costello's Attractions and Imposters bands.
"If I do say so myself, it's going to be a really great project," says McFee.
No release date has been set yet, but McFee is hoping the "Clover family" will get together for some live shows once it's out. "We've been talking about it," he confirms, adding that guitarist John Jorgenson has volunteered to be part of any dates as well. "It's a matter of me actually finishing this thing; it's really basically done, but I've got to get the packaging ready and finalize everything, so maybe some time a little later this year on a Doobies break we can do some shows."