Buck Dharma

Blue Öyster Cult’s singer/guitarist genuflects before The Beatles’ Rubber Soul (Parlophone, 1965).

Like so many people of my era, seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time [on February 9, 1964] was life-changing. It was when I heard She Loves You for the first time! They were clearly phenomenal creators and performers, but it also made me think, I could do this too, this is possible. I knew I was never gonna be Elvis Presley, just like I was never gonna be Prince, but The Beatles looked to me like regular guys, like I was.

So I got every record after that, which is just an incredible progression of great, great music. Then you got to Rubber Soul, and the breadth of the music on it, and how it was a 40-minute, two-sides experience. It was phenomenal, and a high-water mark. The ensemble texture and the cohesiveness of The Beatles on that record is great, and I loved the acoustic guitars. Just listening to Norwegian Wood, Drive My Car, Nowhere Man, Think For Yourself – George is underappreciated, all his songs stick out to me. I was 17, 18, in college, playing in a band with Albert Bouchard, the original drummer in Blue Öyster Cult. Before that I’d been in a surf band playing instrumentals, I hadn’t even thought of singing. Now you’d realised that the words were a very important part of it – Don Henley said the same thing. It was the LP era, the single wasn’t the thing any more. That possibility had opened in our minds.

For me, the first Doors LP was a big deal. The first Grateful Dead record was a big deal. I loved the Stones’ Between The Buttons – all peak moments, so it’s hard to choose one record. But Rubber Soul is a Desert Island Disc, you know, and I was very fortunate to be alive at this time. I missed them at Shea Stadium, but I’ve never seen The Rolling Stones either. When I get my time machine, I’ll go back.

As told to Ian Harrison Blue Öyster Cult’s Ghost Stories is out on April 12 on Frontiers Music.