When session man Tim Pierce looks back at his career, he doesn’t view himself as a legend who’s played on more than a thousand records; instead, his perspective is one of deep gratitude.
“It seemed like a dream I could fulfill,” he says. “It seemed like a scenario where I could be a working guitar player. But the real dream was to play on records.”
Man, did he do that – and quick. After moving to L.A. from his home town of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1979, Pierce grabbed all the work he could, learning along the way.
“Somebody told me that songs on these records could typically have one, two, three or four guitar players,” he says. “That’s a tradition that came down from Motown; there’s so much unique personality that happens with guitar players.”
Few had more personality than Pierce. Behind the scenes, he starred on Bon Jovi’s Runaway single in 1984 (no, that’s not Richie Sambora playing guitar on that track), Crowded House’s Don’t Dream It’s Over two years later and parts of Belinda Carlisle’s Heaven on Earth album in 1987. Oh, and he joined Rick Springfield’s band. And that was just the Eighties!
In the Nineties, he lent his licks to everyone from Michael Jackson on 1991’s Dangerous to Roger Waters on 1992’s Amused to Death, to multitudes of records by Tina Turner, Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, and most notably the Goo Goo Dolls’ 1998 smash hit, Iris, where he knocked out the solo and layered in some gorgeous mandolin.
“I never wanted to be a rock star,” he says. “I wanted to be a musician creating parts and sounds, for lack of a better word, in a laboratory. I toured with Rick Springfield and thought, ‘This is cool, but it’s not me.’ It seemed artificial, and I’d much rather be making records than going out there and imitating them for an audience.”
![Goo Goo Dolls – Iris [Official Music Video] [4K Remaster] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NdYWuo9OFAw/maxresdefault.jpg)
To Pierce’s point, during the back nine of his session career, he offered his services to Carlos Santana, appeared on dozens of pop stars’ albums and even settled in for sessions with Boston Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo and New York Yankees center fielder – and truly talented guitarist – Bernie Williams.
You have to play with as much heart and soul as you can. If an idea gets rejected, you accept that rejection, deal with it in seconds and come back stronger
The way Pierce looked at it was there were no boundaries and no session too small, which is why he was so successful. It also didn’t hurt that he knew how to give his clients what they needed.
“You have to be a chameleon,” he says. “You have to play any style. You have to win big in the first half hour. That means you have to come up with something that makes the artist’s dream come true out of the gate.”
These days, Pierce focuses more on his guitar-education business than on sessions, but he still has plenty of solid advice for musicians looking for studio work.
“You have to play with as much heart and soul as you can,” he says. “If an idea gets rejected, you accept that rejection, deal with it in seconds and come back stronger. You get over the resentment and hurt. Be versatile and nice, don’t say too much – and read the room. You’ll be on your way.”
What brought you from Albuquerque to California as a young player?
“I always dreamed of moving there because when I was young, I fell in love with pop music on the radio. I loved songs more than anything – but then I started loving guitar players. I was born in ’58, so I grew up listening to some of the greatest music of all time, like Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin and huge rock bands. My mom gave me her car, I saved $2,000 and moved here at the end of 1979.”
What got you into session work?
“I was aware of everybody in the business, all the rock stars. But I was even more aware of the behind-the-scenes guys like Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather. I knew every name on the back of every record; for me, that seemed more realistic.”
You make a good point about knowing all the players on the back of the records, but at the time, many people assumed that whoever was on the cover played on the records. Once you got into doing sessions, were things generally amicable between you and the people you were subbing for?
“It was your job as a studio musician to make it amicable. There were situations where I’d be brought in in secret, and they would never know. But that’s no problem because you’re there on a different day from the person you’re replacing. [Laughs] But the self-contained band thing did require specialists to be called in. Sometimes they’d be credited, sometimes not.”
One of your earliest credits is Runaway from Bon Jovi’s first record. How did that happen?
“That happened kind of by accident, as many great opportunities do. I was 23 and recording in New York. Jon Bon Jovi was living upstairs at the Power Station [recording studio]. Basically, his job was the janitor for his uncle, Tony Bongiovi.
“They put together a master demo and he asked me to play on it. I said, ‘Of course!’ I ended up doing all the guitars on Runaway, and Jon credited me on the back of the record. That was his first Top 40 hit, and I got full credit. It was great.”
What gear did you use?
People forget that you couldn’t be in a rock band unless you looked a certain way. I didn’t have that
“I used a [Gibson] Les Paul and a B.C. Rich. And what you would do in the studio back then is you’d find all the Marshalls you could, so we had two or three Marshall heads for the ‘rock’ parts and maybe a Fender Deluxe for the clean parts.”
Richie Sambora wasn’t part of the mix yet, right?
“No, he wasn’t. These were master demos, and we did six or eight songs and finished them. That’s how Jon got his record deal.”
Was there any talk of you joining Bon Jovi?
“Jon and I became friends. He came to L.A. when he was looking for musicians to join his band, but a couple of things happened. First, I didn’t have the image to be in the band. People forget that you couldn’t be in a rock band unless you looked a certain way. I didn’t have that image, so Jon never came out and asked.”
You joined Rick Springfield’s band not long after.
“I joined Rick’s band right after that. Rick, at that moment, was the biggest star in America because of Jessie’s Girl. He had just had his run [as an actor] on General Hospital, so it was a wonderful thing to jump into. I became Rick’s guitar player for five albums, and we’re friends to this day.”
No regrets about not joining Bon Jovi?
“I missed out on being in one of the biggest rock bands in the world – but I don’t think I had the image! Richie was the perfect choice. The way he plays, looks and sings is great. They wrote some of the most amazing songs ever. Jon didn’t ask, and it probably had to do with the fact that I had another gig – and didn’t look like a rock star.”
As far as Rick goes, did you basically follow the template Neil Giraldo created?
Richie was the perfect choice. The way he plays, looks and sings is great. They wrote some of the most amazing songs ever
“I was enamored with Neil Giraldo. He was using very particular Marshalls, and Rick and I both got those. The great thing about Rick is that his entire aesthetic on stage is basically the Who’s Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. It was full-out.
“The actual show was just full-out guitar rock, and there were lots of solos on the first record I did with him [1982’s Success Hasn’t Spoiled Me Yet]. It was just a huge guitar experience.”
Even though you didn’t have the image, it must’ve been gratifying knowing you could hang with anybody in L.A. at that time.
“I always looked at rock-band situations as very unstable things. Once I moved here and saw how musicians worked, my goal was to be independent of being in a band. I was more impressed with studio musicians who’d go from one project to another, record constantly and never have to tie their fate together with a band, most of which seemed like they had a three- to five-year existence.”
Speaking of going from one project to the next, in 1986, you played guitar on Crowded House’s self-titled debut, which features Don’t Dream It’s Over.
“That was a situation where the producer, Mitchell Froom, knew they were coming, and they were a trio. Mitchell wanted a second guitar player for the recording, so nobody got put on the bench; I just added color and played off Neil [Finn].
“Most of what you hear is live off the floor with some overdubs afterward. I was the guitar insurance policy there, and it jumpstarted my career to where every songwriter in L.A. fell in love with Don’t Dream It’s Over. When they found out I played on it, it created a lot of work for me – and it was the springboard for Belinda Carlisle.”
You laid down “additional guitars” on Belinda Carlisle’s Heaven on Earth. Can you recall what you did and didn’t play on?
“I can’t remember exactly what I played on. The thing about the environment back then is you would go from studio to studio daily and play on records with notable people, so I was part of a cast of thousands on that record.
“The producers and engineers – who I knew – loved to bring in different people and put different personalities on parts, particularly guitar players. They loved to have multiple guitar players who’d add different colors to the songs. But from there, my career really took off in the Nineties.”
An example of such is you tracking guitars for Michael Jackson’s Dangerous.
“The producer, Bill Bottrell, brought me into the studio. Michael was very normal; I was expecting weirdness, but it wasn’t that way at all. Michael came in dressed in a sweater, jeans and loafers and looked me straight in the eye. He was just a normal person, and he was very interested in my pedalboard. [Laughs]”
He was easy to work with?
“Michael felt secure. When you’re in the studio like that, it was me, Bill the assistant and Michael, so he felt very safe in that situation. My job was to actually treat him like an equal, and that means you don’t act like a fan. You act like an equal in the workspace; don’t gush over them, don’t ask questions. I was doing my thing, and he was doing his. That’s how you play it.”
Before long, you were in the studio with Roger Waters for 1992’s Amused to Death. What was it like working with him?
“He was very open. But you gotta realize that at that stage of the game, you’re tracking songs and everything is negotiable. He knows that when that day is over, he can go home, listen to it and come in and recut the song in a different city with different musicians if he wants. He’s not worried about it, so he’s open-minded. It was very pleasurable. It was kind of a dream come true.”
Jeff Beck is all over that record. Were you in the studio with him at all?
“I did a lot of the rhythm guitars, and when they brought in Jeff, it was just him, Roger and the engineer.”
In the Nineties, you continuously recorded with Tina Turner, Whitney Houston and Celine Dion. How did you approach the guitars considering all three had such a massive vocal presence?
Iris had the most airplay, I think, of any song for, like, 18 months. It still holds up
“It was the Dann Huff and Michael Landau era of tones. Generally, what I did was use big, beautiful stereo, clean chorus and delay sounds. That became a lush pad for keyboards, so I’d do these percolating R&B parts that were clean, travel all through the chord changes and maybe add new voices to the verses and bridge. So it wouldn’t sound like rock, but it’d add size to all the big sections of the song.”
In 1998, you recorded guitars for the Goo Goo Dolls’ Iris. For a long time, people didn’t realize that.
“That’s probably the best record I ever did. That was a situation where they gave me credit, but the credit was somewhat obscured. And as the years have passed, they have actually brought it out into the open. John [Rzeznik] talks about me every time he does an interview about that song.
“He’s very open and nice about it. But they didn’t have a lead guitar player, so nobody was threatened when we were doing Iris. Nobody was being put on the bench, so I was able to come in, play a big guitar solo and overdub some mandolin. That record had the most airplay, I think, of any song for, like, 18 months. It still holds up.”
I’m a big-time baseball fan, so I have to ask how you ended up on records by Bronson Arroyo and Bernie Williams in the mid-2000s.
“Being a studio musician can offer these projects, and I did tons of records, for example, for people who were actors but wanted to do records. I’d do records for sports stars, and some of these guys are amazing musicians. And it’s a great thing because, budget-wise, it’s usually like a promotional thing that gets offered to the sports audience in some unique way.
“I don’t remember the specifics of Bronson’s record, but it was really fun. It was low-pressure because nobody was trying to have a hit song. He was wonderful and really talented. Bernie Williams from the Yankees is an amazing guitar player. I did two or three records with him, and it was humbling because he was amazing.”
Throughout the 2000s and into today, you’ve worked with everyone from Miley Cyrus to the Jonas Brothers to Lana Del Rey. That’s a far cry from your rock days in the Eighties. Does the approach change?
“It became really focused on parts and sounds. Rock came back a bit, so I’d do punk rock parts and aggressive and even ambient sounds. I’d make my guitar sound like a keyboard; they really wanted the guitar to do everything. They’d load up songs with as many parts and ideas as they could. There was a lot of overdubbing and a lot of freedom; honestly, it was fun because I could throw in the kitchen sink, and they’d choose what to use later.”
It wasn’t all pop, though, as you hooked up with Carlos Santana several times.
“I’ve played rhythm guitar on five Santana records. Carlos isn’t present for any of the recording production because he’s such a veteran that he would deliver the songs, make decisions and ask for changes as he listens. And then, when he’s ready, he plays lead on the songs. Carlos basically floats above the work, gets delivered the songs and because he’s done the nuts and bolts for decades, he can shape it afterward.”
You’ve started to slow down in terms of sessions, which you’ve earned as you’ve been nothing short of hyper-prolific. Do you think you’ll ever stop?
“I won’t stop. I’ve built an educational business, and I have employees.”
What led you to go from recording at a breakneck pace to stepping into the guitar-education sector?
“I had this epiphany in my early fifties, where I thought, ‘If the business were robust and growing, I would still age out.’ I knew I was getting older, and the business was shrinking, and that meant budgets were shrinking. I was grateful for the work I had, but it’s not what it used to be. I thought, ‘I can keep myself off the street and move forward if I do fewer sessions and get into the education thing.’”
I hear you. But your session resume is unparalleled. Did you really think people would stop calling?
Guitar can be fixed; you can go in, throw down a part, and it can be imperfect. It can be sloppy
“Naturally, as you age out of a studio career, the great thing about having a resume is when I work with these kids, they treat me like an elder and a legend. So there’s no problem there. But if you look at the business, if you’re Bruno Mars, who you hire has changed.”
How so?
“Back in the day, if you were Tina Turner, you’d get all the studio pros to do parts on the record. But now, if you’re Bruno Mars, his team has people they text who are favorites. And guitar can be fixed; you can go in, throw down a part, and it can be imperfect. It can be sloppy.”
And that’s not you.
“I’m not making criticisms. The players are great. What I’m saying is they don’t need studio pros anymore because they have their favorites in their iPhones. They text them, and that person will come down, throw down a part and build stuff randomly with people they know.”
There’s also the matter of the money.
“I’m older, so I expect a higher paycheck. But the money they get is negotiated for the comfort of both sides. It’s not the union, meaning the sessions I was getting with pension, royalties and healthcare. So, in order for my future to be my choice, I slowly exited my session career, rather than have the music business take that choice from me.”
Your choice for a second act was a good one. Just look at what [YouTuber] Marty Schwartz has done.
“I discovered what was happening online and met Marty, who was doing it at a seven-figure level. I decided that if I could do even a fraction of what he was doing, that’d keep me off the street and become my next chapter. I built it and did both jobs for 10 years. I did sessions and built the business, and now I have a membership where people subscribe to a collection of yearly videos, and that keeps growing.”
Where do you go from here?
When I do a session, I often don’t even charge for it. It’s usually just family, friends or a special occasion for someone
“I have more than 150 hours of lessons and content and more than 2,000 videos. I’m adding other players to it and have one full-time and three part-time employees. I actually have a business to keep track of and people who require me to be productive. That’s my new thing, but I do some session work.”
But it’s not the same as the golden age.
“When I do a session, I often don’t even charge for it. It’s usually just family, friends or a special occasion for someone.”
That’s is a good way to give back, seeing as few have as much knowledge as you and are willing to offer it up.
“Thank you. I feel very lucky and grateful to have this. I will try to keep it on track. The pandemic kind of turbo-boosted it, where everyone decided to go home and take lessons, you know? So it was a lucky thing that I was up and running because I wasn’t sure it was even going to work at first.”
- Follow Tim Pierce on YouTube and head to his site to learn more about Tim Pierce's guitar Masterclass.
- This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
