LI Sound: John Sullivan puts together a local supergroup
Garden City singer-songwriter Sullyman The Third, seated, with his new "supergroup" from left, guitarists Godfrey Townsend and Chelsea Takami, saxophonist Richie Cannata, drummer Katie Pearlman and keyboardist Mark Mancini at Cove City Sound Studios in Glen Cove. Credit: John Arbuckle
John Sullivan says the idea for his latest project came from a Long Island Music Hall of Fame meeting last summer about the growing prevalence of tribute bands.
It wasn’t the topic that got the Garden City singer-songwriter going. It was the eclectic collection of people. When Sullivan, who is now performing as Sullyman The Third, saw guitarist Godfrey Townsend — who has played with everyone from John Entwistle to Alan Parsons — talking to singer-songwriter Katie Pearlman, he started thinking about supergroups and wishing he could be in one.
“The best moments as an artist come when you are surrounded by the art that takes you to the next level,” Sullivan says. “I thought, ‘I know enough people on Long Island. Why can’t I put a supergroup together? Why does it always have to be big artists?’”
Sullivan began lining up friends, like Townsend and keyboardist Mark Mancini, from Gene Casey & The Lone Sharks and numerous other bands, and decided to record at Richie Cannata’s Cove City Sound Studios in Glen Cove. Soon, Cannata, best known for playing saxophone in Billy Joel’s band for decades and now in Lords of 52nd Street, was in on the collaboration, as was singer-songwriter Chelsea Takami.
“I was a little intimidated,” Sullivan says. “Because I had all these great people and now we have to play my songs. I had to send them the material and I was nervous when I was clicking on the send button. What if none of them want to do the songs?”
It turned out Sullivan had nothing to worry about. “Godfrey said, ‘ I think a slide would sound good here’ and then Mark said, ‘I want to try a different style of piano there’,” Sullivan says, about what became “After the Pill but Before the Disease,” a playful, but cautionary tale for younger generations. “When Richie played, it was crazy! Even his mistakes sounded amazing! I knew these people were talented, but I didn’t realize how good it would be.”
Soon, the group finished a Traveling Wilburys-styled rocker “Yeah No No Yeah” and Sullivan recorded two more songs solo that fit with them. And Sullyman The Third had his first EP “Supergroup Solo Satire” (John F. Sullivan).
Because everyone in his “supergroup is busy, Sullivan isn’t sure how often they can get together or if they can ever play live. But he is hopeful. “I’m always game to do more if they are,” he says.
Contact The Long Island Sound at glenn.gamboa@newsday.com or follow @ndmusic on Twitter.
