Some People

Hey Zoo Freaks, the Zoo Crew has been spinning "Some People" by Smith/Kotzen off their self-titled album, and man does that one settle in deep. It is the kind of track that does not hit you over the head right away. Instead it works its way under your skin with those clever lyrics and that steady groove, then sticks around long after the last note fades. One review called it out for the way the rhythms and the mid-song shred ending creep up on you after a few listens, and that description nails it. The words talk about people who take all your time, the ones who feed you nothing but lies and leave you feeling tortured and blind, with that sharp little reminder that it is not the person in front of you but someone else you already know. Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen trade vocals and guitars the whole way through, so the voices blend in a way that feels like a real conversation rather than two guys just taking turns.

When the pair sat down for interviews around the album, they talked a lot about the influences that shaped the whole record. Adrian said he absolutely loved the Deep Purple Mark III lineup with Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale, the one that brought a heavier soul and R&B edge after all that earlier success. He liked the idea of more than one singer and frontmen who also play guitar, pointing back to Steve Marriott from Humble Pie as an early hero. Richie added that both Coverdale and Hughes had been huge for him as singers. He spent plenty of time trying to capture that rasp and richness in Coverdale’s tone, and he and Glenn had even written songs together back in the early nineties. Those influences show up in the way "Some People" moves, with the bluesy undercurrent and the way the vocals lock together instead of fighting for space.

The whole Smith/Kotzen project grew out of a chance meeting that turned into years of friendship before anyone thought about writing songs. Richie has told the story more than once. One night he and a friend stopped in at the Sunset Marquis in Los Angeles. His friend got talking to a woman who turned out to be Natalie, Adrian’s wife. Music came up, Richie played a bit, and Natalie liked what she heard. When she said her husband was in Iron Maiden, Richie could hardly believe it because he had been a huge fan since he was a kid. One of his first concerts was the Piece of Mind tour. They all became friends after that. Adrian would come to town, they would have dinner with their wives, and eventually the jams started at Adrian’s place. Those sessions included other musicians too, and one story has Taylor Hawkins and Rob Trujillo hanging out in the music room ripping through Bad Company and Stevie Ray Vaughan tunes just for the fun of it.

It was Natalie who finally suggested they try writing together. After years of hanging out and playing, she told them they seemed to work well and should see what happened if they sat down with some ideas. The first song they finished was "Running." From there they hit on the idea of trading vocals, and the rest of the album came together without any big deadline hanging over them. That lack of pressure is part of why the record feels so honest. They both play guitar, bass, and sing, and Richie even handled drums on several tracks while Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden sat in on "Solar Fire." The sessions took place down in the Turks and Caicos in early 2020, with Kevin Shirley producing. Adrian has said the common ground was always that seventies British rock sound, Free, Bad Company, Humble Pie, the stuff that knocked him sideways when he was a teenager and never left his blood.

Adrian got his start the way a lot of kids in London did back then. He has said he picked up the guitar because he wanted to be in a band and meet girls. He cut his teeth on Hawkwind’s "Silver Machine" and Chuck Berry songs, and he always wanted to sing a bit even in the early days with Dave Murray in their pre-Maiden band Urchin. Richie came at it from a different angle. Born in Pennsylvania, he was a genuine guitar prodigy who released his first solo album as a teenager and was already turning heads with his technique before he ever joined Poison or Mr. Big. He has put out more than twenty solo records on his own, plus the work with the Winery Dogs, and his range lets him slide from hard rock to soul and fusion without losing the feel. Their voices sit close enough tonally that sometimes even they have a hard time telling who is singing what on playback, which is exactly what makes the trading on tracks like "Some People" work so well.

The pair have kept the same approach on the follow-up records and the live shows, with Julia Lage on bass and Bruno Valverde on drums when they take the songs out. They still write by bouncing ideas back and forth, Adrian bringing riffs or concepts and Richie shaping the melodies and lyrics until the story clicks. One later interview had them talking about how a strong title can focus the whole song, and that same care shows up in the way "Some People" builds from the uneasy verses into that chorus that names the people who get under your skin. The chemistry has stayed organic the whole way, the same as those early jam sessions where the music just flowed because they liked the same records and liked playing together.

You can catch more of what the Zoo Crew is spinning right here at THE ZOO. For the official Smith/Kotzen site head over to smithkotzen.com. Adrian keeps things going on Instagram at misteradriansmith and on Facebook at MisterAdrianSmith. Richie is on Instagram at richie_kotzen, Facebook at richiekotzenmusic, and X at Richie_Kotzen. Fans supporting Richie also gather in the Richie Kotzen Fan Page group. That is the story behind the song the Zoo Crew just spun for all you Zoo Freaks, and it is the kind of track that keeps rewarding the next listen.