Def Leppard News - DEF LEPPARD's JOE ELLIOTT On MICK RONSON's Heaven And Hull Album

Saturday, 16th June 2018

DEF LEPPARD's JOE ELLIOTT On MICK RONSON's Heaven And Hull Album

Joe Elliott 1994

Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott has discussed working with Mick Ronson on his 1994 album Heaven And Hull in a new interview.

The posthumous third solo album by Mick Ronson was released in May 1994 one year after his death from cancer (29th May 1993).

Led by the single 'Don't Look Down' which featured a duet between Joe and Mick. The single was released on CD, cassette and a 12 Inch picture disc featuring en edit of the song and the full album version.

Joe and Phil also performed with Mick and Ian Hunter at the Freddie Mercury Tribute show which would be his last concert appearance. 'All the Young Dudes' was included from that show.

Joe's cover of Mick's 'This Is For You' was featured on the Beside Bowie Soundtrack album released on 8th June.

In a new interview with Salon he talks about working with Mick on the 'Heaven And Hull' album before his death.

Last month saw the 24th anniversary of the album's release.

There is also a second interview where Joe talks about the Beside Bowie documentary along with its director.

Joe Elliott 1994.

Salon - Joe Elliott Interview Quotes

Helping Mick Ronson

"Finally, towards the end, I got a call from Ian [Hunter] and he said, "Mick's not very well, and he's basically struggling financially to get the treatment that he needs." So I said, "Well, okay, what do you want?" I said, "I'll match whatever Bowie puts in." So basically what happened was me, Ian, Bowie and [John] Mellencamp all threw in a lump sum of cash."

Working On Heaven And Hull

"I had a studio in Dublin, so I said, "Let's go to my place and do this." So him and Suzi [Ronson] flew in, and he stayed with me for three days. We recorded "Don't Look Down." I did a vocal on a song called "Take a Long Line," which is an old punk song by an Aussie punk band [The Angels]. Ian sang on a chorus, and me and Mick took a verse each."

"He stayed with me, and he had Yorkshire pudding and roast beef and had all this food that he hadn't eaten for God knows how many years. He raided all my cassettes, and took all the bootlegs that I had of him. Suzi Ronson's like, going, "He never does this. He doesn't care about the past."

Buy 'Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story The Soundtrack'