The story of one band’s rise from small town obscurity to touring the world with Queen and taking over the charts with some of rock’s most legendary hits, in the 2015 documentary Kansas: Miracles Out Of Nowhere.
In this preview, members Kerry Livgren, Dave Hope, Rich Williams, and Phil Ehart reflect on the recording process behind their celebrated 1976 album Leftoverture. After a string of early releases failed to reach a large audience, the band looked to Leftoverture as their last chance at success. Things got off to a rocky start when frontman Steve Walsh failed to produce any new songs in time for the band’s opening rehearsals, forcing Livgren to step in and pick up the slack. “I call Leftoverture the ‘pressure album’, and that pressure fell on me, it didn’t fall on the band,” Livgren explains. Having already written two songs for the new album, the guitarist went home that night and put his nose to the grindstone coming back with the blueprint for what would become “The Wall.”
The pressure Livgren felt ultimately produced several diamonds, and earned the respect of his fellow bandmates who marveled at the new songs coming into the studio each day. Drummer Phil Ehart recalls, “It was so exciting, because we would just go… ‘Here comes Kerry, what’s he got today?’ ‘Oh, it’s this song I have called ‘The Wall’! We’re just goin’, ‘When did you write this?’ ‘Well, I kind of threw it together last night.’ We’re like, ‘Seriously?’” By the time all was said and done, Livgren would write or co-write every song on Leftoverture—including the band’s first hit, “Carry On Wayward Son.” Leftoverture went on to become certified platinum four times, and one of Kansas’ bestselling works to date.
Preview HERE
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