Ron Keel hopes to find one day two “lost treasures” that were recorded for the ‘Keel’ album

Ron Keel hopes to find one day two “lost treasures” that were recorded for the ‘Keel’ album

Keel, Ron Keel Band and Steeler frontman Ron Keel was recently interviewed by Ruben Mosqueda for KNAC. The Ron Keel Band released their second album South X South Dakota via HighVolMusic last month.

Earlier this year, Keel‘s albums The Final Frontier (1986) and Keel (1987) were re-released via Rock Candy Records but with no additional bonus tracks. Ron Keel was asked whether there was any additional tracks that didn’t make the cut for the Rock Candy Records to which he replied (with slight edits):

“There are two lost treasures from my career, they are “Friday Every Night” and “Back In Action”. They were both produced by Michale Wagener and were recorded during the 1987 [Keel] sessions. Our thought at the time, since they didn’t make the album was they’d be used for a release overseas or a movie soundtrack, so we kept them in our back pockets so to speak. They were mixed, mastered and ready to go. I don’t have them, Michael doesn’t have them either. I ask him if he’s located them everytime I see him, but he’s not yet come across them. All is not lost! I might have a copy of them in my cassette tapes, but I’ll be honest with you, to sort through all of those cassettes, it could take a lifetime! [laughs]

I have been going through tapes, but it’s been one tape at a time and I transfer them to digital. I have an old demo of “Let’s Spend The Night Together” that was done by Steeler. A lot of people don’t know that the song appeared on the first two Keel albums, Lay Down The Law and The Right To Rock. A lot of people aren’t aware that Steeler covered that Rolling Stones song first and was the ONLY cover song that Steeler ever did. I found that and it will be released on the FnA [Records] release of collection of Steeler 1981-1982 pre-Yngwie [Malmsteen] demos. The album is titled Come Hell Or Hollywood and it’s due this summer. One of the highlights on that collection is the cover of “Let’s Spend The Night Together” which was transferred directly from the cassette. Another highlight is THE first song ever recorded by Steeler which was titled “American Metal”. This collection goes back to the roots of the band before we even went to Hollywood, if goes back to when we were still based in Nashville. I can’t wait for the fans to hear that, it’s raw and it’s a bunch of kids just learning their craft. I’m not super impressed with the vocals because I still had a lot to learn, but it’s fun to listen back.”

You can read the rest of the interview with Ron Keel by Ruben Mosqueda at KNAC‘s website.