Joaquin Phoenix teams up with Scots mogul McGee for album

May 18 2008 Edited By Billy Sloan

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STAR-SPOTTER Alan McGee might have signed hit bands Oasis, Primal Scream and The Jesus And Mary Chain but he failed to spot a Hollywood superstar in his own studio.

The Scots pop mogul is secretly recording with music-mad Walk The Line star Joaquin Phoenix - but only after a shaky start.

McGee told Email: "I was told an LA actor, who was a big Oasis fan, wanted to meet me to play me his album.

"In Hollywood that usually means it's some waiter who is a frustrated pop star.

"I went along and met him and didn't know who the f*** the dude was. I'd never seen his movies."

McGee listened patiently to the actor's songs then delivered his trademark, painfully honest, verdict to the star of the Johnny Cash biopic.

He said: "I did exactly what I do with any of my bands such as The Charlatans or Dirty Pretty Things.

"Halfway through the 18-song CD I went all McGee-like and said, 'This song is s***. Dump that one. You need to change the chorus on that track. The next one is s*** too'.

"Instead of punching me the dude took it on the chin."

Later, Phoenix's mate - sexy actress Kirsten Dunst - arrived.

McGee said: "She began paying homage to the dude so I thought he was maybe a movie producer. When she told me he was Joaquin Phoenix the penny still never dropped.

"I went home to my computer, put his name into Google and discovered he had two Oscar nominations."

Despite delivering a brutal verdict, McGee received a surprise phone call from the 33-year-old actor.

He said: "Joaquin seemed to really like the fact I'd actually told him the truth. That just doesn't happen in Hollywood where it's all 'darling, you're wonderful'.

"He gave me the gig to rework the album. I drafted in Tim Burgess of The Charlatans to help out. Now we've got a fantastic-sounding record.

"When I got the album it sounded like a Pearl Jam record but I stripped it right back and now it sounds more like David Bowie's Diamond Dogs.

"Joaquin has written all the music on the album - he's a seriously good songwriter.

"He's not quite up there with Noel Gallagher yet but he's not far off it. I really rate him."

Now McGee plans to launch Joaquin's new band - This Lady Is A Tramp - Stateside before masterminding a music assault on the UK. The Scots music maker managesUS punk queen Brody Dalle, ex-lead singer of The Distillers and wife of Queens Of The Stone Age star Josh Homme, in his adopted home in Tinseltown.

Charlatan's frontman Burgess is also helping Phoenix, who delivered show-stealing turns in Gladiator and Buffalo Soldiers, with his album.

And the singer says the actor, who learned guitar to play the Man in Black, has some great tunes.

Burgess said: "Once he learned guitar, he found he had a lot of demons inside that he wanted to expel through music.

"All the tracks me and Alan worked on with him are brilliant.

"It's an ongoing thing. I'm trying to get Alan to force him to put it out."