Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Episode 82: Narada Michael Walden.
He went from being the drummer of Mahavishnu Orchestra and landing the cover of Modern Drummer Magazine, to producing Whitney Houston’s biggest hits and winning the GRAMMY for Producer of the Year. This interview is the epic journey of Narada Michael Walden.
I loved this conversation so much. Narada’s positive, creative energy jumps out at you immediately.
We go deep into his drumming career, how he got the gig with his favorite band, Mahavishnu Orchestra, following the great Billy Cobham. How he landed a record deal as a solo artist, almost got dropped, then shifted his focus to disco and scored a hit that saved his career.
Then came the call from Clive Davis that launched his producing career and brought him Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and so many more.
His story is incredibly inspiring. From super drummer, to successful solo artist to hit producer. We went so deep on Mahavishnu in this convo that we had to do this interview in two parts!
I’m happy now to bring you Part 1 with the brilliant and fun Narada Michael Walden.
‘Go with Elmo Lovano’ is a weekly podcast where Elmo interviews creatives and entrepreneurs in music on HOW they push forward every day, got where they are in their careers, manage their personal lives, and share lessons learned and their most important insights.
Big thanks to our friends at DistroKid! DistroKid is the easiest and fastest way to get your music on over 150 platforms worldwide! Go to distrokid.com/vip/elmo to get 20% off your first year!
0:00:00 - TRAILER
0:02:32 - NARADA INTRODUCTION
0:04:05 - SPECIAL OFFER FROM DISTROKID
0:05:28 - THE BIG FUSS
0:09:00 - COVER OF MODERN DRUMMER MAGAZINE
0:09:31 - FROM KALAMAZOO MICHIGAN TO PASADENA CALIFORNIA
0:10:34 - JOHN MCLAUGHLIN
0:11:15 - FROM FAN TO DRUMMER OF MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA
0:13:16 - MEETING MAHAVISHNU, FINDING A PATH
0:24:39 - BEGINNING TO PLAY WITH JOHN MCLAUGHLIN
0:32:54 - JOINING MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA, LEARNING FROM JOHN
0:36:21 - FORMING A NEW BAND
0:37:20 - “HYMN TO HIM” BUFFALO PHIL HARMONIC, FIRST SHOW
0:39:11 - CREATING APOCALYPSE WITH THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
0:42:48 - VISION IS A NAKED SWORD
0:44:24 - BILLY COBHAM, CONFIDENCE
0:45:55 - BILLY COBHAM
0:49:48 - WRITING FOR MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA, “COSMIC STRUT”
0:51:24 - HOW TO PLAY A MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA SHOW
0:51:52 - VISIONS OF THE EMERALD BEYOND
0:55:01 - HOW MAHAVISHNU ENDED FOR NARADA, JEFF BECK
0:57:51 - GARDEN OF LOVE LIGHT, MEETING WHITNEY AND CISSY HOUSTON, SANTANA, JEFF BECK
0:58:31 - GETTING THE NAME NARADA FROM GURU
1:00:59 - HOW DISCO SAVED NARADA'S CAREER
1:04:03 - “I SHOULD HAVE LOVED YA,” T.M. STEVENS
1:06:13 - PRODUCING, TONY WILLIAMS, LENNY WHITE, STANLEY CLARKE
1:09:35 - STACY LATTISAW
1:11:42 - SISTER SLEDGE, JOHNNY GILL, CLIVE DAVIS
1:12:09 - CLIVE DAVIS, DIONNE WARWICK
1:12:26 - ARETHA FRANKLIN
1:13:13 - HOW TO TALK WITH ARETHA FRANKLIN
1:14:48 - IN THE STUDIO WITH ARETHA FRANKLIN
1:22:27 - “FREEWAY OF LOVE”
Please SUBSCRIBE / FOLLOW this podcast to catch new episodes as soon as they drop! Your likes, comments and shares are much appreciated!
Listen to the audio form of this podcast wherever you get your podcasts: elmolovano.komi.io
Follow Narada:
instagram.com/officialnarada
Follow Go With Elmo:
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Follow Elmo Lovano:
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Episode 82: Narada Michael Walden.
He went from being the drummer of Mahavishnu Orchestra and landing the cover of Modern Drummer Magazine, to producing Whitney Houston’s biggest hits and winning the GRAMMY for Producer of the Year. This interview is the epic journey of Narada Michael Walden.
I loved this conversation so much. Narada’s positive, creative energy jumps out at you immediately.
We go deep into his drumming career, how he got the gig with his favorite band, Mahavishnu Orchestra, following the great Billy Cobham. How he landed a record deal as a solo artist, almost got dropped, then shifted his focus to disco and scored a hit that saved his career.
Then came the call from Clive Davis that launched his producing career and brought him Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and so many more.
His story is incredibly inspiring. From super drummer, to successful solo artist to hit producer. We went so deep on Mahavishnu in this convo that we had to do this interview in two parts!
I’m happy now to bring you Part 1 with the brilliant and fun Narada Michael Walden.
‘Go with Elmo Lovano’ is a weekly podcast where Elmo interviews creatives and entrepreneurs in music on HOW they push forward every day, got where they are in their careers, manage their personal lives, and share lessons learned and their most important insights.
Big thanks to our friends at DistroKid! DistroKid is the easiest and fastest way to get your music on over 150 platforms worldwide! Go to distrokid.com/vip/elmo to get 20% off your first year!
0:00:00 - TRAILER
0:02:32 - NARADA INTRODUCTION
0:04:05 - SPECIAL OFFER FROM DISTROKID
0:05:28 - THE BIG FUSS
0:09:00 - COVER OF MODERN DRUMMER MAGAZINE
0:09:31 - FROM KALAMAZOO MICHIGAN TO PASADENA CALIFORNIA
0:10:34 - JOHN MCLAUGHLIN
0:11:15 - FROM FAN TO DRUMMER OF MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA
0:13:16 - MEETING MAHAVISHNU, FINDING A PATH
0:24:39 - BEGINNING TO PLAY WITH JOHN MCLAUGHLIN
0:32:54 - JOINING MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA, LEARNING FROM JOHN
0:36:21 - FORMING A NEW BAND
0:37:20 - “HYMN TO HIM” BUFFALO PHIL HARMONIC, FIRST SHOW
0:39:11 - CREATING APOCALYPSE WITH THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
0:42:48 - VISION IS A NAKED SWORD
0:44:24 - BILLY COBHAM, CONFIDENCE
0:45:55 - BILLY COBHAM
0:49:48 - WRITING FOR MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA, “COSMIC STRUT”
0:51:24 - HOW TO PLAY A MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA SHOW
0:51:52 - VISIONS OF THE EMERALD BEYOND
0:55:01 - HOW MAHAVISHNU ENDED FOR NARADA, JEFF BECK
0:57:51 - GARDEN OF LOVE LIGHT, MEETING WHITNEY AND CISSY HOUSTON, SANTANA, JEFF BECK
0:58:31 - GETTING THE NAME NARADA FROM GURU
1:00:59 - HOW DISCO SAVED NARADA'S CAREER
1:04:03 - “I SHOULD HAVE LOVED YA,” T.M. STEVENS
1:06:13 - PRODUCING, TONY WILLIAMS, LENNY WHITE, STANLEY CLARKE
1:09:35 - STACY LATTISAW
1:11:42 - SISTER SLEDGE, JOHNNY GILL, CLIVE DAVIS
1:12:09 - CLIVE DAVIS, DIONNE WARWICK
1:12:26 - ARETHA FRANKLIN
1:13:13 - HOW TO TALK WITH ARETHA FRANKLIN
1:14:48 - IN THE STUDIO WITH ARETHA FRANKLIN
1:22:27 - “FREEWAY OF LOVE”
Please SUBSCRIBE / FOLLOW this podcast to catch new episodes as soon as they drop! Your likes, comments and shares are much appreciated!
Listen to the audio form of this podcast wherever you get your podcasts: elmolovano.komi.io
Follow Narada:
instagram.com/officialnarada
Follow Go With Elmo:
instagram.com/gowithelmo
tiktok.com/@gowithelmo
https://x.com/gowithelmopod
Follow Elmo Lovano:
Instagram.com/elmolovano
https://x.com/elmolovano
Follow Jammcard:
youtube.com/@jammcard
jammcard.com
