THE HISTORY OF

A MONTHLY TRIP THROUGH
MUSIC'S GOLDEN YEARS
1974
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STARRING...

CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG"People have faith in us"

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ARCHIVES OFNME &MELODY
MAKER

MIKE OLDFIELD

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NICO DYLAN SPARKS GENESIS CLAPTON ANGIE BOWIE ELO

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Welcometo 1974
AFTER A YEAR of high -profile valedictions, 1974 is a yearof returning giants. Bob Dylan plays his first full tour
since 1966. Eric Clapton, after spending a long period ina self-imposed hibernation, emerges with a new band
and a new pastime: drinking and shouting.
More triumphantly still, this year sees the return of ourcover stars, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Relations in the band are thoughtby many to be strained, but the group's epic - and enormously lucrative stadium concerts find music's loosest quartet involved in some breathtaking
group playing. Indeed, Graham Nash will stop a reporter to ask: "Did you hearthat conversation?"
Elsewhere, scions of the English underground like ELO and Mike Oldfieldprosper in unexpectedly impressive ways, while a clutch of new groups offer acolourful and novel pop sound without any philosophical hinterland. Sparks,
ABBA and particularly Queen provide a challenge to the more worthy, denim clad musicians on manoeuvres. Reporters from the NME and Melody Maker
were there to chat sequins or -as the occasion demanded -to "rocklike a bitch".
This is the world of The History Of Rock, a monthly magazine that follows eachstrange turn of the rock revolution. Diligent, passionate and increasingly
stylish contemporary reporters were there to chronicle them then. Thispublication reaps the benefits of their understanding for the reader decades
later, one year at a time.

In the pages of this tenth issue, dedicated to 1974, you will find verbatim
articles from frontline staffers, compiled into long and illuminating reads.
Missed an issue? You can find out how to rectify that on page 144.

What will still surprise the modern reader is the access to, and the sheer
volume of material supplied by the artists who are now the giants of popular
culture. These days, a combination of wealth, fear and lifestyle would conspireto keep reporters at a rather greater length from the lives of musicians.
At this stage, though, representatives from New Musical Express and Melody
Maker are right there where it matters. On the tourbus with Bruce Springsteen.

Asking Keith Richards about his blood change in Switzerland, and his
forthcoming dental work. Wondering why Angie Bowie suddenly needs half a
ton of wet cement.
Why don't you join them there. As Keith puts it: "If you're going to get wasted,
get wasted elegantly."

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 13

Contents
Angie Bowie

6 JohnNewsLennon is drunk and2g "We're both lucky in thatrail against bad

disorderly. Introducing the Blue
Oyster Cult, and the wisdom of
Steve Harley's Cockney Rebel.
And an audience with "the Al
Capone of pop", Don Arden .

I'm not musical..." A meeting with
Mrs David Bowie, a fervent
defender of her husband's talent.

dressing rooms
and modern
classical music.

Bob Dylan
After eight years away, Bob

New albums by Can, the Eagles,
and new singles including Lulu's
Bowie -produced take on "The Man
Who Sold The World".

10

Dylan returns to playa massive
tour. What will he do to theprecious memories his fans have?
What does Phil Ochs think?

30 bums/Singles

kind of story for their sixth studioalbum The Lamb Lies Down
On Broadway.

20 onnie Lane
The former Face continues
with the itinerant minstrel vibe of
his Passing Show. Now featuringsomething like a solid lineup of
a band, Slim Chance.

4X Lette,

Melody OPEN 01

ai Robert
Wyatt's mum,among others, writes

Maker

to the MM.

JONI adds anretain their unique poise off it. "My
dear," says Freddie Mercury, "I'mthe vainest thing going."

4News
ABBA win the
Eurovision SongContest in Brighton.
RIP Duke Ellington.
Why is there an

34 Mike Oldfieldaffinity between
rock and football?

BEATLES - it'sLive

32 Queen take to the road, but
11

16Ge""The band embrace a newpay, poky UK

4extra concert

getting better

The former Kevin Ayers

guitarist begins work on thefollow-up to Tubular Bells.

0
Jeff Lynne's band impressin the USA, and return home t

38

Graham Nast

50 Graham Nash-

introduces the good vibes reconveningof Crosby, Stills,
Nash &Young. "I'mmm.

a harmony singer."
Bruce

Springsteen-page13 2

Tini B,

54The former

MOW"Vret:?:::::".:;=%.:
crrot neet =LT i=ra
v....

I Z.:

n":

'"

tit

folkie comes to

London and discusses
his new ent husiasms: jazz,
gamelan music and pornography.
"The sex symbols weren't doing
anything sexy," he explains.
All,rock band. "We're The Beatles,
with jazz chords," they proclaim.

Sparks58
II The genius of Sparks

68 The Mael brothers, former

revealed on "This Town Ain't Big
Enough Of The Both Of Us".
Cockney Rebel's debut LP The
Psychomodo is reviewed.

child models and latterly tapepranksters, reveal themselves tobe the striking pop sound of 1974.

70 Richard and Linda
L Thompson

60 Rick Wakeman

The former Fairport guitarist
unveils a new electric band withhis wife, called Sour Grapes.

The personable Yes keyboard
player embarks on a solo
career. "I'm not interested inshowmanship," he says fromdeep within his cape.

David Bowie Live76 A new dimension inEMI

WIN SEAS Of OW

4 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1973

Steely Dan

64 An introduction to the jazzy

theatrical rock, as Bowie reveals
his Hunger City stage set while
touring Diamond Dogs.

78 Eric Clapton
Look out, carpets. Lookout,
continental sex clubs. Look out
audiences. Clapton is back, andhe's... often quite drunk, actually.

WHATEVER GETS YOU
THRU THE NIGHT

82 Free concerts return toHyde Park, with Nico among theperformers. Also: Mick Jagger on
what's new with the Stones.

.

CSNY

8a Thegroup
make an unexpected return. Offstage, they keep themselvesto themselves. On stage, there's
three hours of magnificent music...

9A Keith Nitwit -us

News

112 David Bowie

mr The Stones guitarist
answers those questions about
blood changes... and hey, what
about those teeth?

goes soul in Philadelphia.

Robert Wyatt

116 Recording with thelOn Led Zeppelin
IP A frank exchange with
Jimmy Page on matters close to hisheart: from The Kinks to Zeppelin
and Aleister Crowley.

former Soft Machine man, latelybanned from Top OfThe Pops.

120

Pink Floyd
The dark side ofalbum to do. The Faces guitarist
enlists Keith Richards; many more
turn up to hang, party, even play.

mind. The Crimson guitarist on
why Red will be the band's last LP.
,c

1106

one dance hall at a time...

r,., ,s Live142 Drunk and disorderly...

n. Harry.It's not all
court battles -while he's in the126

USA, the ex-Beatle is having somefun. Primarily by collecting

stardom continues. This takes
place with "ponciness" intact, but
without the stuffing of crotches.

Beatles memorabilia.

Il

13 4 He's convert ingAmerica

David Gilmour...
Jr'Elto. Ron Wood has his own
9Albums

Robert Fripp speaks his
132 Jams

Theband'sQn rise tois this the end of the road?

145

hers
from the mailbag.

ftje kTime Inc. (UK) Ltd, 8th Floor, Blue Fin Building, no Southwark St, London SE1 OSU I EDITOR John Mulvey, whose favourite song from 1974
is Court And Spark by Joni Mitchell DEPUTY EDITOR John Robinson Career Of Evil by Blue Oyster Cult ART EDITOR Lora Findlay September Gurls
by Big Star PRODUCTION EDITOR Mike Johnson Dennis by Badfinger ART DIRECTOR Marc Jones Autobahn by Kraftwerk DESIGNER Becky
Redman Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd PICTURE EDITOR Kimberly Kriete Forever Young by Bob Dylan COVER PHOTO Graham
Nash (all rights reserved) THANKS TO Helen Spivak, James Hanman, Cecilia Dinwoodie MARKETING Charlotte Treadaway SUBSCRIPTIONS
Letitia Barry GENERAL MANAGER Jo Smalley GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR Paul Cheal COVERS PRINTED BY Polestar Wheatons
TEXT PRINTED BY Polestar Chantry I WWW.UNCUT.CO.UK

Time Inc.

Subscription rates: One year (12 issues) including p&p: UK E119.88: Europe E179.40: USA and Canada $203.88: Rest of World £155.75. For
enquiries and orders please email help@magazlnesdlrect.com. Alternatively, from the UK call 0330 333 1113, or overseas +44 330 333 1113
(lines are open Monday -Friday GMT, 8.3oam-5.3opm ex. Bank Holidays). Back Issues enquiries: Tel: 01733 688964. www.mags-uk.com°recycle

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

5

ONO

1974

not tot
two MOM

JAW -V\NRCH

GENESIS, RONNIE LANE,BOB DYLAN, ELO, MIKEOLDFIELD AND MORE

"I'm Ed Sullivan"
MM MAR 23 Juin' Lelinuil is tilfUWII out
III di I La nightclub. "He was disrupting
the act by heckling," says one witness.
HEY, WHAT'S HAPPENIN' to Johnny Lennon?

The stories going round about him these days
recall his hard -case period pre- and early
Beatles. The latest one took place yet again at the
Troubadour club in Los Angeles, where Lennon
heckled and hissed all the way through the returnof the Smothers Brothers. A few weeks back heshowed up there with a Kotex on his head.
Crazy John, accompanied by Harry Nilsson andYoko Ono's former assistant May Pang, apparently
shouted out obscenities and shouted out more thanonce, "I'm John Lennon." After this continued forseveral minutes, Smothers Brothers manager Ken
Fritz asked Lennon to leave, whereupon Lennon
purportedly punched Fritz and missed. Fritz swungback but then Lennon threw a glass, missing themanager but copping a waitress. He also managed
to upset several tables on his way out the door. By
12.30am Johnny had been escorted by Nilsson fromthe club to his car -where he told the attendant,"I'm Ed Sullivan" -but not before allegedly hitting
a woman who was trying to take his picture.
The woman, a 51 -year -old Hollywood matron,
filed suit in the West Hollywood Sherriffs
department, charging assault. Anotherphotographer said: "He was yelling, 'They're alla bunch of phonies...'" Fritz commented: "He wasdisrupting the act by heckling, so I went over to ask
him to be quiet." No one seems to know the cause of
the ruckus orwho the phonies were in an audiencethat included Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward,
Flip Wilson, Helen Reddy, Linda Lovelace, Peter
Lawford and Lily Tomlin.
No one is saying much about the split between
John and Yoko, who have been separated now for
five months. Yoko is still in NewYork and neitherof them is discussing divorce for publication. For
those of us with long memories, however, it's justlike old times.
K 1974

unit heroes
Blue oyster Cult:(I-r)
Allen Lanier.Eric Bloom,
Albert Bouchard. Donald
Roeser.Joe Bouchard

STEREO"Halfway between Alice and the Allman Brothers'

2:55

BLUE OYSTER CULT

.roducing... the Blue Oyster Cult. "Rather like The Monkees, but
on a many different musical level," explains their manager Sandy Pearlman.
MM FEB16

NEW YORK:THEY say that heavy rock is on

the world is Black Sabbath, BOC excepting of

the decline and it's become fashionable tocourse. He's an eloquent spokesman, and as theput down bands whose music is based onmusicians were out of town it seemed that thea series of riffs and repetitive time signatures.
best way to dig into BOC was to talk to Pearlman
But they're wrong. This particular brand ofhimself. Cult are Donald Roeser (guitar), Eric
basic rock is not in a decline but maintaining
Bloom (vocals), Allen Lanier (keyboard anda high and steady popularity, and is only
rhythm guitar) and brothers Albert (drums)
unfashionable in the "holier than thou" circles
and Joe (bass) Bouchard. They used to be called
within the rock business. Black Sabbath, theSoft White Underbelly: "One day in 19671wasarchetypal perpetrators of heavy metal music,
driving down Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn andare as strong as ever; Grand Funk, mellowed
I thought of the name Soft White Underbelly
slightlywith the departure of Terry Knight, areand decided it would make a great name forstill selling albums at the phenomenal rate theya group, so I went out and found one."
did when they sold out Shea Stadium; and Deep
"I'll pause there fora moment to consider.
Purple's absence from the concert circuit in
Most, if not all, groups get together and then
America adds a mystery quality to the groupthink of a name. Here we had the name first andrather than diminishing their popularity.
no band; an interesting switch around but one
Also -and possibly more significantly- there's
which lends itself to the assumption that thea new wave of heavy metal bands on the way up,
group was formed with a specific purpose in
and the one most likely to wear the solid ironmind. Rather like The Monkees, but on a totallycrown of heavy metal
different musical level.
magnificence is a NewYork"Three members of what is
outfit called Blue Oyster Cult,
now Blue OysterCult were in"BOC are like an
who combine raw, riffy rockthe Soft White Underbelly,"
with a style and image that
continued Pearlman. "Thataccessory to
flirts looselywith the evils ofis, Donald, Albert and Allen,
the occult. It seems
and we signed a contract withsignificant, then, that on
Elektra and made an album
meeting their manager thewhich nevercame out. Afterother day he was carrying under his arm anthat the then lead singer left because he wasn't
album of Nazi war hymns which contained
good enough, and we made a new record, which
several tracks of hysterical cheering as crowds
again was never putout. Elektra own that record
listened to the oration of Adolf. Stuff, explained
and I think maybe they'll stick it out now."
the manager, to be used on the group's third
In 1970 the band left Elektra after whatalbum, which will be released in May.
appears to have been an unsatisfactoryBlue Oyster Cult's manager and guiding light
relationship. About the same time, Eric Bloom
is Sandy Pearlman, who was a well-known rockjoined alongwith Allen's brother Joe and a year
critic in New York until he discovered Bluelater they signed with CBS, changing their
Oyster and fashioned their image. He alsoname to Blue Oyster Cult. "At the time I had
writes most of their lyrics and produces theirwritten a song called 'Blue Oyster Cult' and it
albums. Pearlman is a great believer in heavy
seemed like a better name for a group than for
metal. He says he actually invented the terma song," says Pearlman. That song wasn't
when he was a writer and his favourite band inrecorded at the time, but it appears on their

their equipment"

8 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

CAREER OF EVIL
new album, retitled"Sub Human".
Since then Blue Oyster
Cult have trod the boards allaround the USA, gradually building
a reputation as hard, leather -clad rockers
whose sets never let up from the grinding riffs
of song after song. They've put out a couple ofalbums, neither of which they appear to be
overjoyed with, but this third release, recorded
almost "live" in the studio, is their best so far,according to Pearlman.
Both their albums have sold around 200,000
each, but these figures go over a long period,
which is why they've never figured in the charts
to any great extent. They're also very careful
about studio costs. Pearlman estimates that thethree albums have cost only $50,000 to make chicken feed by most rock standards.
And the group has had a helping hand fromsome of the biggerAmerican outfits, who haveused them as a support act on tours ofthe large
venues in the states. "They did a tour with Alice
Cooper, who at that time was into music rather
than a show, and I considered them to be theleading heavy metal band in the world then,"says Pearlman. "Then we went out with theAllman Brothers and Black Sabbath. We arevery grateful to both these groups for helping us.

"I consider Black Sabbath to be the mostoriginal group of the '70s, providing music for an
audience that ! would call the anarchistic teens.
Grand Funk did it too, but that was an example
of management handling rather than music.
"Blue Oyster Cult," says Pearlman with acertain degree of honesty, "are like an accessory
to their equipment.A lot of kids come to see us
not because of the music but because of the highenergy level of the show. I would saywe're justhalfway between Alice and the Allman Brothers.
"And," he maintains, "Blue Oyster Cult are
unique as they are the only heavy metal band
whose lyrics can be discussed. Most of the
lyrics, apart from those 1 do myself, are written
by Richard Meltzer and Patti Smith." Meltzer isanother rock critic and Smith is a poet who
appears at NYC rock clubs. Chris Charlesworth.

Photo session for CockneyRebel'sdebut album The
Human Menagerie in

1973:(I-r)PaulJef freys,
John Crocker, Steve
Harley, Milton ReameJames,Stuart Elliott"Nobody

would mind"; Beatles areback on speaking terms.
MM JAN 12

THE BEATLES BACK together

again? It could happen,
according to Paul McCartney.
He commented in New York that thefinancial dispute between him andthe other three Beatles will bedecided this month. The three-year
legal entanglement has effectively
stopped him working with the otherthree, although he recently
contributed to the Ringo album.
"We have broken up as a band, but
I'd like to see us work together on aloose basis -and I think we will," hesaid. This confirms rumours that
relations between all four have
improved greatly over the past few
months. John Lennon told MM in Los
Angeles: "Nobody would mind doingsome work toget her again."First live
appearance
MM JAN 26

tan tilt)

enitsts tne Help of a band
called The Winkies.
ENO WILL BE on tournext
month with The Winkies asguest stars -cum -backing
band. The tour, which opens at Kings
Hall, Derby, on February 13, marks
Eno's first live appearance sinceleaving Roxy Music last summer.
The tour lasts until March 12 andwill feature Eno's own material takenfrom his forthcoming Island album,
Here Come The Warm Jets, due out
on February 8.
Last weekend Eno and The
Winkies were in Island Studios
recording a single, "The Seven
Deadly Finns-, which is to be released
as soon as possible - probably within
the next two weeks.
The Winkies are also hoping tohave a rush -released single out.
They have recorded two of their own
songs: A -side is "Last Chance"; flip is-Red Dog". On thetour The Winkies
SEVEN DEADLY FINNSMOWED Iv (I0 it E.(
f,avendwill play a 30 -MIC0005 LTD

RIR. 044, Soni0a

Vow 303minute set
beforeAbeingjoinedWIP.1117114
BSc, Ild,by Eno.

"Maybe one day I'll relax
MM MAR 30 Introducing... Cockney Rebel and the intense creative wor''

4arley "em in a hurry," he says. "I can't staf-4 ditherers."g

H LORD, PLEASE don't let me bemisunderstood" was the classic line
Eric Burdon sang with The Animals.

It could almost have been written for theimpulsive and highly strung lead singer with
Cockney Rebel - Steve Harley. Perhaps "highly
strung" is an over -simplification, but Harleycertainly devours life. He works at intensepressure and gives the impression of being in an
extreme hurry, as if there is no time to waste.
If Harley lives on nerves, doesn't he feel theneed to relax? -I can't. People say I should.
Once in a while I'll spend an evening in front of
a TV set, but I look and don't see. Yeah, I'm in ahurry. There's no time. I can't stand ditherers."
So most of his energy goes into CockneyRebel and his career?"Every single minute. A lotof people who are close to me, over the past year
have had no attention from me at all. I demand itof them, but they can't demand it of me. But it'll
blow over and maybe one day I'll relax.
"I guess I'm basically old-fashioned. For me,
the greatest works of contemporary song writing were by Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome
Kern and Cole Porter. For me, there are no
shades of grey. It's the best or you don't do it.
And if you fail, then it's miserable. My mistakes
are really big.
"Oh yeah, I really try and want it to be great
all the time. When I was two and a half, I officiallydied. It was an effort to get me back to the landof the living. I often wish now - I don't know how
seriously, but it crosses my mind - what would it
be like to cross over and go there to death andcome back again? Think about it."
Although Steve had talked about imitatingother singers. in fact there was little audible
evidence that he sounded like any other in rock.
His style can be mannered, but once absorbed,
his approach was singularly stimulating andprovocative, yodels, howls and all.

"I take some stick," said Steve thoughtfully.
"I really do. It hurts as well. Just a little bit. At thetime. You get over it. It's just like a kick in thegroin. It doesn't matter. Bounce back.
"I love Marc Bolan. He's so together, soorganised. All his boogies are great, and he was
the original 'mirror freak', he was the one.
"But I think of a lot of people as I'm writing.
Because human beings tend to be much thesame as each other. We all look in mirrors.
"A few weeks ago I decided I'd done too muchtalking. and the criticism was beginning toaffect me. I'm being perfectly natural, but theytake it wrongly all the time, and you get insulted
all the time, and they take the piss out of you
week after week. I've been a bit noisy and somepeople took an instant dislike. So I thought I'dlay off. But I can't. If people want to talk, thentalk, and not sit around like a dummy.
"The band is going to look a lot different now.
We'll be playing a long set with most of Human
Menagerie and stuff from the new LP.
"We've done gigs where the reaction wasn't
so good and I got depressed, but at the end theaudience have been stomping for eightminutes. The reaction says maybe they haven't
played the greatest set on Earth but they've
tried. That's why we had to look right. I can't say
how long it will stay like it. We could split up
tomorrow. Last five years. You can never tell."
How different will the new Rebel album befrom Human Menagerie? "The difference is infeel. There's more ego. The first album was flat.
You listen to it and the violin and piano player
are taking solos and it's, 'Do you mind if I stepout and take a solo?' This one they say. 'Get outof my way, I'm coming through, and I want the
spotlight on me.' They're making a statement.
The first LP talks a lot and says nothing. Thistime, there's no talking, no chatting. Everything
said is a statement and a valid one." Chris Welch

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 19

March 21.1968:Don
Arden outside court in
London during one ofhis many legal disputes

to the artists. Let's put it thisway. There have been people in
the past, promoters, who'vedelayed sending my artists theirmoney. I get on the phone andsay, 'It's Don Arden here...' andthe trouble's always been sorted
out immediately."
Don Arden started early.
The war was beginning, he says,
and all the kids were being
evacuated to the countryside.
Arden was13 at the time, butthere was no way he was going tobe evacuated. And there didn't
seem much point returning backto school. So he dropped out.
Ever since he could
remember, his one ambition was
to be a singer. He looked older
than he was, people thought hewas 16, and his family couldn't
stop him, so he auditioned fora touring revue, a show called
Ladies On Revue.
That lasted about eightmonths, touring all the fleapits
in England. Arden used to singa little, do impressions, thewhole vaudeville thing. So when
Ladies On Revue finally groundto a halt, he joined up with othertouring companies until he was
16. Then came a spell in the
E NSA show, entertaining thetroops, before Arden was finallydrafted into the armed forces.
When demob came in the late
'40s there was nothing muchelse for Arden to do but toreturn to the stage, resuming his
vaudeville career. But he didn't
MM MAR 9 '1./e always had this reputation," says legendary manager Don Aron
have what they call "star-R!!t thic h! cinf`cc ic, not as rosy as sumo nPnple IA/mild h?ve
hplipvp "quality". "I was too aggressive
to become a star; I argued too
AH H... THERE ARE these stories,
there are the trimmings: the private bar much and I didn't please the right people." AllDon. Always these stories. Like themade of wood barrels - in the hall and thethe same, he had a business brain. Even cametime they say you hung someone out
Rolls-Royce in the garage.
up with his own promotions.
of your office window - by his legs. And all
He's a big, dominant man with gold chains"I saw there was a market for Hebrew
those rumours of shooters and stuff. But are
hanging round his neck like some mayoral
folk songs at that time, so from Monday tothey, er, true? Don Arden grins a little and asks
symbol of power. The whole impression is
Saturday I'd be touring the variety theatre
for proof. Some of them, he says, might just be
decidedly heavy. He's been in showbiz forand on Sunday I'd be doing my own Hebrew
true. But the others, well, they're just stories.
over 30 years now, knows the ropes as well as
folk song concerts. And from then on I started
Still, it's a heavy reputation. Seems you
anyone and is acutely aware of his own
to put together my own shows. This was 16 or
don't mess with Don. They say Don Arden's
reputation. Even plays up to it a little.
17 years ago. I had all kinds of variety acts,
going to blow it someday. Go over the top. But"I've mastered the art of making mytouring revues..."then, they've been saying that for years andpresence more, ahh, meaningful. A lot of
His own singing career, meanwhile, wasright now Don's hot. Hotter than he's everpeople say they're scared to argue with me.
almost a big fat zero. He cut a few records, allbeen. He's finally cracked the American
Rubbish. I work only withballad stuff, and evenmarket, you see. Wizzard and ELO both his
the top people in top
managed to sell 27,000
bands are doing real fine. And now he's got
companies. And they
copies of "Sunrise Sunset".
Raymond Froggatt and Phil Everly.
respect me for it."This was back in the late
So why are they saying these things about
And oh yes, he says, he'50s, and the rise ofhim? Some of the stories must be apocryphal,
did hang someone out of his
rock'n'roll had threatened
though Arden admits to making a few
window. And that was whenthe very existence of variety
enemies in this business. Not important
his office was on the fifthshows. Arden caught on
enemies, mind you, but nobodies who
floor. No name, of course,
fast, abandoning his singing
somehow got in his way.
but this guy was allegedly trying to steal the
career and going into business as
As for Arden himself, well, he's come up
Small Faces away from Arden. No way.
a promoter. He handled Gene Vincent's first
trumps. Reaped the rewards of success. His"I've always had this reputation; some
British tour, for instance, even emceed theoffice is a beautiful, timber -beamed housepeople have referred to me as the Al Capone
shows. Then came a touring package show
overlooking Wimbledon Common. Must'veof pop. But this business is not so rosy as somewith Conway Twitty, Freddie Cannon andcost something like a hundred grand, at least.
people would have you believe. All I know isJohnny Preston. Right through the early '60s,
And he's got the house next door, too. Thenthat my reputation has always been beneficial
in fact, Arden worked his way to the top as a

"I've come out
winning, and sohave my artists"

10 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

rock'n'roll promoter,bringing over Little
Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis
and Sam Cooke.
Four good years, solid
business and no worries about
half -full houses. Rock'n'roll was hot. But,around 1963, the first signs of crumbling
appeared. The Beatles were hot, hotter eventhan Arden's American artists. "I think it's safe
to say I was the number -one promoter of
rock'n'roll at that time, but with The Beatles
coming along everything seemed to change
almost overnight. I lost £100,000 in io weeks.
No one wanted the Americans any more; theBritish groups just cleaned me out. So I
decided to make my own attractions topromote, go into management."
His first band, so Arden claims, were The
Animals. Around1963 he kept getting phone
calls from some guy called Mike Jeffery in
Newcastle. "I had a name for being with thestars and Jeffery had this band called The
Animals he wanted me to handle," says Arden.
"Eventually we brought them down to London,
put them on for no a night at a place called theScene, and they were absolutely sensational."
So Arden became the band's official agent.
But he made two conditions. One, the groupwere to be produced by a singer called Mickie
Most, and two, Arden was to have sole rights
to promote The Animals throughout theworld. He had met Most in South Africa.
He was on one of Arden's concert bills,
supporting Gene Vincent. Arden wasevidently impressed with Most; the two ofthem even discussed forming their own
record company. So, says Arden, he seemed agood choice of producer for The Animals.
Something happened, however, someconflict between Jeffery and Arden. "I felt I
was being used and so when The Animals
became international stars, I sold my interests

to other people. I wasn't interested in lengthy
disputes. Most did a deal with Jeffery and it
was the parting of the ways between us. But
the whole episode whetted my appetite formanagement. Half the time in my early days
I was a star maker and a manager."

Arden believes he has two distinct roles.
There's the managerial function, someone
who handles an artist's affairs. But there's
something else, something Arden believes
he's got. "A star maker is somebody who's got
flair for detecting a certain magic in people.
"Like the time I signed up The Move, forinstance. The band were at their lowest ebb.
The whole number with the Harold Wilson
postcard had cost them a few bob in theirroyalties. But", says Arden, "I saw a new
potential in Roy Wood. A little bird told methat The Move wanted me, a heavy
spokesman, to come along. Their tough image
had offended a lot of people at the BBC and it
took a lot of persuading on my part to get theband accepted again. First I saw a certain
magic in Roy Wood, one of the mostunderrated songwriters in Britain, and ofcourse, he eventually delivered the goods.
"I tell myself I'm going to do something and
I go and do it. If anyone gets in my way, that's
their business. I've come out winning. And sohave my artists. Roy Wizzard and ELO are
doing fabulously well. Roy's Rolls is lying

second to mine outside in the
garage. I'm strictly me andthat's one thing that keeps
going is that I go to bed eachnight knowing there are would-be
managers out there wishing they were
the second Don Arden."
THE BIGGEST BAND Don Arden ever
had walked into his Carnaby Street
offices one day in1965. They'd picked
Arden because the singer had been to stage
school with his son, Dave Arden.
"They were in a sorry state, but eventually
I agreed to see them and I immediately
recognised that magic," he says.
He'd just discovered the Small Faces.
He put them on a summer season bill at the
Margate Winter Gardens with The Nashville
Teens and The Pretty Things. "As soon as theywalked on stage you could tell they weresomething different, something special. Four
Oliver Twists, and they were unbelievable."
So Arden signed them up to his record
production and management companies and,in September 1965, they hit
the Top 20 with "Watcha
Gonna Do About It". But
there were stories about
the way that record made it
so quickly. Arden's a little

But they owed me management fees andequipment costs, so the two balanced out.
But one doesn't broadcast these things, so
perhaps a few people were under the
impression I'd cheated. But there's noanimosity between us at all, now. In fact, Steve
Marriott has approached me about managing
him in Europe. Stevie has a very fine manager,
Dee Anthony, and if something can be worked
out I'll be delighted to accept his offer."
But the Small Faces, says Arden, were themost obvious success story he's ever had. He
claimed he invested something like £20,000
in the band. Something happened. though.
"After five or six hits the do-gooders in thebusiness started to tell the boys they shouldmake a change," says Arden. And, eventually,
he sold the band's production company
contract to Immediate Records and the
management went to the impresario Harold
Davison. It was, he implies, a heavy period.
After the Small Faces, well, Arden formed
his own publishing company and went backinto the agency business. And one of the
bands he came to handle was The Move.
Those stories again.
There were reports thatDon Arden had threatened
Roy Wood into leaving
ELO, something he resents
bitterly. "How can I tell an
artist like Roy what to do,musically?"
What happened, it
seems, was that Wood and
Lynne, the two focal pointsof ELO, were having major
problems. Wood was getting all the credit,
while Lynne was forced into the background.
"So Roy decided to go it alone and he had"Lets just say thatall sorts of means

reticent about that. "Let's
say that all kinds of means
were used to ensure theirsuccess and all we ever did
was bring them to thewere used toensure the Small
Faces' success"attention of the public a
little sooner than normal.
"But we did place them in all the bestvenues, dressed them in the trendiest clothes
and I managed to get them spots on ThankYour Lucky Stars and Ready Steady Go!
without any problems. And they also had amass of plays on the pirate radio stations,
together with an accumulation of publicity."
But, again, there are stories about Arden
controlling the band, right down to the timethey went to bed each night. Is that so?
"Put it this way, when the boys came to me,
the three of them wanted to live in a house
together, they wanted to be free to playanytime they wanted. So I rented a house in
Pimlico. At that time they didn't haveanything at all, no clothes, no furniture.
Within three months they had a house, a Markto Jaguar with a chauffeur, a maid to serve
them with breakfasts, gettheir dinners at night andclean their clothes. And
after12 months they had
500 pairs of shoes
between them and more
clothes than they knew
what to do with."
They also had a stringof monster hits, "Sha La
La La Lee'', "Hey Girl", "AllOr Nothing" and "My
Mind's Eye". But wasn't
there some trouble
with royalties? "Afterthe Small Faces left methere were certain
royalties owed to them.

sufficient confidence to produce something
new. As for those reports, well, it's because of
my reputation, I suppose. But I can't heavy aman like Roy Wood," he says.
Besides, Wizzard's still managed by Arden.
So's ELO. And now he's also taken on Phil

Everly. "I've known the Everlys fora long time,and Phil has always had American managers
who want him to become Mr Vegas. But Phil
wants to stay with a rock'n'roll manager."
So, Don, you've been around this businessfor 30 years. What don't you like about it all?
"The biggest enemies are the hangers-on.
There's a certain element who describe
themselves as fans. but all they want to live
on is the reflected glory. I've never hesitatedin throwing them outof offices.
"I'm in the processof writing a book. A lotof people are going tohave red faces."
And what's the bookgoing to be called?
"Scum Bags."
Don't mess with Don.
Robert Partridge

N ARDEN:THE HIT MAN

Highway'66

revisited*DA

Bob"I'm scared
he's gonna
blow it"
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After eight years"rot ir...

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to prevailing trends.
"Here is a real man," hesays, "standing up onstage with no props."

January 30.1974:Bob

DylanandTheBand"sotight that oneday
they couldsnap"-at
MadisonSquare
Garden, New York CityHISTORY OF ROCK 1974 113

1974
JANUARY

MELODY MAKER FEBRUARY 23"who the hell wants to see Bob Dylan in concert in 1974THe's history.
Can't think ofanything I'd want to see less. He should be left in thearchives ofrock -let's keep our idols on a pedestal, and in the context

in our car window and offered a 1 tare Krishna book which, he insisted,
was Dylan's personal wish that everyone should read -and, more
important, buy.
"I don't believe you," I said to him, but the point was lost. Next came
Dylan T-shirts at $3. But strangely there were no programmes.

ofthe times to which they belong"- I lollywoodpublicityguyGaryStromberg"Dylan's onlydoing this tourfor The Band's sake, y'know... to give themthe exposure to enormous crowds that they've never had and would
never otherwise get"- Los Angeles gossip"I'm sitting here waitingfor Dylan to appear onstage more as an
obligation than anythingelse, but I'm real nervous. I'm scared he's
gonna blow it. It's kinda unreal. He goes into obscurity, almost, andthen comes back to this monstrous -sized tour. Just hope he doesn't
shatterall our memories, right?" -31 -year -old Dylan student"I've enjoyed the tour. It wassuccessful and people seemed to enjoy
themselves"- Bob Dylan, backstageafter the final Los Angeles show

CYNICISM AND ADRENALIN flowed swiftly round
Los Angeles last week as Bob Dylan climaxed the mostimpactful and influential tour in popular music since
The Beatles changed the world and set up a few records,
more years ago than it would be polite to recall.
And even the deadliest cynic had to admit that Dylan
had re-emerged from his self-imposed isolation to rapturous acclaim.
Twenty-one cities and 40 concerts later, and Dylan has regurgitated theentire network of rock, restating his undeniable power as the mostsignificant contemporary composer.
With audiences whose ages range from the lower teens to the late 30s,
this has been a triumphant return to the spotlight for an older, wiser man
who has turned full circle.
More than being a mere dollar spinner, Dylan's USA tour has acted
as a reaffirmation of some basic musical values at a time when, formany rock students, there is a vacuum - or, as Dylan would have it,"no direction home".
Eight years is a longtime to be away from touring, but having
attended Dylan's final three shows of the trek, last week in LosAngeles,
I was astonished at the great shape he was in, physically, philosophically,
and musically. On stage, more than ever before, Dylan has acquireda piercing dra matic sense, a total realisation of what each show shouldbe, and any throwaway postures of his early days have been swappedfora scientific approach to what will build up the suspense and please
his audience.
The crowds at LosAngeles' cheerless Forum last week totalled 60,000
for three concerts. He could undoubtedly have sold out a dozen showsin a town like this. Tickets priced at $9 (£4) were fetching up to $150
(about £65) outside the hall] saw three young girls weeping because
they couldn't afford black market tickets. Those paying homage stoodsoberly in queues, as if wait ing to enter church.
The mood of the crows seemed one of awesome anticipation at the start,
then relieved joy at the end of each three-hour show. To those of us who
have been on a Dylan trip for 11 years, for him to make such a successful
comeback was more than we could have hoped for.
He whipped through most of his big hits with just a minimal amount of
spoken words to each audience, and while some knockers moaned that
he had been just going through the motions like a puppet of the past, histreatment of every song was different
from all recorded versions. I found it
reassuring that he was not simply
repeating his show and his phrasingsof eight years ago. That would havebeen the easyway.
The California crowds were
un-freaky. "Folkies, not rockers,"
observed myAmerican friend. Less
dope was smoked than at the average
American rock concert, which may
have indicated that more people werewilling to submit to a natural high.
In the car park (El to leave yourvehicle), a young man poked his head
14 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

DYLAN CAME ON stage immediately at the start of the shows, tostanding ovations. He raced into a speedy "Most Likely You'll
Go Your WayAnd I'll Go Mine" and we were off. The song wasa perfect opener with heavy symbolism in the words: "Time will tell just
who has fell, and who's been left behind."
Bob has a wiry presence, legs astride the mic yet not in the guise of youraverage phallic guitar swinger. His microphone technique, especiallyduring the acoustic set, is now extremely polished and he veers to it andfrom it at precisely the right moments for emphasis.
And the sound! In this revolting construction of a basketball stadium,the effects are perfect, a great achievement for the technical crew,
working against terrible acoustic prospects.
The Band rocks behind Dylan, stunningly good musicians whosesound texture and empathy is perfectly attuned to Bob's every move.
"Lay Lady Lay" is next, the words slurred into an even more countryish
flavour, and when he goes into "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Trai n To

Cry", the words are often incomprehensible. He sings most songs "up" atthe end of each line now, giving them a new urgency but tending to expect
us to knowwhat the words are.
The Band were in mighty form by this time, with the organ of GarthHudson, never obtrusive, setting up a wall of sound across each song. All
The Band stood out, but on the three shows I saw, Hudson shone. On"Rainy Day Women", with Dylan and the crowd really hammering across"Everybody must get stoned", Levon Helm's drumming was stupendous.
By now, Dylan was more aggressive than when he first stepped on stage.
"It Ain't Me Babe" followed, with completely fresh intonation and
excellent vocal back-up from Robbie Robertson and Rick Danko. Now,
after a drink from a can, Dylan switched to the piano fora stabbing
version at one of his finest finger -pointing songs, "Ballad OfA Thin Man".
Applause for this was so heavy that Dylan actually bowed as he made anexit to allow The Band to do their own set.
This proved magical; they make no concessions to appearance but are
so tight that one day they could snap. Vocally and instrumentally, theygive out an elegant, irresistible sound, perfectly rehearsed and all theirown with its subtle infusion of country music. And the songs are fine.
"I Shall Be Released", a slow dirge with a great vocal performance, wasfollowed by the return of Dylan for "All Along The Watchtower", with its
splendid imagery lost at such a racing tempo; "Hollis Brown", its raunchy
treatment contrasting starkly with the simplicity of the originalrecording; and then "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" - sung by Dylan as"do-wer" -with The Band doing good back-up vocals.
Dylan's first spoken words came next: "Thank you, we'll be right back."
After the interval his acoustic set proved a beauty, but slightly too short.
He came out with "She Belongs To Me", sounding fragile, and the biggest
roar of the night so far came when he blew harmonica.
It's odd: you might have expected Dylan, conscious of the passage oftime, to have renounced all these golden oldies as his creations ofyesteryear and not relevant today. But he was instilling them all with anunequalled energy and urgency, and had chosen the list of songs to be
performed with painstaking care, according to his friends.
There was, after "Like A Rolling Stone", an unusual sight. In a rareacknowledgement of the audience, Bob turned to the people sitting
behind the stage and nodded his
appreciation of their applause- andperhaps at their patience for looking
at his back for so long.
Nowa!l the goodies came pouring
out with vigour as Dylan knew the
marathon performances of his life
were nearly over and that he'd won:
"Love Minus Zero (No Limit)", "Don't
Think Twice, It's All Right", with realhonky harmonica, better than ever;"lust Like A Woman", with the old
melody barely recognisable, thewords moulded into an altogether
more forceful message, with the

.11,"w

LIVE!

February 14.1974: (I -r)

Robbie Robertson, Dylan,
Rick Danko, Richard

ManuftlandLevonHelm
on stage at the Forum.
11. 111 Inglewood. California

accent on "woman". Now he went speedily into
"It's All Right, Ma, I'm Only Bleeding", with thespine -chilling topicality of that knife -edged
line: "Even the president of the United States

The Band returned with marvellous songs:- FEBRUARY 13-14 -He instilled
all those
golden oldies
with energy
and urgency"Rag Mama Rag", "This Wheel's On Fire", "TheShape I'm In", "The Weight" - as solid as rock.
The Band's whole feel is like a blood brother to
Dylan's music.
"Forever Young", from the warm and fresh
album Planet Waves, opened Dylan's final set.
Much of the stuff on the new album is openly
personal, the first time I can recall Dylan baring
his soul in public. Many artists would be stayed
for being maudlin, but somehow he stops just short of it, and "Forever
Young" is a simple statement of hope, a song from a father to his fivechildren, a loving piece of paternal poetry.
After that came a thick, heavy and driving sound: "Highway 61
Revisited", and what a great, jumping track it was. Then, like a clarion callfrom all our yesterdays, "Like A Rolling Stone".
Hudson's swirling organ filled the auditorium. A touch of genius fromthe head of Bill Graham came next -a revolving ball oflight which spunround the entire Forum and made it like fairyland. And on the February
14 shows, a giant "Happy Valentine's Day" card lowered into the back of
the hall. The atmosphere was vibrant as Dylan and The Band roared
through verse after verse of that mean old song so loaded with innuendo.
We demanded an encore with the traditional American routine ofeveryone lighting a match or cigarette lighter, and he came back, fittingly,
with the song with which he had begun, "Most Likely You'll Go Your Way
And I'll Go Mine". It really swung. Dylan had returned to the stage for thiswith shades, a neat piece of theatre.
Then he made a mistake, pressing on with an abysmal "Blowin' In
The Wind". He reduced the song to muzak, at a dreary singalong tempo,
and although the crowd duly sang along with it, any meaning or melody
the song once had was lost. But that was only one dud moment in a
majestic performance.
On the final show in Los Angeles, Dylan -always a man of fewwords- preceded his encore with: "We'd like to introduce the man who's put
this tour together. Without him there would have been no tour. Mr Bill
Graham." On stage with a broad smile came Bill Graham, and at the endof this tour which had gone without any big hitch, his release of tension
was easy to see.

So was the release of
the road crew, who in thetime-honoured tradition then soaked Bill
Graham with buckets of water. After the encore,
Dylan held his guitar to the sky in a gesture oftriumph, shouted "Goodnight", and it was allover now, baby blue.
Millions of words have been written andbroadcast about this event, but few more
pertinent than those I gathered from an early
Dylanologist and friend of Bob's during his
earliest days in Greenwich Village, singer Phil
Ochs. Phil saw the shows in Philadelphia, NewYork and LosAngeles, and told me:"The net effect of this tour is very healthy forthe state of the country and the state of music and the development of
new songwriters. In my opinion, popular music has become very
degenerate from 1967 on. Look at this possibility: a 13 -year -old kid
who's listeningto today's new stuff, or maybe even playing in a rockgroup, is experiencingAlice Cooper, David Bowie, Mick Jagger or Lou
Reed. These people he has to regard as giants!
"But to me, Alice Cooper is a reflection of a sick society. So young
kids think, perhaps, that making music has to go hand in hand witha stupid stage show. This is ridiculous, and that's what Dylan's concerts
have proved.
"The social value of Dylan's tour is t hat here is a real man, standing up
on stage with no props, and making some fine music. The man whom I,
and many others, consider to be the greatest song lyricist of all time,going through his paces.
"I hope and believe," said Ochs, "that this will have a healthy andsobering effect on the state of music, and cut out the madness."
And that's a passionate piece of intelligence. Emotional attachment to
Dylan aside, critical evaluations are hardly necessary in assessing themusical worth of the 1974 American tour.
It doesn't matter that his guitar was occasionally out of tune, or that
his voice showed signs of overwork, or that some people were enjoying
sneering at the amount of money the tour will gross, orwhether he did it
for personal kicks or even to simply feed his ego.
What matters only is that he did it. And the vibes have been great.
At a crucial time in the evolvement of music, the tour will hopefully act
as a catalyst fora saner world of music.
And at the very least, the Dylan tour has made a lot of old men very
happy. Ray Coleman
HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 115

1974

JA NU ARV -*"%ABM
May 4,1974: Peter Gabriel
I onstage with Genesisat
the Academy Of Music in
New York City, wearinghis "Britannia-costurne
f or "Dancing With The

Moonlit King- fromSelling
EnglandBy The Pound"We had anunderground
With remarks from"the Snnein report" inmind. GENESIS embark

on a ianumark year.
In spite of setbacks(cancelled tour, stolen
equipment, faulty
explosions), Peter
Gabriel is confident
their new LP The
Lamb Lies Down
On Broadway "willbreak all records forpretentiousness:mystique"- MRODY MAUR JANUARY 19 pFIFER GABRIEL, MAN of a thousand faces, is now also a man of several voices.
One at least swoops upwards into the stratosphere, gibbers mad ly, thendrops into the bowels of the earth. It's a frightening effect and can only be
induced by judicious inhalation of noxious fumes.
Peterexplained the trick and described how Genesis fared on their last
American tour, when I called at his abode in a quiet backwater off London's
Bayswater Road last week.
There were several alarming tastes -as well as noises- to be experienced in t he Gabriel
household, as Peter held the fort while his w ife was away visiting relations. Reverting totemporary bachelor slat us, he had to cook his own meals as well as cope with an endless st reamof telephone calls, and a flood of rainwater you ring into the lavatory.
"It's an optional, I mean compulsory, shower," he warned.
lie looked harassed and the suntan acquired ona brief holiday in Hawaii was beginning to pale.
Genesis, due t his week fora series of concerts at
I.ondon's Theat re Royal, weregirding up loins,
ready to deliver once again their unique andsensational brand of rock and theatre.
Although Peter was well toget her when I
arrived, begot so bemused by the ringing phone,<7N<-6<IA 4

and sundryvisitors, that it affected me aswell,and I found myselfwandering out of the house,babbling to myself. "Which way do I go - ah yes,
down the stairs."
But before tottering out into t he daylight, we
chatted sufficiently to report that all is well withthe band.While they still haven't taken America
bystorm, they are building up a solid enough

Fr;

AIL

.4110.1"

following there and each tour is getting better. Most important, their
enthusiasm for progress on all levels has not waned.
So what events had transpired in the States, and what were the facts inthe case of Mr Gabriel and the squeakyvoice?
"I had hiccups for two days solid in LA. I had tried using some helium on
stage to get a Mickey Mouse voice. It was really quite worrying, although
I thought it was funny at first. It got a bit tiring, waking up in the morningand hiccuping."
The helium had been lying around the Atlantic Records office where
they had been using it fora Dr John balloon -blowing session.
"I started playing about with it, and used it on the introductions. I started
off speaking in a high, squeakyvoice and some of the audience thought,'It's true what they say about people who dress up.' Then my voice sanka few octaves and everybody was confused.
You see, the gas acts as a less dense medium forthe voice. Any more food, by the way?"

No thanks -what did you do to curethe hiccups?
"Well, eventually I drank a pint of sugar andwater and it seemed to go. It moved from one
end to the other. Before that 1 tried all kinds ofgulping and shock treatment. We were playing
at the Roxy Club in LA and on my last costumechange, when I change from black to white,

instead of the white costume, I appeared
dressed up as Santa Claus.
"I enjoyed that, and it went down well because
we did six performances at the club and some"We're all going tolivc
ina house in Surrey towork": Peter Gabrieland Phil Collinstake
break from rehearsals

people had been coming to every gig. So the change was a surprise forthem. One thingwe found on the tour was it's harder and harder to get
exploding equipment. We had one wiring which had to get hot before it
would cause an explosion.
"Normallywhen we expect the flash we all move back and shut oureyes. But it didn't go off and we thought, 'That's it, we've ruined it tonight.'
Then about 10 seconds later I had moved up to the front and- POW! It wasa really big shock for us!
"It's harder to get explosives with all the terrorist things going on, andyou need a licence now. And to get the licence you have to be vetted by thepolice and proved to be a responsible citizen with no left-wing
tendencies. We may have to employ an exploder -full time."
What was the Roxy Club like?
"It's owned by David Geffen, a plush placewith tables and it seats about five hundred. For
us it was really amazing. We got there for the
first show, thinking we were going in reallycold, and it was one of the best welcomes wehave ever had. And they still liked us when we
went away. And as ! said, some stayed for all six"It's harder to
get explosions
with all theperformances- poor suckers!
"It was our first time on the West Coast and we
found we had a sort of underground mystique.
One guy from a music paper said we were
probably the last of the underground bands,
and in away it seems to have spread on the West-a strange, intense cult thing focused on us.
"The records haven't crashedI KNOW into the chart or anything, butseem to be selling well, and we got
WHAT
some of the best reactions we've
I LIKE
had in the States so far.
"It was really exciting. Montreal
was good too, and for some reason
French Canada has caught on."Were Genesis besieged with cries

terrorist things
going on"for "boogie" and to "get it on", as has

happened in the past in the States?
"Well, fortunately this time,
pretty well all the people who were
there knew something about us. So
we had a much better reception.
"I'm sure there must have beensome heckling, but ! can't bring to mind
any. I quite enjoy it sometimes. Ron Geesin
has a word for it, which he calls 'prickly
static'. If there is heckling, you can get a few
sparks flying. But audiences have filled
themselves with pills and chemical
substances and ground to a halt.
"But there wasn't nearly so much drug taking in the States among the kids, thistime around. Wine and yoga seem to becatching on. Not often together. (Laughter)
Drugs aren't quite so trendy as they used tobe, at least among the older people. The
schoolkids are still into it."How about Genesis' management haven't there been some changes made?
"Tony Smith is our manager now. We got
into a strange situation where we had threemanagers. Roles were not clearly defined
and there wasn't enough contact between
them. So it got a bit messy and in the end
Tony came in. He travels with us, and canbe there- on the spot. So it's a much better
situation for us. And things are gettingbrighter everyday in our bank manager's
eyes. We have a slogan- 'Black by May'. And
as long as we keep our writing situation
healthy, the band will be all right.
"There is a high level of tolerance among
us on the road, but each album is a testingtime for all of us, you know, the democratic process ofcomposition. Ron Geesin, who came on the British tour withus, wrote a special Geesin Report on the band which was athree -page critique of Genesis' presentation, and it was full ofvery good suggestions, one or two of which we've tried.
"A lot of it was details, but it does seem to have made a
difference. At Drury Lane we will be doing a full showourselves, hopefully including some of the older material
because we haven't had time to get any new stuffwritten andwe won't have until Easter anyway. And we've only done one
tour with the last lot of material anyway, so there will still bea lot of people who haven't heard it.
"We haven't rehearsed yet for the Theatre Royal, but I went
down this morning to have a look, and it's a lovely place. It'sa tremendously moody place; you could well imagine it being
haunted. But can ghosts buy records? We wanted to findsomewhere we could do theatre, and Tony found us the venue.
"Originally we were hoping to do something more elaborate,
but the equipment got stuck in the States, and hopefully it will
arrive in time. Somebody didn't have the right papers -one ofthose things. We've got a few ideas for the show, but we don't
know as yet how manywe'll be allowed to do. It's a nicesituation that you can get the feel of the place. I really like to
do weekly gigs rather than one nighters."
What was Genesis' main objective for 1974?
"We want to become rich and famous." (Laughter.)- MELODY MAKER MAY 25 WELL -HAVE Genesis finally cracked America?
Are they now in the Moody Blues/Jethro Tullbracket? "It's still early days," says their ebullient
drummer Phil Collins. But a certain bounce to his gait, anda swift hand at cracking open cans of powerful foreign lager,
would indicate that all is well with the lads who just scoreda home run with "I Know What I Like".
While Genesis have been romping around the concert hallsof America, they have been keeping up appearances at homewith their first big hit single, a cut from SellingEngland By The
Genesisin1974:0-0
Pound, and it has certainly given this most unusual of groups
Mike Rutherford,
a cheering boost. Phil was sporting a drastically trimmed
TonyBanks,Peter
Gabriel,PhilCollins
hairstyle when he appeared at the Soho headquarters of his
record company this week. And a commando jacket gave theLast time we spoke, Phil had been talking about the possibility of a solo
impression of a man who will brook no nonsense and is going places,
LP, as apart from his drumming talents he is also a fine singer.
armed to the teeth.
"At the beginning of next year we'll get our own things together- maybe
Except that Phil's armament consists of tough tom-toms and sniping
the solo albums. The band is reaching a stage where itcan afford to dosnare drums. And he is planning to add more to the battery of percussion
solo LPs. The concerts were very well received and attended in America.
effects that made "What ! Like", such a success.
We played to 4,000 a night and most of them were soldout.
"It's strange. We were in Boston when we heard it was a hit. We only
"In America we were playing our own concerts this time, and notreleased the single to help people get into the album, and it certainly
supporting anybody, which meant that at least 60 percent of the audience
seems to be having an effect. Even Nursery Cryme, one of our oldest
came to hear our music.
albums, is starting to move again. The single hasn't been a hit in the States"The rest were either curious, oryet, but it is being re-released.
had come to seesomething that
"The band is going to take two months off forwriting now and we're all
we're not. We are very vulnerable
going to live in a house in Surrey to work. They're going to bring the new
as an act. We're so open to
Island mobile studio down to us to try and capture more of the excitement
heckling, when Peter tells his
and feelingwe put into our playing. Whenever I tape a rehearsal it always
stories or there is a very quiet
seems to have more feeling than when the final LP comes out after it'ssection of music. But there wasbeen mixed and remixed in the studio."surprisingly little heckling.
It seemed as if Genesis weren't getting much time off from work?
"One night Peterwas moving"Not really. We had our guitars stolen in America and that put us backfrom microphone to microphoneon schedule. Peter has moved house from London to Bath and his wife isto speak to the audience, andexpecting a baby, so naturally he wants to spend some time at home. I've
everyone 'died'. We just didn't
inherited a family, too, so things are pretty good."
realise what was happening andWhat happened about the guitars?
the audience began to heckle.
"Oh we had six pinched, but two were returned. What puzzles me is"Peter started shouting back,that the guitars returned were virtually un-sellable. There was a double but of course, the kids were justnecked 12 -string bass and a specia112-string acoustic guitar. No dealer
complaining that they could n't
would accept them because they are so rare. After this next LP we've got
hear us. Terrible!
a European tour, and then a short British tour, playing two or three nights"One of the bad spots was theat different places, and ending up at Wembley on November 4.
Winterland in San Francisco,"Then we go back to the States. The plan is fora month on the East Coast
which is a boogie hall. People 0
and Midwest."

Genesis:Englandrules

thewaves!

1974

JANUARY -MARCH

GENESIShave to stand up to see the band- no seats. So
anybodywho has to stand up for two hours to seea band is bound to get irritable. There were people

ii1111111110 ov1 HMI

just wandering around, they probably didn't evenknow a band was on.
"Overall we were very satisfied with the tour andit's given us a lot more confidence. The money has
gone up a bit -but it's still early days. No, we didn't do
anyTV. We had a disastrous show in France once
and we vowed never to do TV again. We had to play
'Supper's Ready' five times before they could get it
right, and the piece lasts 25 minutes each time. They
had some good effects and were really trying, but in the end we walked
off and said, 'We're getting the plane home!' By the fifth time you've
played it, there's no feeling left and it just drives you mad when they keep

calling out 'STOP!'"We tried to make a film of the act at Shepperton studios, but for somereason it just doesn't come across. When we saw the film, we couldn't say
anything to each other. It wasn't right. They were going to use a bit for Top
OfThe Pops, but we'd sooner have Pan's People dancing."
Phil shook his head when it came to discussing plans for the next
Genesis album: "I can't think in terms ofwhat it will sound like. It's
daunting. I'd like it to be freer, even more so than the last one.
"The stage act will be the next LP, and how that will be presented, no one
knows. I'd like to see it veer away from headdresses and costume changes,
and for Peter to use his hands more in mime, just in the black suit. But wehaven't talked about it.
"The last LP related to England, but we only realised that halfway
through making it. The theme just seemed to emerge. It helped us a lot in
the States, and anything English seems to be a help. For instance, thewaitress in the cafe won't spit in your eye, and you get double helpings
instead." Chris Welch-

MELODY MAKER OCTOBER 26-

MAN APPROACHED ME upon a flight of stairs in a West End
cinema recently, sporting a black beard and dark -blue velvet
suit. He smiled a greeting and yet was unrecognisable to me.
1 here was something devilish in his expression, which hinted that heunderstood my discomfort, rather like Sherlock Holmes confronting
Doctor Watson in one of his various disguises.
"Don't you know me?" cackles the old crone, begging for alms. It was
man o' a thousand faces, Peter Gabriel, of that most secret society, Genesis,
who came within an inch of bei ng struck down by my sword stick.

20 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

"Man isobviously not
meant to fly":Genesis
on stage at London's
Drury Lane Theatre.
January 20.1974"Great thunder, Peter, what are you doing here in
the stews of Tottenham Court Road?" It was quite
simple really. Even Lestrade could have solved thematter. Peter had decided to grow a beard. And
brush out that curious patch over his forehead. And
in the ensuing days, he was to be unrecognisable,
even to his manager and promoter, "Just my yearlychange of image," giggled the culprit.
But Peter and the rest of the band were in no
giggling mood come last Friday. For then it was clear
their forthcoming tour had to be cancelled. An
agonising decision because it was to have included
their first appearance at the Empire Pool, Wembley, which had sold out ina matter of hours. And after three months work preparing music and a newstage act, theywere all keyed up for their first major shows here in a year.
Apart from the disappointment, there is also the vital matter of cost.
Although the tour will now be staged next April, it is no easy matter to pullout at the last moment. And the entire promotion and work schedule has
been thrown out of gear. Peter explained what had happened in thesomewhat surprising surroundings of a grace -and -favour house near
Kensington Palace. His wife's father is the Queen's secretary, and while
he has been finishing off the forthcoming album, Peter has been staying
in town. It was a cold, wet, stormy day, and eerie shadows cast themselves
around the attic room overlooking the windswept park.
"They say this room is haunted," revealed Peter, curling up on a setteewith his cats, Bruce and Stockhausen. "Not a ghost, but a manifestation.
People don't sleep in here very well. They suffer from strange dreams."
Far away from the roar of Knightsbridge traffic, all was silent as thegrave outside, save the footsteps of a lone policeman, patrolling against
spies from the Central Powers, anarchists and traitors.
What treachery had caused the cancellation?
"It's a real drag. Steve Hackett had his hand stitched up yesterday, but heshould be able to play again in about three weeks. He crushed a wine glassin his hand. It was an incredibly stupid thing. And it happened at the mostimportant time. It's particularly upsetting when you think of all the fans
who have stayed out all night waiting for tickets.
"What we are trying to do is refund those who don't want to keep thetickets, or they can keep them for the concerts in April."
There must have been a lot of swearing at the news?
"Yeah. There still is. We are left in a sticky situation. Apart fromanything else, we've lost all the money deposited on the halls. I think therest of us will have to go and busk outside other people's concerts.
"The accident happened about five days ago, and the first doctor didn't
think it was that serious. Then it was discovered Steve had cut throughGENESIS

We began to reminisce about some of the old Gabriel kinetic art displays
some tendons, and even a Django -style Hackett would have been(or stunts as they are known in showbusiness). 'Ere Pete, remember the
ineffective because his fingernails had been damaged. I think ittime you came up on a ramp at Reading Festival inside a white pyramid?
happened at an Alex Harvey reception- the storyvaries. We're not aCor, that was a turn -up for the books and no mistake.
group that goes around smashing up hotel rooms, Rolls-Royces and TV"Oh yes, I enjoyed that. Great fun.And the harness of course, yousets. But Steve goes out fora little, tentative raving, and this happens."
remember that? When we did that in NewYork we were surrounded by
Couldn't they get a dep guitarist?
incompetents with union cards, and the wires got twisted.
"Not really. There is more improvisation on this album and a lot of"There is a split-second decision to be made when I come off the ground,arranging. It would have meant an incredible amount of work for anyone
and the wires got caught round my neck, which freaked me out. Man is
to learn all the parts. I don't know if you could relay an apology to all theobviously not meant to fly."people who bought tickets- especially to those who waited all night?"
While Genesis were away in the Americas, they managed to grab a hit"However, because of overrunningwith the LP, byApril we'll be muchsingle in England, "I Know What I Like". Had it come as a surprise to Peter?
better rehearsed. That's a small consolation. We were trying to do some
"We always wanted to have a single in the chart, ever since we started
shows before Christmas, but we couldn't get the halls again until April."out as pop writers at school. It only took us
The new album has a curious title, The Lambseven years to get there. There is a new single
Lies Down on Broadway. What does it all mean?
being taken from the album called 'CountingPeter separated the fighting cats and
Out Time'.
attempted to explain. "There were various"There are other things being planned outside
alternative titles bandied about."
the group as well. I've had an LP planned for
Was the title inspired by the band's work ina long time with Martin Hall, a poet andthe States?
songwriter. Everyyear I say, 'I'll do it next year.'"No I don't think so, although it's a fantasy
We've written some things together and there is
beginning in NewYork. The central character
fodder out of two minds rather than the simple
has a basis of speed and NewYork is a city ofego -gratification of a solo venture.
extremes. This album is split up into self"Mike Rutherford is working on a solo LP
contained song units, but it is based on one
withAnthony Phillips, the old guitarist. He'll
story, happily more direct than in the past,
probably finish it while Steve is in hospital. Phil
although still involved with fantasy. We're
Collins has been doing quite a few sessions fortrying to make the writing more accessible.
Ringo's label. By the way, we got to meet Eno at"The character's name is Rael. I spent a long
Island Studios, and he's done some voice sounds on the LP."
time thinking of a name that would owe nothing to any particular
It is sometimes forgotten that apart from his role as singer and master ofnationality. Then I found out three days ago that he was the name of a
disguises Peter is something of a percussionist as well as a flute player ofcharacter on The Who's Sell Out album and was later the basis for Tommy.
considerable ability.
"I don't know if my memory has been playing subversive tricks on me,"I used to be a drummer until my kit got taken away from me. A major
but I was annoyed. Never mind, the name still serves, and it has no
revolution took place when my bass drum got moved off stage, leaving me
traceable ethnic origins."
naked in front of the audience.
Was there some Biblical connotation to the story?
"But Phil is getting more tolerant of my bass drum now, or else he's
"Oh no, I don't think so. Biblical rockwas last year, man," Peter laughed.
getting senile. Most rock singers have nothing to do except wiggle their"The hero isn't the lamb, either. The lamb is merely a catalyst."
bottoms when they aren't singing. But when the music gets exciting I exchanged glances with photographer B Wentzell. "Very interesting,"
I want to hit something too!
we said, sipping tea, and feeling like a pair of constables, listening to one"I don't keep up my flute playing as much as I should. To me songwritingof Holmes's unfathomable theories.
is the most important, and being a Miscellaneous Instrumentalist is
According to Peter, the lamb's sojourn on Broadway is "just a random
secondary. I must be the most inept Misc I nst player."
external event. This will break all bounds and records previously set forPeter then played tracks from the album, including the single. Owing
pretentiousness. No- nobody's said it yet - we're waiting, in anticipation.
perhaps to the influence of the ghostly manifestation, only one speaker"We've always been scared of double LPs, but this one won't just be
was working. Nevertheless it sounded superb. Beautiful songs,
padding. The temptation has been to keep going back and remixing
fascinating lyrics, and sensitive, subtle playing, mixed with humour andtracks, but now time has run out, and we've got to finish it tonight.
harmonies. What more could a Genesis fan desire?
"We're very excited about the stage act. Geoffrey Shaw, the artist, has
As Peter played part of The Lamb, he pointed out one of the Eno voice
prepared several slides for us, which will be projected on three screens
effects: "The riff is constantly changing, with different instruments
behind us, which will simulate a panoramic scene, and will relate closer
taking over. You can't hear too much of it with only one speaker."to what we're doing on stage than the family snapshots we tried last time.
Phil Collins' drum sound was"We hope people will like our new show.
outstanding, with great booming -but We've been criticised before for being too
musical tom-toms, and lots of subtle
wishy-washy. Geoffrey has held
effects, like a hint of phasing on a snare exhibitions when he's put screens on all
TONY SMITH FOR
drum roll. One of the tracks was called
the walls of a room, where the illusion is
JOHN SMITH ENTEITIAINmENTS
PRESENTS"Hairless Heart" with lots of clever tempo
much stronger. Ideally we'd like to havechanges, and "Counting Out Time" itself
a 3D situation and hand out glasses to thehas a marvellously lunatic guitar breakaudience. It would be fun to see them allthat sounds like a human voice put
wearing glasses. Something for us tothrough a synthesized kazoo.
watch. But we're actually trying to keep
I can see this effect being pinched
the amount of equipment down. It can getby hordes of single makers, ere long.
to the stage where it becomes too"The Carpet Crawlers" has soft, gentle
unwieldy and impersonal.
ON TOUR
vocals and a bubbling background,"We're trying to do more with less. The
OCTOBER NOVEMBER 1974
but as Peter said: "This is like putting
last LP was not suitable visually for theTuesday. 29th OctoberWednesday. 6th Novembera track through a washing machine.
things I was trying to do, and of course we
VVndneSday. 30th Octobe'
Thursday, 7th November
It's really shrunk!"
THE ODEON,
don't really write for the live side. We find
THE
USHER
HALL,
NEWCASTLE
But he promised that when Genesis
EDINBURGH
out how to project the music visually after
Friday, 1st November
finally hit the road, "We'll play all of these
Friday. 8th November
it's written. As this is a double album there
Saturday, 9th November
Saturday. 2nd November
songs, if the audiences will allow us. It
are more things that will be appropriate.
THE PALACE THEATRE
THE HIPPODROME,
lasts 90 minutes and I suppose it depends
I'm still an amateur, you know. I'm
MANCHESTERBRISTOL
how strong it is as a stage act." Chris Welchlearning all the time."
Monday, 11th November"We find out
how to project

the album
visually after
it's written"

ENE'S! S

Monday, dth November

THE EMPIRE POOL,WEMBLEY

Tuesday, 12th November

THE HIPPODROME
BIRMINGHAM

All tickets for all concerts on sale at Theatre Boy Offices
on Monday 16th September.

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 I 21

"It wasallbaseilonsuch
afalsesetof lees":
Ronnie Lane b=ksback

onhistimewil. :heFacesfromisem

RONNIE LANE

"No
telephones,
no bills. It's

wonderful!"Life on the open roadis working out for
RONNIE LANF'S SLIMCHP 'ICE and theirrolling revue, thePassing Show.

Caravans? Buses?

A big top? "Only
I would be madenough to try it,"says Ronnie.

- NME FEBRUARY

2-

DURING HIS LAST year with the Faces, Ronnie Lane

seemed increasingly distant from the band. He
would sit backstage in a crumpled suit and waistcoat
all worn and wasted, with a stubbly chin and a glum
expression. Whereas Rod Stewart and Ron Wood
were especially committed to all the faster andflashier delights of touring, Lane was tired and disillusioned.
He started living on a different level from the others. On the Faces'
British tour a year ago, the band flew to concerts in a private jet- allexcept Ronnie Lane, who would travel with his family from one town
to another in a Land Rover. Without even knowing it, maybe, he wasforming for himself a gentle alternative to the Faces' more blunt andlofty style.
Also every now and again, Ronnie would be troubled
by this vision. In it he saw himself, his family and a groupof musicians travelling around the highways, stopping
and putting on a showwhen they felt like it, all in theform of a musical circus.
At first he dismissed it as naive and idealistic- simila r
ideas had been found impractical by bands like theStones and Pink Floyd- but gradually it took hold. Now,
several months further on, Ronnie Lane believes it ca nwork. He's formed his band, Slim Chance, and hireda marquee from Chipperfield's Circus.
With the success of his single "How Come", the vision
could move nearer to reality. He seems undeterred by
the problems and excited by the prospects. He mightlook and in many ways act like an optimist, an idealist
and somehow oddly vulnerable. His ideas are rather

Presenting, withapologies to
Chipperfield's
CircusRonnieThe

Lane
Dreamshow
TO ItOCK V 110LI C P 1 OR )(OUR TICKETS SOON1974
JANUARY -MARCH

eccentric by rock world standards. It's like he needs some protection attimes, a few people around who care and are interested in what he feels.
The exact lineup of Slim Chance has yet to be finalised, but it looks likefeaturing Bruce Rowlands (drums), Chris Stewart (bass), Jim my Jewell(sax, clarinet), Billy Livsey (keyboards) and Kevin Westlake (guitar). Lanehimself will concentrate on rhythm guitar and vocals rather than bass,
and there's also the possibility Gal lagher & Lyle might figure in theoperation in some way.
"I've no reason to ask them to chuck their career in with mine," says
Lane. "But we've talked about it and all we know at present is that we
enjoy working together."
Even though this interview at London's modish Portobello Hotel was
his fifth of the day, Lane leaned forward, elbows on knees and talked
eagerly about the things to come. The new band, he said, had turned out
exactly how he hoped when he left the Faces.
"I didn't want the loudness the Faces had, I didn't want all them big
amplifiers 'cos I can't sing against 'em anyway. I just want the band to bepleasurable, good-time and entertaining. I think it is."Also, it's a chance to give his own songs a wider airing. With the Faces, it
often seemed that Lane's neat, sad little songs were neglected in favour ofthe more snorty, strident efforts of Stewart and Wood.
"I felt that at times. It was nobody's fault, but I always had the feelingthat when people paid money to see the Faces, they paid money to see
Rod Stewart sing. I couldn't have sung with the band comfortably
anyway, but I got to thinking it would be nice to get me rocks off singing
my own songs. I've got no desire to be the great frontman, but I would liketo sing 'em, 'cos I don't think they're that bad."
It was about the same time that Lane's horror of the more conventional
methods of touring turned into a neurosis.
"It's all right when you're a kid, but I've got a family now and I love 'em-so I don't like to be away from them. Also it was all based on such a false
set of values. Why should I want to travel on a private plane? I've done it somany times it's the same as travelling in a car. Also I began to wonder
where it was all going to end. I'd been at it eight years and it was nodifferent from when I started except it was faster and a lot bigger.
"The only answer for me now is this circus idea. If it doesn't work out I'll
probably just live on my farm in Wales and write songs. Yet I wouldn't liketo do that, because I still like to show off onstage."
One wonders over the likely reaction of the rest of theFaces when Ronnie voiced his thoughts. How much
sympathy would Rod Stewart have with touring in a circus,
living on a farm in Wales, or in Ronnie's guiding light,
Meher Baba?
"I wouldn't say the band wanted me to leave," said Lane.
"I think it was a shock to one and all. There was a bit offriction at one point, 'cos I said to 'em I'd just be the bass
player -nothing more, 'cos I was up to 'ere with it. And theysaid I couldn't do that, and I said I felt I had to leave.

"I think me leaving has given the band a kick up the arse, in fact. it's
helped put a lot of things in perspective and has probably made thema better worki ng band. Like we were very emot ional with each other at
the start, and now I think that's been cleared."
So on to the circus. Apart from Slim Chance, the show is I i kely to feature
an acrobat, a couple of dancers and a local talent spot. Ronnie doesn't
expect it to be hugely profitable. He'll be happy if it just gives him a living
wage: "I'm just t rying to slowdown the business of goi ng on the road so I
can cope with it. This is never gonna get a ny bigger than when it starts out,
or at least I hope it won't. I really think this kind of thing is missing in music
today. It's all gone away from the people. It's like all the bands are running
round entertaining the business, and the people are left out in the cold.
"It's all so simple, really, that I can't see why it hasn't been done before.
I suppose it's just that most bands prefer a bit of luxury rather thantravellin' around in a wagon."
Apart from these ideas buzzing around in his head, Lane hasn't been
altogether idle since he left the Faces. He's been recording an album with
Ron Wood for a film soundtrack, Mahoney's Estate, and indirectly been
involved in the record ing of The Who's Quadrophenia since the originaltapes were all recorded in his mobile.
It was through Pete Townshend, in fact, that some time earlier hebecame a devotee of Meher Baba: "I was very interested in the spiritualside of things after I'd been through various other scenes, and Pete had
been going through the same thing. We met on an aeroplane on that
terrible Who -Small Faces tour ofAust ralia where we all got thrown out of
the country, and it was Pete who told me all about Baba. At first I thought
he was just another guru, but now I know he's all right for me. But I've nodesire to turn the rest of the world on to him."
Nevertheless, Ronnie Lane has been through a few changes since hisdays in London's East End with different ambitions from the usual
cockney kid. The trail has taken him a long way from the Mile End Road.
He remembers: "When I was young I was really scared. It seemed likeme prospects amounted to being a lorry driver or working in a factory or
being a tramp. I was really scared that was going to be my lot. So I suppose
I've always been a bit more of an instigator really; more so than amusician or anything. I think it would be fair to say I was an instigator of
the Small Faces and the Faces. Now I'm instigating this new thing. It's
been my saving grace really." lameslohnson

ri4IAMNigatl
wirigEsi3wRy
5

SAT. NE1111.30

ONO

IttitiCcr_

Willi
cHILLI?Far meHUT
HUT PEPPIEIFitS:fr.

E2ftt.getotd,:wiAtat,iro troy,toff
nt:Istsett,rr,!s.S.tiJr9g at

Ronnie Lane with Scottish
musician Benny Gallagher.
performing as Ronnie Lane's
Slim C hance at Hampton
Court. London. in 1974:(right)t he debut solo album,
Anymore For Anymore

21'RY OF ROCK 1971

MELODY MAKER

cc.NE8 --

HAOS!" SAID RONNIE Lane,crinkling his expressive face into asmile against the sunshine raining
on his caravan. "Courage," I thought, gazingat the Big Top, flapping in the summer breeze.
For this was the Passing Show, a braveventure in any language, including Romany.
"Only I would be mad enough to try it," Ronnie
told his first -night audience later, affirming the
doubts and anxieties that prickled behind thebreezy confidence of that most likeable ofitinerant songwriters.
Clowns and tent -men, roadies and musicians
have joined forces in a project that has beenmooted before by idealistic rock'n'rollers. Only
Ronnie Lane has had the courage to put his

RONNIE LANE

money where his vocal cords reside, and turn adream into a reality. Many a musician has gaily
given voice to the concept. "Wouldn't it be great
to travel around the country, set up a tent on thevillage green and just play for the people?" Thisis exactlywhat Lane has done, even though thefinancial risks are nerve-wracking.
Ronnie's brother, Stan, a busy East End toy trader, confided thatchances were being taken, and laughed wryly at the young lady reporter
who expressed shock when she learned tickets for the Passing Show costjust over a pound. "If she knew how much it cost to put this on the road..."he snapped, on the verge of snapping a tent pole in frustration.
The Passing Show is a rebellion against the grinding inevitability ofaccepted life on the road. No more jet lag, bumpy flights, rotten hotels,
greasy meals, ulcers and exhaustion. Instead the leisurely jog across hilland dale, with a merry clutter of half -naked babies, screeching parrots incages, and the glow of campfires by night. For room service, see Camping
Gaz stove, and for check-out time, well the wagons roll at sun -up.
Not that the gypsy life is without its problems. As Ronnie sat on the stepsof his beautiful, ex -fortune-teller's caravan, earring a -dangle, hebetrayed his nervousness by saying that if the afternoon's rehearsal did
not take place he would be off, and the show could start without him.
It was the day before the debut performance, and the testing ground forthis exhilaratingventure was the Marlow Football Club training pitch. The
grass was green and pleasant, and the site cosyenough, but unfortunately,
since Ronnie had last passed this way, a small estate of council houses had
been erected nearby, with their threat of complaining neighbours.
"I've written a personal letter to everybody explainingwhat we aredoing and asking them to bear with us," said Ronnie sipping a mug of tea.
"Most of the noise will be caused by the generator, but we've put it as far
away from the houses as possible.""I've got an old London Transport bus I'll be travelling in later, when it's
ready. We're pulling all the seats out and replacing them with a couple ofrooms. It's a beautiful bus- a Guy -and it's about 25 years old. It's funny,
I always wanted to be a lorry driver, but me dad talked me out of it."
"I was a lorry driver," chipped in Stan, "and I wish Dad had talked meout of it!"

A passing circus man wanted to know the purpose of the gnarledshillelagh that Ronnie was twisting in his hands.
"It's for the hobble-de-hoys," said Ronnie, and
we all thought it a reasonable explanation. "We
put the tent up last Sunday. Most of the stuff had
to come from my place in Wales, including theshow caravan. I started collecting wagons sometime ago, but they've started to get pricey now.
This was a palm reader's wagon and it's still got
her hat pinned in the mirror, where she left it
before she died. It's much simpler than living
in a house -no telephones, and no postmen
bringing the bills. It's wonderful!
"But there are problems. I wouldn't havechosen this site if I'd known the houses were so
close. I was surprised. We've had all the kids off
the estate come over to see us..."As Ronnie spoke, a handful of respectful children appeared, hands
outstretched to offer a bouquet of wild flowers. The one-time Faces bass
player seemed charmed.
Inside the caravan, actually planted on a modern transporter to saveits tired old wheels, was a bizarre world of tiny knick-knacks, drapes,
mementoes, a large bed, for Master Lane and his good lady. It looked likethe 19th century in miniature.
"What's happening in the tent? Is it ready?" Ronnie looked anxious
again. There had been grumbles from the tent -man and a certain amountof melodrama about who put what where. But acting as the peacemaker
was the quietly spoken even-tempered chief clown, Digga, of Digga, Mose
& Mooche fame, whose caravan's interior represented the 20th century,
or at least the I950s. Digga, alias Paul, was an Australian, not unlike
Robert Mitchum in TheSundowners.

all the wrong leads. Inside the big top, a two-poler("The day of the big four-poler is over," said Digga),
signs were being painted and wooden planks set up
for the expected thousand or so revellers. An
American technician helping to put the show
together took a rest from his labours.
"Ronnie has sunk so much bread into this, he's got
an overdraft," said Russell Schlagbaum.
"Nothing's cheap these days. Just one section of this tent costs a thousandquid. At least, that's what the tent -man told me. Our main problem istransport. There's nine people in the show and we've got to move around in
caravans. But teething problems, like the equipment arriving one week
late, are being ironed out. The sound is my responsibility, but the acoustics
in the tent are good, and we've got an efficient 1500 -watt PA.
"By the way, this is Michael Hurst. He's in charge of the generator."
A man covered in oil and emitting blue sparks dashed past with apreoccupied look.
FRIDAY: DUSK WAS settling over Marlow as folk trooped into

the Big Top, past a gaily painted wooden entrance and pay
booth. Nothing could be further from the industry image of
rock'n'roll. The spirit of gentle fun and make-believe seemed tocommunicate to the audience. Even when the clowns weren't so funnyin their slapstick routine, and when technical and human goofs heldup proceedings, nobody took umbrage.
The first night was a greater success than most of the cast had dared tohope. Ronnie has such a casual and cheery attitude you had to laugh,even when microphones went dead, one by one, as he attempted to sing
the first line of his second song. Where other singers might scream andstamp their feet, Ronald smiled, waited and listened as the band gave up
and broke into "I Want To Be Happy". When contact was restored, Ronnie
said coolly: "I think we'll start that tune again."
The showwas a long one -over three hours -with a workmanlike set
from acoustic duo Ken Nicol and Pete Marsh, ex-Gwenyway, who added
drums and bass for their final numbers. They sang "April Eyes" ("A silly
song") and delighted with excellent harmonies.
Surprise of the night was Scots singer and comedian -compere Billy
Barclay, the funniest man heard in many a spin of the wagon wheel. He
tore into the audience with a stream of jokes,
like, "Let's all hold hands and see if we can makecontact with the living," and gave warning that
"If anybody leaves, I'll come down to the bus
stop and sing to you."
Robin Lucas and Drew McCullough, from
Ayrshire, proved a sweet wee folk duo, witha pretty tune or two, who later joined theLane-ites in Slim Chance.
A roar greeted their diminutive leader, inblack trousers and waistcoat, partially hidden
by an enormous guitar strap. Ronnie's songs are
happy, easy, and occasionally pointed at the
mysteries of fate, all delivered with that
infectious two -beat, like an East End boogaloo,
which made "How Come" such a hit. It's agentle, chugging rhythm, in which mandolin, violin and excellent
saxophone, played by Jimmy Jewell, are pushed along by Bruce Rowland's"This was apalm -reader'swagon and it's
still got her
hat pinned up""Aw yes, MelodyMaker," he said with awry smile, "not bad at all. I was
reading it on the toilet the other day, and I still had mykecks down an hourlater." There could be no finer compliment.
While Digga soothed the tent -man, roadies soothed Ronnie, who wasconcerned that the PA system had arrived from America -late- and withsympathetically, although occasionally under -rehearsed, drums.
Ronnie occasionally fished out a list of tunes to remind him of the set, as
he slipped and slid across the circus ring.
In response to yelled requests he said disarmingly: "Give us a chance,
I ain't warmed up yet!"
One of the surprise numbers was "Amelia Earhart'", about the lost
pre-war flyer and the first lady of the air, while the troupe also excelledon such high -wire tunes as "Careless Love", "Debris", and "Silk
Stockings". Just to add atmosphere, three rather attractive young can -candancers displayed their charms in the ring during an energetic "Ooh La
La", with a flourish of suspenders and stocking tops.
There were encores, of course, and demands for more, but as Ronnie
said: "The man from the council is here", and doubtless the mutterings ofsuburbia were already being voiced backstage.
And so the first of the Passing Shows concluded to wild applause. If
you'd like to see the show -just watch out for the man with the parrot,
should e'er he pass your door. Chris Welch
HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

25

1974-0"
JAH UP111"I wasn't into
rock at all
before I
met David"- NME MARCH 2 I'LL NEVER FORGET the dayAngie Bowie rang me
up and asked for Nick Kent's address. When 1 asked
why she wanted it, she replied, "I'd like to have halfa ton of wet cement delivered to his front door."
Poor old Ange. She has quite a reputation for things
like that. Her freak -outs are frequent and of epic
proportions. On the other hand, she's been known to answer
fan letters for five or six hours at a stretch, and it's a long timesince June Bolan or Bianca Jagger did that.
These days she's best known as a professional failer ofauditions, as a chat -show guest and the frequent subject ofphoto spreads in the Sun and the Daily Express. She's about as
upfront as a rock star's wife can get without actually playing
in the band. She's got her own fan club, and her husband'sfans find her almost as fascinating as David himself.
Depending on the circumstances of meeting, Angie Bowie
is both well hated and well liked. Many people in the businesshave gotAngie Bowie horror stories to tell, and yet I've always
found her both excellent company and very considerate.
Whatever Bowie's up to, she's usually right in there. During
the tours, Angie was liaising between him and the fans, evengoing to the trouble of taking down addresses and writing
letters. Some fans even got Angie notes from Japan.
Under the thinnest of thin disguises, she's modelled as "lippJones", failed an audition for the lead in a Wonder Woman TV
series, and attempted to embark on a career as a straightactress. She's also taking a considerable interest in the careerof her close friend Dana Gillespie. She does a lot more thanjust stand around posing at concerts. Poor old Ange.
She spends most of her time getting numbered as some kindof super -bitch and she really isn't like that at all -most of the
26 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

In the absence ofimviu BOWIE, hiswife ANGIE makesa compelling subject.
Sexually openminded, passionately
pro -fan andsupportive of her
husband, she's a force
to be reckoned with.
"If I hear anybody

talking badly aboutDavid," she says,"I'll beat them up."February1974:David
BowiewithwifeAngieand
son Zowie(now Duncan
Jones) in Amsterdam toreceivean Edisonaward
forthe Ziggy StordustLP1974 ic
JA NU ARV --10

time. Also, the fact that every 10 minutes spawns a rumour that
she and DB are headed for the Great Divide can't be too good for
the Health, Education & Welfare department of the head either.
On the other hand, the peremptory and bullying tone of her"LookHere" page in the Bowie fan -club magazine is rather off-putting.
HE PENCILLED SIGN thumb -tacked to the stair -rail
read "Tony Ingrassia rehearsing Sheila". Covent Garden
rehearsal studios don't exactly rate four stars in the cosmic
AA Guide, but this one is quite spectacularly tattered. No lights on
the stairs, large starbursts of wallpaper ripped away to reveal
pockmarked plaster, crippled furniture, a table that's obviously
seen life as she is really lived, a single glaring light bulb hanging
disconsolately from the ceiling -The Rehearsal Studio. Got it?
It's like a stage set in itself, and right there behind the table isthe star of the show, Angie Bowie in the too, too solid flesh.
Short white hair in impeccable waves, eyebrows conspicuousby their absence, a black see-through dress with strategic nonsee-throughable sections. One of the latter areas has slipped a bitand one highly appetising and almost unnaturally crimson
nipple surveys the scenery with an air of perky but baffledincomprehension. An upturned biscuit -tin lid does duty as anashtray and the table serves as a suitable spot to lay down one's
weary cassette.
Well, now -your Lindas and yer Yokos and yer Biancas are quite
public these days. What brought you all out of the closet? "Maybe
it's a difference in attitude on the part of women in general.
Maybe the motivation for getting married was different 10 years
ago. You know a wife was a very bad thing to have if you were Elvis
Presley. He waited a longtime before he married Priscilla."
I mumble something about how it took Lennon a little while toown up about his first wife. "I got to confess to you," ripostes Ms
B, "I wasn't into rock at all before I met David. But when yourmotivation for getting married is not based on possession, then owning
up about having a wife is a very different thing.
"I mean, anybodywho professes to practice faith and devotion in the'70s may think they're telling the truth, but it's just an illusion. Maybe I
just move in very different circles, but I know very few people who reallybehave like that. That doesn't mean that it's not good if it works for you,but I'm sure that if you really like someone you'd prefer to stay with themon a basis of pleasure and enjoyment rather than frustration or boredom.
"Things have totally changed for people who are entertainers. If
anybody said that Bill Haley didn't have groupies I'd be sure they werelying. I mean, Paderewski had groupies. One of them was a music teacher
at my school. She was 50 years old.
"Entertainers in any field- classics, pop, avant-garde, makes no odds
- have always been surrounded. Groupies are the people who make it
all worthwhile. Fans will sit very quietly and applaud at the end of
numbers, and they're well loved, but it's the groupies who scream andshout and want you to know they're there. So if you can't accept that fact
you really shouldn't get married in the first place, you should just be aclose friend. So I was never hoodwinked into thinking that faith andpossession were virtues."
BEATLE FANS ALWAYS gave Beatle wives a hard time, but Bowie

fans seem to have considerable affection for Angie. "I really dig
them too. I don't know about the Beatle thing because I really
don't remember that. I may have sounded coy when I said that I didn't
know anything about rock'n'roll until I met David, but that's the truth.
"It's a different situation now, because sexuality's different. I think the
openness is very important, but it's like totally depressurising the sexual
drive instead of keeping the pressure within the body and causing
frustration. Fans are smart. They bang on cars and try to get in to see you,and what could be more wonderful! I don't understand how anyone could
not think about the fans. They're the ones who make it worthwhile. The
music business doesn't make it worthwhile. You don't make records forrecord company executives, you make them for people.
"It doesn't matter whether they're old fans who stay very cool, oryoungfans who crywhen they see you. Anybodywho's an entertainer is into
audiences and that's what they're feeding off. The parasite element ofentertainment is that you must feed off that audience."
Alright Ange. Lay it onus. Howdja meet yer old man? "I was invited out todinner by a mutual friend and he happened to be at dinner. I was doing
28 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

economics at Kingston Polytechnic and I had a boyfriend who was arecord company executive -can you believe it?And I went to see him at
the Roundhouse in a band called Feathers. The record company executive
refused to sign David, and I broke up with him because ! thought he was a
schmuck. I said, 'You don't recognise talent when you see it.'
"The band were great. They were on with The Who that night. That was
my first taste of rock'n'roll; I saw Feathers, Scaffold and The Who."She smiles, obviously digging the memory.
"I was astounded by The Who. I didn't think people did things like that.
I couldn't believe Pete Townshend. I was totally destroyed by him. I justsat there and thought, 'I've got to go and have dinner with this horrible
record company executive afterwards.'"Feathers broke up, but in the meantime one of the other executives
from the same company had managed to persuade the management
not to listen to the other dude, and he got them a deal. This led to 'Space
Oddity'. Literally two weeks later he was in the studio doing that.
"We were very lucky, I suppose, because we were never successful in the
beginning. If we had been, it would have been very hard for me to suddenly
come to terms with it. 'Space Oddity' came out and it started to become a
hit in the summer, and by the end ofAugust and September it was building
up and his manager, Ken Pitt, was rather unprepared for it. He didn't likethe way the deal was set up. It hadn't been set up through him. He didn't
want David to be successful; he wanted David to be obedient."
WHAT WAS IT like being around when Bowie was getting
songs like 'The Width Of A Circle' together? "David and I arevery fortunate in that I'm not musical. There is nothing
musical about me, neither a rhythmic beat of the foot nor a vigorous
clapping of the hands. I'm surprised that I can even dance in a disco.
"Now that kind of ignorance is a vital piece of equipment when you're
dealing with someone who's so totally ahead of everybody else. I had nobasis for comparison, and everything he played me sounded great. He
always wrote about things that fascinated me. TheManWhoSoldThe
World was conceived during a period when we were really poor, we didn't
have any money. Our band were really frightened.
"We didn't understand Tony Defries, who we'd just met. We didn't
understand that it would be alright just like he said it would. We'd sit inour big house with nothing in it and think, 'Jesus, I hope it all works out.How do you ask a nice lady like Angie how it feels to be married to theman who everybody on the planet and his dog Eric thinks is the world's

ANGIE BOWIE

says it's the most evil part of my personality, and I think he's probably
right. On the other hand, where ! adore people, I'd do anything forthem. Theyall tease meat the office because I answer fan mail."
How about all the different levels of Bowie appreciation? Like,
there's this line in 'The Width OfA Circle' which goes, "And helaughed insane and quipped ?Cahill Gibran'." Now how manyyoung
Bowie freaks have ever heard of Kahlil Gibran?
"I don't think it makes any odds. I heard a programme on the radio
about rock'n'roll, and the dude said that the guy who wrote 'Blue
Suede Shoes' was talking about it and said, 'Man, I don't think! ever
had a pair of blue suede shoes. I couldn't afford a pair, but I heard
this cat in a dance hall talking about them.'"And I was thinking that that was the same thing. How many kids
who dug that song ever actually saw a pair? In England at that time,
there were very few men wearing coloured shoes. Kahlil Gibranthat's just the natural explosion of consciousness that has takenplace amongyoung people. Now, instead of 'Blue Suede Shoes, it may
be an obscure reference to a writerwith whom some of us are familiarand some ofus aren't. In the end, they understand the song so muchbetter than anyof us who try to get into it on anyintellectual level.""Anybody who's
an entertainer is
into audiences":press conferenceat the Amstel
Hotel. Amsterdam,
February 7,1974

king gay? Here's what you do. You say, "How doesit feel to be married to the man who everybody

S0 WHAT IS Angie Bowie doing in this godforsaken armpit
of a rehearsal hall? Another extension of the Jipp Jones
thing? "I'm not becoming a model called Jipp Jones. I'm sorry
if it appeared this way. I love doing things if they come off good, andI did some photographs which came out great. People said, 'They're
really beautiful, you should do more.' I would never be a model; it'dbe the most boring thing in the world. I've always wanted to be anactress. I'm rehearsing now for a play called Sheila, written by Tony
Ingrassia who did Pork. It's a play which is part of a trilogy, butmainly one of a pair. The other one is called Fame, and we'll be
producing that one for sure.
"It's going to be either West End or Broadway.
We're not sure which, because of Equity. I'd liketo do it here first for the fans, because a lot ofthem had said that they'd come and see me,
which is great. Also I'd like to do it here because
I don't really know New York that well."A lot of what goes on around the Bowie
machine is to a certain extent misinterpreted.
I suggested to Ms B that she was one of theleading players in a long -running piece offiction. "That's a lovely phrase, but it's very hardto answer, honey. It just makes us all tighter.
People think that you don't care after awhile.
You mayjust say to yourself, 'I don't care, saywhat you want. Fuck off, bastard.' That might bewhat you say to yourself, but that's not what you
think. You think, 'Why did you say that?' I mean you've heard me on thephone to you screeching about things."
Yeah, like that Kent business. "Absolutely. I mean, I wanted to kill him.
Other people aren't as drastic as I am. David's never like that; he nevermeans anybody any malice. I just want to kill them for being so horrible
and for not looking at something and seeing it for what it is. I get totally
distraught. I can't think in a logical fashion. I just think in this dramatic
fashion, thinking that they're evil and that they're doing it on purpose.
Of course, that's not fair because they're probably not like that at all."
We did this interview last November, and since then all I know about
what Angie's been up to is what I read in the papers. There was the Wonder
Woman debacle, and a couple more photo -spreads. I hope she gets

"David neveron the planet and his dog Eric thinks is theworld's king gay?"
Your interviewee will then totally out -vibe youby replying, "I think that's wonderful. I neverthought of it like that. I think it's great. I love it.
It all depends on your knowledge of the gay
culture, of which I can happily say I'm amember. It includes a wide variety of
individuals. Without wishing to go through a big
long hoo-hah, there's one commonly known as
The Stud. David is a Stud.
"If someone who's gay reads, 'Look, I'm gay,' hethinks, 'Oh, he must be one of those people whogoes up to Hampstead Heath.' See what I mean; it's two different things.
How can you say to a writer, 'Look, I'm sorry but you've got things wrong?
I'm gay, but I don't mean that I like to get it; I like to give it.' It's really unfair
to lay a trip like that on a guy. He's probably a queen anyway and justbeing cool about it."means

anybody any
malice. I wantto kill them"

WHILE LARGE SECTIONS of the planet and his dog Eric arelooking in on David Bowie, Angie is on the proverbial insidelooking out. "It's very strange that you should say that,
because that's getting right down into it. I'm very bolshie, very
aggressive. If I hear anybody in a bar talking badly about David, I'll
take them outside and beat them up.
"I got pulled out of a ballroom by five policemen for beating a guy up. It
was at a Gravesend gig when we first started. David was headlining, and all
theywanted to do was bop. David came out, you know, a fuzzy -haired
folk singer. He made me promise that ! would never do it again.
"I'm a very subservient wife, I would never... actually that's nottrue; I beat some people up in Japan. Not fans, guards who were
picking on the fans. There's warrants out for my arrest. At the airport
they said tome, 'Goodbye, Mrs Bowie, please don't come back.'"So because ! get very stroppy, if I hear people talking bad abouthim, I get very uptight and I don't forget it. I never forget anyone, nota face, not a name. I'm very quick to take a person's name."
Angie Bowie's going round taking people's names, huh?"Well, youknow it's true. When people put me uptight, I remember it. David

something together.
Good luck, Ange. You're gonna need it. CharlesShaarMurray

ANGIE BOWIE'S
TAKING NAMES...and mister, if you're on her list,
you'd better split town.

1974,,,,t,UPRV -0"

Simpleanddirect":the Eagles-(I-r) Bernie
Leadon,DonHenley,
Glenn Frey, new rec ruit
Don Felderand Randy

opereeW(

Meisnen(inset)"truefairy"Jobriath

There is,however, a more
serious song
about a dead rockstar and that's"My Man", written
by Bernie Leadon
and about his
ex -colleague
Gram Parsons. It's
not sloppy but
sincere -a good

ALBUMSThe Eagles

ASYLUM

No two ways about it, thisalbum is great - it really is.
Their other two records, Eagles
and Desperado, were pretty
excellent, but this one
eclipses both.
Of course the Eagles havea lot of people to thank for doing
the groundwork - people likeCSN and V. The Byrds andnumerous other West Coast
country rockers. But they haven't
got any pretensions. They don'tsing songs about freedom orpolitics. They stick to what
they know. Like their music,
their lyrics are simple, direct,

uncluttered statements.
There's a song called "James
Dean", co -written by Jackson
Browne, Bernie Leadon and
Don Henley, and before I heard
it I'd half -expected some maudlin
dirge about what a fine rebel
Dean was, but not a bit of it. The
song rocked like a bitch, a kindof "Slow Down" shuffle, andthe lyrics come over slightly

tongue-in-cheek.
30 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

song. Otherwise
the songs areabout girls or cars,
and there's a fast
country rocker, "Midnight Flyer",about a train. Listen to Leadon's
breathtaking banjo-pickin'. Thatsong really shifts too.
"Old '55", "Is It True" and "TheBest Of My Love" are filled withromance but it doesn't get
sugary. "Old '55" has this greatchorus and someone singing in itsounds a lot like Neil Young, butthen he does a lot of hanging
around in LA too.
Like the songs, the musicianshipis very effective. The sheer
panache of "James Dean" andthe pure electric rock of "AlreadyGone" is shining.
And it's not just all down to one
guy. The Eagles aren't carrying
dead weight. They all write andthey all sing too (with the
exception of newcomer Don
Felder, who just scrapes inon "Already Gone" - he only
joined a couple of weeks ago).
Compared with the previous
two Eagles' records this is a lot
more concise, a lot more cleancut and everybody seems to be
going in the same direction. And
the sound is just right -great
production, great record. Go out

and buy this just
as soon as it's
released in afortnight's time andyou'll have all the goodparts, the sin and girls, ofCalifornia in your front room too.
Steve Clark, NINE Mar 30

Rod Stewart & The Faces
MERCURY

Ladies and gentlemen, a study indisintegration. When the Faces

began their current incarnation,
their boozy looseness helped to
add some riotous vibes to a tight,
powerful, hell -for -leather set.
Just an extra little something toliven up the act, kind of like a

rock'n'roll Dean Martin.
Now, several gold records and a
few years of gigging later, they've
indulged themselves to such an
extent that their music is virtuallyunlistenable. Not to put too finea point upon it, their new live
album contains some of thesloppiest and most incompetent
playing I've ever heard from aso-called major band. And that's
not an easy thing to have to write,
because while I've had somereservations
about the Faces,
Rod Stewart has
been for four
years (and tosome extent
still is) one of
my favourite
British singers.
The first
side chugs
along fairly
unremarkably
but not too
offensively with

"It's All Over
Now", though "CutAcross Shorty" getsa trifle messy.
It builds up a little steam
towards the end of the "TooBad"/"Every Picture Tells A
Story" medley and reaches a peakwith a gorgeous version of"Angel" which slashes the "Never
A Dull Moment" version to shreds
before winding down with anoverly loose version of "StayWith Me".
So far so good. Acceptable
party stuff. Flip the album overand the rot sets in.
The Faces' version of "I Wish It
Would Rain" is, according to Mr
Kent, the worst Motown cover
he's ever heard, and it moves withall the grace and drive of a manwith two broken legs trying toclimb a rope.
Next up is the single mostirritating piece on the album, "I'dRather Go Blind". Gorgeously
soulful vocal, but Tetsu andKenney Jones spend the whole
piece trying to agree on a beat,and Ian McLagan and Ronnie
Wood don't help much. It's
actively painful to listen to.

and Leo Sayer. He dresses up
as a pierrot, too - whichmeans that either he or Sayer
have got to go, or stay firmly

in their own countries.
Jobriath is reasonably
gifted all right, but that
doesn't mean he's necessarily
any good. His songs have a

Moving right along now, a
medley of "Borstal Boys" and"Amazing Grace" bridged withsome appallingly clumsy slide
noodlings from Wood. "Borstal
Boys" just about holds together,but on the latter track it's hard totell who's more out of tune, Rod
or Ronnie. That a group of theFaces' stature can not only playso badly but actually have theballs to put it out on an album isquite phenomenal
Lastly, a slipshod version of
Lennon's "Jealous Guy" poleaxes
this limping set in its tracks.
Once upon a time the Faces
were one of the most genuinely
exciting bands in the country.
On the evidence of all the gigs oftheirs that I've seen (with one
exception) they are now a painful
travesty of their former selves.
Maybe this album was released
simply to get Rod out of his
Mercury contract; I neither know
nor care. But in the interests of a
one-time fine band, I'd like to ask
the Faces (and their persons) toplay this album in the cold light of
day and do some re-evaluation onthat basis. To continue on thisbasis is a disservice to both theband and to those members of
their audience who can tell a bad
set from a good one, and who arefinancing this disintegration.
Rod has gone on record assaying that he didn't like Ooh La
La. Well, it was a damn sighteasier to listen to than this one.
Face facts, my friends. A word
to the wise guy. Charles Shaar
Murray. NME January le
ELEKTRA
Jobriath
You will soon be told that thiscat is going to be the big breeze
in 1974 Receive this piece of
information with sceptical,
though polite, curiosity, weighit carefully, and then watch it
crumble and trickle throughyour fingers.
Quite an interesting hype,Jobriath. "A true fairy", as heinsists on calling himself, he is a
trained pianist, an actor, a mimeartist and dancer, and a vocalist
stuck somewhere between Bowie

chordal basis that recalls
Satie and Chopin - and sureenough those turn out to be
his favourite keyboard
composers. His phrasing,arrangements, and the general
showbiz glibness in every movehe makes on this debut album
remind one vaguely of Hair orsomething - and sure enoughhe used to be in the cast of thatshow in America. That's about
two casefuls of finest quality
distilled mystique down the drain
straight off.
What else? The lyrics? They
convince most when they're
sexual, as in the masochistic("Take Me I'm Yours") andnarcissistic (-I'maman-) exercisesin chic gay consciousness withwhich each side of the record
begins. Beyond that it's tawdry
sci-fi, a dash of fashion news, andthe obligatory song about beingborn to rock'n'roll.
The musicianship is deafening
and professional to the lastsemiquaver. A brilliantly
conceived and designed package
built around a run-of-the-milltalented young New York queen
that... crumbles into dust as you
play it, just like Jobriath's legs doon the cover. A good hype indeed.
!enjoyed it while it lasted.
Ian MacDonald. NME January 26

can tqhir. n,,,q UNITED ARTISTS
I've had my paltry reservations
about Can in the past, but theirprevious album, Ege Bamyasi,
allayed most of them and this,the group's fourth LP (excludingSoundtracks), wipes the slate
impressively clean. Future Days
is an immaculate piece of work,
the best German rock record sofar, apart from Faust.
On it, Can have at last foundthe perfect quality of soundthrough which to express theirvery highly developed internalmusical relationships -a soundfull of distance and air, halfway
between abstract and concrete,sometimes bursting with light,
sometimes glowing vaguely as if
through a rain -washed window.
A bit like a Turner painting.
Everybody comes through on
their own level without distortinganyone else's - which means, forexample, that Damoand Michael Karoli
fulfil themselves far
more than everbefore, the latter's
playing emerging as something ofa revelation.
Elsewhere, Irmin Schmidt isgetting into new, more rarefied
regions and has managed to
produce an ersatz string -tone
without recourse to themellotron's instant deep-freeze,
while Liebezeit and Czukay are
consistently amazing throughout.
The title track, oased on arhythm -box figure, bossa-novas
its way through shadow andtranslucency, guided by the bass
and the subtlest of guitar
inflections - music of nuance,
endlessly listenaole andperformed with an ear for detailso finely developed that it makes

the majority of tcp-flight AngloAmerican outfits look about assensitive as a bunch of Sumo

wrestlers trying to waltz.
"Spray" is more aggressive andloose, improvised (I'd guess) from
top to bottom, and hopefully amodel for Can's Live excursions in
the future. " Moonshake", one of
the best singles of '73, concludes
Side One with a nervous jitteringrhythm and tastefully sparseelectronics. But the best is on theother side.
"Bel Air", a 20 -minute project(elsewhere rather loosely
described as a suite), is the mostimpressive thing Can haverecorded. It's basically a number
in several sections played twice,quite differently. divided by anaturalistic interlude of bees
buzzing in a summer meadow.
First time out, Damo sings the
melody line with Czukay holding
one note under it: then it breaks
and takes off, picking up a lovely
guitar theme from Karoli during
the soaring duet between him
and Schmidt.
The second run of the song
features all the chord changes,
but omits an effective descending
passage until the singing's over whereupon the group take off
again and, this time, don't comedown. The standard of creativeinterplay during this section isclose to supernatural.
Future Days is sheer goodmusic and is perfectly easy foranyone with a pair of ears
attached to their heads to get
into and thoroughly enjoy. Forgetthe krautrock tag. Forget how
you're supposed to react. Just

SINGLES
Lulu
POLY DOR

It seemed an unlikely pairingwhen Lulu sang with David
Bowie and recorded in Paris
last year. But here is the result,and as I have been trying toconvince my assistant Tinker
Bulstrode, it's not so daft.
"Come off it, guynor, you
don't mean ter say that Lulu
used to sing at the Marquee?"'Fraid so, old man.
Like David, she was one of
the embryo stars from the '6os
who regularly jived to a firm
twist beat. And what is more,
Lulu has not lost her touch. She
lilts through the Bowie classic
with calm assurance, while thecomposer adds a fetching alto
saxophone and vocal backing.
They make an intriguing teamand let's hope they whizz
chart -ward together.
"Well, if you say so, guy..."I do. MMJan12

Ringo Starr
P, E

The MM Glee Club, consistincof the massed singers of the
sub -editing department andcombined ace reporters,
down ballpoints to join in thechorus with Ringo on the oldJohnny Burnette hit. Kazoos
help out on Richard Perry's
simple but effective
production, and it should hit
the chart 'ere dawn. mm Feb9
GenesisCHARISMA

get this record. lan MacDonald,

One of the band's mostinteresting and beautifully
constructed songs, (asopposed to their major
works), it makes fine single
material, and may well help tobring them to a wider public.
Genesis fans who fear an
outbreak of commercialism
should remember that they
began their career as a teamof songwriters. The
arrangements came later.
Note the loping beat andsitar sound blending withthe unusual percussive
effects. Should be a big hit,
but it depends on the whimsof those devils the DJs, of

NME January 2ecourse. Chris Welch. MM Feb 9

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 131

1974
JA NU tari

HCU

MARCH 16 After an educational support tour with Mott The Hoople, Queen are wowing theirown crowds. Backstage at Cambridge Corn Exchange, Freddie Mercury explains how it's done...
CAMBRIDGE CORNEXCHANGE

FREDDIE MERCURY'S A pretty regular
guy -uses regular Biba black nailvarnish, regular black eyeliner, andstraightens his hair with regular electric tongs.
You get the idea that he's bored with being toldthat Queen are going to be big - he reckons
he's a star now and wears that star -apparent
attitude like a well -fitted pair of trousers.
Freddie's not bent, just camp. Ask him if he's
queer and he'll turn round and say: "I'm as gay
as a daffodil, dear." (He has a habit of saying"dear" at the end of every sentence.)
Drummer Roger Taylor expounds: "Freddie's
just his natural self -just a poove, really."
Apart from Nick Kent describing their firstalbum as a "bucket of urine", Queen have had
few mentions in NME- yet even so they
managed to pull second place in the Best New
Group readers' poll. Pull them down as muchas you may -they don't really give a damn.
They'll all still come up smelling of roses.
This week their single "Seven Seas Of
Rhye" makes its debut in the chart, just days
after release. Soon, their second album,
Queen //, will doubtless follow. For Queen are
big business, and though you may hate them,
they're gonna confound you by being huge.
There's money behind them, for a start. Fora band who are still on the verge of making big
bread they've got an amazing amount of gear
and a lighting system that Bowie would be
jealous of. They also have a professional setup that makes you wonder why it's taken them
32 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

so long to get where they are now. Every oneof them is academically bright; all possess
degrees and, while no one likes a smarty pants, being above average intelligence hashelped them avoid being rooked.
Mercury: "The moment we made a demo
we were aware of the sharks. We had suchamazing offers from people saying, 'We'll
make you the next T. Rex', but we were careful
not to jump straight in. Literally, we went toabout every company before we finallysettled. We didn't want to be treated like anordinary band that's going to be launched.
We're signed to Trident Audio, so basically all
the money comes from them. We were theirfirst management venture and they areprepared to lend us - or whatever -the money
we need. Within reason."At the time of signing, Queen had no
manager and it was Trident Audio who foundthem one, in the personage of Jack Nelson,
a smooth -working character from America.
"The whole point of him being our manger isthat he's based in London, but he's obviously
got all the American contacts, which is great."
Shrewd, too - advance publicity in America
suggest the band promise more than most
British groups - and already they've sold an

incredible150,000 copies of their firstalbum Stateside.
Backstage at Cambridge Corn Exchange,
the band are getting ratty. Drummer Roger
Taylor explains: "The road crew got here early

and were told by

the promoter
that they couldn't

LIVE- MARCH 9 -get in till five, andwhen it takes hours
to put up thisequipment, there's just no
way you can get a soundcheck."
While support band Nutz are onstage, theroad crew are still fixing up Queen's lights.
Guitarist Brian May says, "I'd walk off stage if
I were them. Do you realise they've got all thehouse lights on? How can they play underconditions like that?"
Subject changes to hype: Queen are very
sensitive about being described as hype. "It'srubbish to say we were hyped," Taylor claims.
"We started playing the really small gigs andthen we released the album. There was no big
splash of publicity or anything. Now CockneyRebel - their publicity came before they'ddone anything."
At this stage in the proceedings, record
producer John Antony is considering doing
rock's first streak, but finally comes out withthis gem: "The best quote I ever heard about
Queen was from the drummer of Roxy Music,
who said,1 don't like them because they are
too contrived!' I laughed for about10 minutes."
Cambridge Corn Exchange is one of thoseplaces that's draughty, but has atmosphere.
Beercans may litter the floor, and hot dogs
may be on sale at the back of the hall, but it's

QUEEN

March 31,1974: Queen's
Brian May and Freddie

Mercuryat the Rainbow
Theatre in North London

phantasmagorical, man. And when Queentake the stage, it's echoey as well.
In this establishment, Queen fans look likeany other fans except they wear overcoats.
And before you know where you are, the placeis being blacked out, the opening strains of"Procession" (from their new album) arebeing played, prior to lights switching on
Mercury as he gets into "Father To Son".
If I seem to be dwelling on Mercury anddrummer Taylor, it's because they hit you
between the eyes as the two genuine image makers in the band. Taylor is the pretty one
with class, while Mercury is the evil -looking
type with vibes. He describes himself as being"sluttish" on stage, and it's true -just the way
he slinks around the place spells out "streetwalker, whore, tart". In fact, when he sings theirencore "Big Spender" and yells,"Idon'tpop mycork for everyone", you'd better believe him.
Musically, Queen are brash, loud and heavy.
There's little subtlety at this point in theirmusical career and there's not an awful lot
that's totally original, but they do have a flash
way of putting it across that makes it with theaudience. It seemed a compromise when they
played "Jailhouse Rock" coupled with "Stupid
Cupid- - who needs that after all? Yet
Mercury was adamant afterwards that it wasa vital and relevant part of the stage act.
"You see, the thing is, we're out on stage
to entertain and it's no good saying, 'Look,
we've got a new album and you are going toEverything in this man's manner suggests
he is vain. I broach the subject.
"My dear, I'm the vainest creature going,but then so are all pop stars..."He poses quite a lot on stage, looking evilly
at the assembled masses around the stage
before standing sideways, holding his headin profile for seconds, flicking his hair back.
All good stuff. And there's more to come if hegets more of his ideas through: "I'd like to be
carried on stage by six nubile slaves withpalms and all."It had been suggested to me prior to the gig
by a somewhat cynical person that initially
Queen had sat down and, in the manner ofChinn/Chapman, worked out what wascommercially needed in the music business.
Therefore, they were clinical in their approach.

get a whole barrage of our new songs
whether you like it or not. It's nice to doa barrage but in the end it's nice to dosomething they can associate with sothey don't have to listen too much.
All they do is boogie and have a goodtime. We do 'Jailhouse Rock' because
we've been doing it for years, and I
don't give a fuck if people say it's now
a trendy thing to play. It suits us andthat's all that matters."
Strangely enough, Mercury, selfconfessed poseur and dandy, says they
don't come in for a big gay following.
"We don't get letters from gay people
or anything, though I've had letterssaying I look very evil."True, he does look evil, and if you
study the lyrics on their second album
with its mentions of thunder andlightning, defying the laws of natureand ogres... you begin to wonder.
"I just like people to put their own
interpretation on my songs. Really, they
are just like little fairy stories. Last night[at Sunderland] I felt really evil when I
came on stage - when I'm out there I'mreally in a world of my own, I go up there
and have a good time. It's the audience
participation that counts and last night
they were really great. I felt !could doanything. I could have gone into theaudience and had a rave. Just Freddie
Mercury poncing on stage and having
a good time.
"People expect something special,
so you've got to create a real show the Mott tour helped us an immense
amount. I don't think we were a realband before that, but Mott taught us
how to behave as a band and how tosurvive over a long period."
Was it a difficult transition to make, frombeing a support band to headlining their own
British tour? "The responsibility now lies withus. But I've always thought of us as a topgroup. Sounds very big -headed, I know, but
that's the way it is. The opportunity of playing
with Mott was great, but I knew darn well and even Ian Hunter knew -the moment
we finished that tour, as far as Britain wasconcerned, we'dbe headlining.
"We took it in our stride.
It was something we had to
do -I wouldn't have liked
to have done a headline
straight away because we

Mercury: "Untrue. We haven't suddenly
decided, 'Here is an open market. We've
geared ourselves, certainly, but with ourmusic coming first. And we've been pretty
confident all along. I still think the strongest
thing we do is our music -and the way we put it
across. That's all we're about, actually, fromstart to finish. I don't think we're suddenly
going to say, 'Oh look, the phase is going tochange!' That's why we're concerned about
people going, 'Here come Queen.' Suddenly
glam rock is in and they are following
tradition. We were called Queen over three
years ago - and that's pre -Bowie. They seem ultra -touchy about being
accused ofjumping on bandwagons, yet
Mercury adamantly states: "I don't care what
they say, really. I think people have said things
about us and then changed their minds after
listening to the album. I venture that "Liar", on their first album,
has been described as ascloseasthis to theRuss Ballard composition of the same name- and Mercury counters with "Bullshit" before
adding, "I thought that might arise, actually.
It's a very old song that we used to do on stage
ages ago. I heard much later there was an
Argent track with the same name, but that's
a completely different song."
With an education and qualifications
apparently second to none behind them, it
might appear that this is just a gathering offour intellectuals who want to toy with themusic business.
"No, we're not justplaying with the musicscene. It's just the way
things happened. We
went to college but wewere also musicians doing
it part-time and we thought
it would be a nice idea totake it seriously for once. -"I'm really out
there in a world of
my own... Just
Freddie Mercury
poncing on stage"wouldn't have attracted
many people, but the Mott
tour just did us right."
On their debut album,
Queen, the band werecompared to a variety of bands, mainly

Julie Webb
1M, al.

E

Zeppelin and Yes. I asked Mercury if he wasaware that, at times, his voice sounded
remarkably similar to that of Jon Anderson.
"I'm not as weak as that..." he counters-then realises he hasn't said the rightthing and adds, "I could take that as acompliment because I know I sound gritty
in other places. In other words, you aresaying it's versatility. I don't sound like
Jon Anderson all the time, do I?"

tl

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tope alienkec, yacad..,ncal

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11.31

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Described by Roxy Music's Paul Thompson as 'too
contrived' and by NME's Nick Kent as `a bucket ofurine', this band have nonetheless come from obscurity
to a headlining tour in six months flat.

term
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1974

JANUARY -MaRCN"I findlife aMIKE 01 nrin iswell on the way

to platinum withstrain"Tubular Bells - an
LP no big company

wanted. Recording thefollow-up, however, heseems troubled andwithdrawn. "I'm notvery happy withmyself as a person,"he says. "I find life

a strain."

34 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

MELODY MAKER 1ARCH 16-

Tom"BULK ERASE" Newman threw backhis head and guffawed. "That sounded likea reindeer with a broken leg," he observed,
none too candidly.
Mike Oldfield peered up into the engineer'sbooth in the split-level Manor Studios. Fakeindignat ion gave way to a broad grin. Without a word heplayed it again, this time without goofs. Elbows propped on
the lid of a grand piano, he shook the set of sleigh bells withgrim determination. Not that the rhythm was anything
complicated. If anything it was the reverse. So simple it was
tempting to elaborate unnecessarily.
HergestRidge is now nearing completion, the first side
finished, and the second about half done. From the snatches
that I heard, it appears to be very much a "Son Of Tubular
Bells" epic, but is tighter and steers clear of the blandness
that, for me, dogged the original.
"There were a lot of bits on the first album that I'm now not
happywith," said Oldfield, much later in the day. "This time
I'm ensuring that everything that's in the music is really vitalto the music." It took a long while to get such a quote from
Mike. He's without doubt the most introverted artist I've evermet. In the 13 hours I was at the Manor, he spoke ba rely ahandful of sentences, preferring to just get on with the job athand, with a minimum of fuss or moodiness.
Clearly, with such a temperament, he's fortunate to beworking with Tom Newman, a very creative engineer, and aperson who's not at all backward in coming forward. Newmanis the ying to Oldman's yang- it's a near -perfect working
relationship. Newman keeps the session flowing smoothly,with an abundance of wit, and he seems, at the Manor at least,
to be the only person that can really communicate with Mike.
The young guitarist trusts him implicitly.
"The bass notes there make the sound too cluttered," says
Tom, "why don't you just strum it, skiffle style?" D

"I wrote thewholealbuminthatarea-:
MikeOldfieldon
Hergest Ridge.

Ktrefordshimint97.4

t....1"ifris
.

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k.iftt .44/.r
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.

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Son ofTubular
Bells

1974
-

JANUARY -MARCH

Oldfield looks surprised, but tries it. Newman is right. Mike climbs thewooden stairs to hear how it sounds on tape. One arm around his lady,
Maggie, he listens in silence, and then nods. He mutters something
inaudible in Newman's ear.
"Ah, the Chinese bit," says Tom sagely. The Chinese bit it is.
Oldfield isn't a virtuoso piano player by any means, but he does havea natural flair for creating pictorial images with the simplest of devices.
The "Chinese bit" turns out to be a percussive and jerky foray around theflat and sharp black notes, which immediately evokes pictures ofrickshaws and paper fans, although it takes Oldfield maybe half -a -dozen
attempts to get the exact sound that he's after.
"Can you turn the mandolins up in the cans," he requests, "and turn theother piano track down. It's hard to concentrate on this one when ! canhear the other thing going all the time."
Like everything else, it comes together eventually. Listening to theplaybacks, Oldfield and Newman seem satisfied, as they take alternate
slugs from a bottle of brandy. At this point, Oldfield is forced totemporarily abandon the session, by the arrival of a car salesman, Mikehas apparently been test driving sports cars all week, and this latest one isa beautiful streamlined turquoise Ferrari, which Oldfield duly climbs
into, before hurtling off around the Oxfordshire countryside.
"What did you think of it?" the salesman asks him an hour or so later.
"Well..." whispers Mike, "I don't want a fast car somuch as a quiet one. That one seems very noisy.

I've been thinking about a Lamborghini..."

ROUND ABOUT MIDNIGHT, aftera cosy evening around the Manor
television, Mike Oldfield decides
that he'd like to do an interview. It's anunprecedented gesture. Having met Mike
before, I know his general dislike forconversation and specifically when applied tomusic. He seems to feel, perhaps rightly, thatmusic is for listening to, rather than talking

about it. When ! made the record, a few people said to me that it was acommercial album, and so I just took theirword for it. I can't remember
whether I thought it'd be successful or not. By the time I'd finished it, it had
become meaningless tome. I'd heard the thing about a thousand times,
and I was acutely conscious of every bang, squeak and bit of tape hiss on it.
After all that it was really a strain to have to resurrect it for live gigs."

BUT IF SUCCESS hasn't surprised you, has it changed you at all?
"It's changed the way that I live. I exist a bit more comfortably
now than I used to, but I'd say that it hasn't changed me enough.
I really wish that it had changed me more than it has. I'm not very happy
with myself as a person. I'd like a different brain, you know, I'm tired of the
one that I've got. I find life a strain."He laughs quietly, but a little sadly, too. I thought I'd change the subject.
Ask about the future. "Oh, I'd like to produce some people. Don't ask me
who, because I really don't know yet."
And as far as composing's concerned, Mike emphasised that he needs tobe left alone to create... "Since the first album, I've found it increasingly
hard to concentrate. I have difficulty in sustaining the drive to keep at it.
What I need, what I really NEED, is to be settled down snugly in my own
studio, somewhere in the country, where ! could just get on with it, andwithout being forced to do gigs. I think that under those conditions I could
probably turn out a masterpiece every... oh,
I don't know. I think ! could turn out one good
album a year. And I'm sure that I'd improve, too."
Mike acknowledges classical music as being
his principal influence. ("The only pop music
I listen to is heavy metal rock, and I only listen
to that when I'm depressed." And he reckons
that church music has shaped his direction
somewhat, although he's also into Delius,
Bartok and Stravinsky. Bach's B Minor Mass, too.
He feels that he hasn't quite come to termswith the 20th centuryyet, although he likes
Sir Michael Tippett's work. Mike's interest intalking about music was subsiding again. He looked a bit distracted.
Suddenly he perked up, and with something approaching enthusiasm,
said: "Oh, you must come and see my model aeroplane; I got it last week.
I'm really pleased with it." SteveLake"The only pop
music I listen
to is heavy
metal rock"about. Still, here we are. So, why is the new album so titled?
"Well, I've got this house in Herefordshire that stands on a hill, and it
looks out over a much larger hill called Hergest Ridge. It's a great place togo for walks, and seeing as how I wrote the whole album in that area, it
seemed as good a title as any."

Who else is on the album? "Nobody really well known. There's an oboe
player, and a trumpet player, you heard the choir, and there's an Irish lady
singer, multi -tracked lots of times. My brother [Terry] plays a bit of fluteand a friend of his plays cymbals. Chilli Charles does a drum track."
This time, says Mike, there won't be any concert performance to launch
the album. "We were going to do an Albert Hall concert in May, but theway it turned out, with the second side especially, it wouldn't be possible.
"There's an eight -minute section where I play 30 guitars and each of
those is double -tracked, so that's 60, and with double -tracked bass
guitars, it works out that you'd need 95 guitarists, all using fuzzboxes, tocreate the same sound. To even get near the sound, you'd need at least 40
players, and that's just not practical.
"I had a few reservations about the way 71tbular Bells turned out as a live
thing, anyhow. I didn't really enjoy it. If I do any more live things, I shan't
actually be playing, because when you're playing it's very difficult to haveany control over what's going on. Anybody could play my bit really, so I'd
be free to do conducting and engineering."
For a couple of years, Mike was the musical mainstay of Kevin Ayers'
band, the Whole World, where his role was totally different to that of thecomposer mantle he's now taken on. He was an excellent and inspired
lead guitarist and a fine bassist too, when occasion demanded. This is anarea of operation that Mike misses. "Yes. The best part, for me, in the
Queen Elizabeth Hall concert, was the guitar solo with the strings. That
was really enjoyable. I'd quite like to do the odd thing with a band as well if
somebody asked me. I've been thinking of going to a few auditions. The
Whole World was sometimes OK. It was a very good training ground, andI learnt a lot from working with Kevin and David Bedford."
All of Mike's remarks are delivered in an incredibly quiet monotone, andthe most unnerving part of it all is that it seems as though he's thinking
about the answers to the questions for the first time.A routine line like
"Are you surprised at the success ofTlibular Bells?" for example, meetswith a thoughtful response that suggests that Oldfield has never evenconsidered the matter: "I don't know, really. I never seem to be surprised

38 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

- NME MARCH 23 HE STORY SO far: the scene is the 1973 Midem Festival in
Cannes, the music biz's annual orgy of international wheelingand dealing, and Virgin Records boss man Richard Branson is
doing the rounds with a master tape of Mike Oldfield's then just recorded Tubular Bells. He's just played it to one US label representativeand been told: "OK, slap some vocals on it and I'll give you $20,000."
Which is about the most positive reaction so far from a whole host of US
labels displaying varying degrees of apathy to Branson's search for an
American outlet. In fact the rest of them- including the m ighty CBSwere so apathetic they didn't even put in a bid. "It'll never sell in America"
seemed to be the consensus of opinion from all sides- the Midem saga initself being a repeat of Oldfield's own difficulties in finding a British label
before Branson's enterprising Virgin label opened its doors.
This week, 714bular Bells entered the American Top Five and seems
certain to achieve both gold and platinum status before the month's out.
In Australia, the album has just taken the top slot on import sales.
Meanwhile, back in Britain, 714bular Bells has racked up sales far in excess
of 200,000 since it first chimed into the best-seller lists on July21, 1973. If thealbum continues to move at its current rate- and there are no indications
that it's about to slowdown -it could eventually eclipse the success of Pink
Floyd's Dark Side OfThe Moon and even rival Simon and Garfunkel's

Bridge Over Doubled Wateras an all-time recording phenomenon.
Not bad going for an introverted little bloke just turned 20, who hardly
anyone wanted to know a year ago! The man in fact is as docile as Lewis
Carroll's shagged -out little dormouse and about as animated as a day -oldcorpse. Experienced journalists have been known to stagger away from

Oldfield interviews bemoaning the fact that they have insufficient copy
to cover a G-string, and harbouring an overwhelming desire to return totheir old vocation of wiring readers' letters for Forum.
If the truth be known, I thought I'd blown it with my second question,
through which I was attempting to create some kind of rapport with theMIKE OLDFIELD

reluctant Oldfield. We'd been labouring to establish interviewer interviewee relations in the claustrophobic control room of The Manor
recording studio somewhere in the Oxfordshire outback, and I'd asked
him his feelings about The Exorcist.
What with Mbular Bells being used as the soundtrack, and all thoseblood -curdling tales (fact or publicist's fantasy) circulating about how
people connected with the making of the movie are being beset with all
kinds of personal traumas - accident, death and madness- I wondered if
Oldfield was aware of the nasties currently being dealt out of Satan's pack.
A look of fear rapidly replaced the tranquillity of his placid blue eyes; hisfrail body trembled ever so slightly as he mumbled: "I wish you hadn't
told me that. Anyway, that's it, you've finally convinced me; I'm definitely
not going to see that film now.
"Even before you told me all this," he continued in a drywaveryvoice,"I was much too frightened to see it. Judging from what I've read in thepapers, coupled to what you've just said, that's it. I don't wanna know."
His cause for concern goes deeper than that of the thrill -seeking
cinemagoer averse to performing a technicolour yawn all over the lady
peddling albatrosses on a stick. The fact is, the four -minute segment of
Ilibular Bells used for the soundtrack of the film was, states Oldfield,
taken without his prior permission. "The thing nobody realises," said
Oldfield in a voice that starts in a strained whisper and invariably trails
off mid -sentence into thin air, "is that I knew absolutely nothing at allabout this. It's not that I really minded, but honestly, I wish you hadn't told
me all those stories." There was a long silence.
As it transpired, when the man spoke up again and the "interview"progressed, Oldfield didn't suddenly start carrying on in an alarming
manner. Neither did heavy objects begin to levitate around the control
room. To his credit, this man didn't start screaming obscenities, spew
green bile in my face, make his head rotate a full 360 degrees or perform
unmentionable acts on his person with the guitar that he was carefully
re -stringing. In fact, he didn't do very much at all, and said even less.
CCI'M TELLING YOU, you'll have to peg Mike down if you want to

get anything out of him," was the word -to -the -wise advice
whispered in my right ear by sound engineer Tom Newman
when I first arrived at the rambling old Manor house.
At which point, Oldfield shuffled by grunting about "Scottish Tom"
being on the other end of the phone. When one finally "pegs Mike down",
he appears so anonymous that we could have quite easily printed a
photograph of our own Steve Clarke on this page and no one would havebeen the wiser, except the barmaid at the Marquee.
In his defence, however, I suppose I may have manifested myself at an
inopportune moment, for after spending sixweeks working on his new
masterwork Hergest Ridge, Oldfield (sweat -stained armpits and all) is
currently in a state of stagnation and acute frustration.
Apparently he's just scrapped one complete section of recorded music
and was attempting to work up some enthusiasm to finish the task within
the next two weeks. The previous day spent constructing and flying
model gliders hadn't brought forth a much -needed burst of inspiration.
"I'm going through a bad phase at the moment, things aren't going quite
right for me," husked the voice of mental constipation. "Nothing isturning out the way that I want it, and at the moment I'm not quite sure
how to go about rectifying it. Everything keeps going right out of tune, so
I've had to re -string just about everything."
Suspect tuning, he admits, can in some instances enhance the sheetsof sounds. But he goes on to reveal that this is by no means his only
dilemma: "I also have a lot of trouble keeping time."
He slumps over the 24 -track console, fiddles with a battery of knobs andswitches and suddenly the room is filled with the celestial sounds ofhallucinogenic voices, sky -diving guitars, macaroni mandolins andother heady noises that slurp 'n' slidein and out of the giant playback

speakers. "This is the bit that's giving IV - me a helluva lot of trouble."
We listen fora moment, before hebashes the stop mechanism. "I've got

a dreadful sense of timing... can't
understand it. I think it's OK at thetime, but when I come to play it backI find I've slowed down and speeded
up in all the wrong places. I musthave had my mind on other things."

After rewinding the tape to another section, 95 guitars in full array
tickle our senses like 40,000 headmen galloping across one's lobotomy onleapers. Very impressive.
"Christ, how could I ever possibly hope to recreate that live?" he ponders
with a voice so dejected I felt like slashing mywrists, but at the same time
giving some insight as to why Tubular Bells has only been performed
twice in public. Once in concert, once on television.
"I don't like doing gigs, and won't do any until such time as the wholeconcert thing is so incredibly rehearsed, well equipped, and I've got theright people to playwith. If eventually I am to do gigs, !want each andeveryone to be a satisfying thing to go out and do. And only then will I
consider it. You see, I want people who are not only musically capable but
also emotionallyequipped to do it.
"To be truthful, I think I'd be much happier conducting and engineering
it than actually participating. The engineering is twice as complicated as
any of the parts. When we did that concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall,
we didn't use any amplifiers -all the guitars were fed straight into themixing board, which a lot of people didn't realise. But even that had a lotof major technical hang-ups."
Despite this, Oldfield feels that eventually such problems can besurmounted. But as to whether the effort and expense will justify the
result, all he can offer is a non -committal: "It might... but I dunno."
As yet he hasn't managed to overcome all the limitations of therecording studio. "The electronics stand in your way," he quietly drones.
"They get between you and your final thing, so until such time thatsomeone invents a control board that has inbuilt aesthetic judgement,
that's the onlywayto do it."
It's aline of conversation that prompts him to dismiss any suggestionthat by going it alone and playing most instruments he's in danger of
becoming involved in a sophisticated exercise in recording technique.
"All I'm doing is just making some music that I can listen to... Well,
I think it's that! There's not a lot of music that I enjoy listening to. Mostly!
like classical music, church and choral things -there's not too much rockthat I can get off on.
"I'll tell you something -I always thought that once I had made my own
album, held the cover in my hands and read my name, I'd think it waswonderful. But, you know, it's not like that at all."Jeez, Oldfield, I've got enough problems of my own without you crying
on my shoulder as if I was some rock'n'roll Marjorie Proops.
"If I do get any sense of achievement from what I'm doing," he blubs, "it's
when I'm mixing the thing. After that I'm so exhausted I couldn't reallycare less about things. I'm a bit too dazed to know if I'm really satisfied ordissatisfied with what I've done."
INDEED IT APPEARS Mike Oldfield gets his kicks in some very
strange ways. He may have received unanimous praise from theworld's press for Thbular Bells, but nevertheless he encountered
great difficulty in relating to it. As he tells it, the only printed commentthat made any real impression was a reader's letter in the musical press
describing Tubular Bells as the biggest load of rubbish ever recorded.
"Believe it or not, that letter made me feel quite good inside. The fact thatsomebody hated it was great, but quite honestly, I can't understand whythat one letter had such a wonderful effect on me. It gave me much moresatisfaction than any of those positive reviews I read."
But then -as you manyhave already gathered -Mike Oldfield is an
introverted personality beset with screaming contradictions, out of which
here's one little gem: "Basically I'm very insecure. In fact, I'm a bit worried
about what's gonna become of me. I'll tell you, if I'd have started going on
tour right away, I'm quite certain that somethingvery nastywould have
happened tome. I'm positive !wouldn't have come back in one piece."
Again this conversation is punctured with a strained pause as heattempts to detect the root cause of hisfears. He fails, and dismisses it and theremainder of the interview thus:"It's probably the curse of The
Exorcist" - delivered with a very
unconvincing laugh. "Afterwhat
you've told me about that film, I'm
reallyveryworried."
And with that he dashes off to takea call from the elusive Scottish Tom.
Hey Mike, careful as you go - don't
walk under any ladders. RoyCarr
HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 137

1974It"
NUA

ELOpicturedon
August16,1974:(1-r)
Mike Edwards. Jeff
Lynne.hiik Kaminski(squatting). Bev
Bevan.RichardTandy,

HughMcDowelland
Miked'Albuquerque"I don't likenone ofthis pseudointellectual
stuff"
Farewell, cold

dressing rooms ofareGrimsbydoing the businessin America. The
business -minded Jeff
Lynne talks football,money and classicalmusic, as the band rise
to greatness with their
Eldorado album.

-

MELODY MAKER ARCH 2-

THE STRING QUARTET had just concluded a short recitalof chamber music, when one of the violinists -a somewhat

distinguished gentleman with shiny bald pate sparsely
trimmed with tufts of silver grey- suddenly jumped up,
tucked his instrument safely under one arm and proceeded
to elbow his way towards Jeff Lynne through the crowd of
inebriates and media -men who had gathered to welcome the Electric Light
Orchestra to America.
Grabbing hold of Lynne's right hand and pumping it furiously, theviolinist (who was old enough to be Lynne's grandfather) effected his own
introduction: "Say, young man," he gushed, "I've got all ofyour three albums
and both the members of the quartet and myself think they're just great. Yessir,
they're quite splendid." Lowering his voice, Lynne's confidant disclosed: "Weplay them all the time, and to be quite truthful we've learned a lot."
Before Lynne had time to recover from this unsolicited outburst of senior citizen fan mania, his newly acquired admirer zoomed into a highly
technical discourse on the Electric Light Orchestra- interspersedwith innumerable questions concerning musical theory as
applied to ELO's synchronisation of classical rock forms.
"I hadn't understood a single word he'd said," Lynne
recollects of the incident. "And when I informed him that
I can't read or write music, you should have seen theexpression of utter amazement on his face.
"Sure," Lynne continues, "I know what all the notes andthe chords are, but really, that's about as far as it goes. It took
me quite some time to convince him that I wasn't just having
him on." x.
HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 139

1974

JANUARi -0"

Yet in no way has Jeff Lynne's lack of academic training proved to bea hindrance. Quite the contrary. If, as the man says, one is unaware of
the applied rules of the game, then accordingly one just plays it by ear.
As simple as that.
In all innocence, this approach has enabled this amiable musicallawbreaker to do those things that would no doubt prompt the entire
faculty of the Royal College Of Music to tut:
"Tish-poo." Dare one even hazard a thought to
how these most learned tutors would react tothe following modus operandi: "I just go rightahead and do things just the way I feel 'em."
And the way Mr Lynne "feels 'em" has madethe ELO a power to be reckoned with. One
minute they're tearing through a roughhousesend-up of Beethoven's Fifth neatly tacked onto
the Entire Chuck Berry repertoire of riffs; thenext moment Norman Whitfield is expertlyrolled over and out for a slice of cello -dominatedsoul sleaze. Byway of non-stop contrast, guitars
and violins stand toe -to -toe as they thrust and parry. Moogs aresynthesized and percussables are percussed in a wild profusion oforiginal- if somewhat unorthodox -ideas.
ELO may well have given Tchaikovsky the news, but Lynne adamantly
refutes any suggestion that he is a frustrated classical musician who's justjumped out of the closet.
"Sure, I love a lot of classical music, but there's also a helluva lot that I
don't like. I suppose I've got the same kinda taste as the average bloke inthe street. You know -a little bit of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, but ! don't
like none of this modern pseudo -intellectual stuff... the stuff that usuallysounds like crashing cans.
"The last thing you could accuse ELO of being is pretentious. From thevery start, we've carefully avoided the problem that some groups have oftaking themselves too bloody serious... the ultra -cool, far -out -manbrigade." He points fingers but doesn't name names.
"Yeah, we play some serious stuff -well, let's say: as serious as we want
it to be. But we've always managed to offset that part of our programmewith some harmless nonsense.
"That was the reason why we came up with 'Roll Over Beethoven' and'In The Hall Of The Mountain King'. We weren't doing any rowdy rockers
at the time and we thought it would be good fun to arrange them for our
instrumentation as a bit of a laugh."Now, contrary to what one might be forgiven for thinking, Lynne
insists that -as a musician -he experiences far fewer restrictions within
the complex format of the Electric Light Orchestra than those of his
immediate contemporaries, employed in the more accepted rock grouplineup: "Really, that's one of the main reasons why ELO came into being
in the first place. Simply because I'd become so fed up with the usual
guitar bands."
He clarifies: "After a while, you're forced into a situation whereby you
just keep on repeating yourself over and over again. There's only so muchyou can do with guitars after you've exhausted straight riffs and halfhour guitar solos."From experience, it's nearly always the strong -brewed British beer and -skittles bands that are consumed in vast quantities byAmerican
audiences. Anything milder just pays its way. Though a new wine in an
old bottle, ELO are proving that America is now becoming more
appreciative of the exotic, exported bouquets. "I was really amazedby just how many
American audiences
knew about us before
we went over for our
4idoruck.,.
first tour. I mean, theyit. (dia. ;Alm rrcbot
were actually shouti ng
out for numbers off theearlier albums alongwith things I'd done
years ago with The Idle
Race and The Move.
In fact, after the gigs,
kids were coming
backstage with old
Idle Race albums forme to autograph."

In the midst of the '60s British beat boom, The Idle Race were a band
forever on the brink of breaking into the bigtime - but that, in the end,
didn't. Today they're remembered as something of a minor cult. It's
somewhat of a paradox that the comparative commercial failure of
The Idle Race was in some ways responsible for the escalating successof the Electric Light Orchestra.
"The Idle Race served as my apprenticeship,"Lynne explains. "The thingwas, I was very
naive in those days... totally unaware of thebusiness side of music. I just made the little
records, sat back- and watched 'em all go down
the drain.
"We didn't have a manager and so naturally
we didn't know what to do about it. Everyone
would say what great records we made and thattheywere hits, but none of 'em ever did make it.
"Funnily enough, it never worried me toomuch that those records didn't sell , 'cos I really
didn't know any better. I just kinda accepted it.
I'll tell you, I wouldn't accept it now... never."Obviously, Jeff Lynne is an artist who has learned from past mistakes,
even if theywere not of his own making. Believe me, it's not often you canwrite that about someone. Roy Carr

"I was totallyunaware of
the businessside of music"

MELODY MAKER
ALL RIGHT THEN, Jeff Lynne. Here you are just about to takeyour orchestra to Europe followed by a big tour of the States,
which means we won't see you again for ages and ages. So
what have you got to tell the British public before you leave?
Waddya mean, Birmingham for the cup and Trevor Francis forEngland? He likes his football, does Mr Lynne; so much so that at times
it's difficult to get him talking about music -until you say you understandthe Electric Light Orchestra have just completed a new album.
It's the greatest record he's ever made, he tells you categorically, andthough he doesn't actually say it, after a few minutes you get the
impression he thinks it's the greatest record anybody's ever made.
Critics will be falling over themselves in search of new superlatives, andthere'll be queues down the street as people fight their way to the record
shop to buy it. That's the impression Jeff (enthusiastically supported by
Bev Bevan) gives you as he talks about the album Eldorado, which is notdue for release in Britain until early next year.
It's a concept album, based around the story of a dreamer who achieves
nothing, but the individual tracks reflect his various dreams.
"It's coming out here in January," said Lynne, "but is being released in
America in a couple of weeks for when we're touring. They've told us it'll
be gold there this time. The last one just missed being a gold album by
20,000, but they guarantee we're going to get it with this one.
"We're delighted with the way it's turned out. It's quite a sad sort of thing
about the eternal dreamer who wakes up and sees the stark reality of lifeand can't stand it. Different characters come into it, famous people inhistory like Robin Hood. This bloke's very into dreams and can't live inreal life, because he's nothing."
Lynne was responsible for the material, but it also required someintensive arranging and orchestrating as a30 -piece orchestra has beenused in addition to a 20 -member choir.
"It's a real big experiment for me. There are separate parts, as we wanted
to make it into a symphony thing. It's that sort of concept."
Working with an orchestra he found a strain, although he doesn't think
it would have worked fractionally as well without them. "It was real hard
work. I was really on edge making it, because with an orchestra you have
all the problems of the Musicians' Union and all that. They want a tea
break every 10 minutes and all that crap.
"The majority of the music is played by the group, but there are bits andpieces which need the rest of it. It was worth all the worry, because it
turned out exactly right. It's exactly as I envisaged ELO ever sounding."
Jeff reckons that although the band have reached a pinnacle with
Eldorado, they've always done good stuff, and is therefore somewhat
disappointed they haven't been acclaimed more in their home country.
Their On The Third Dayalbum has sold something like 50,000 over a
period of ti me, which isn't bad, but he thought it would have done better.
"We play in America more than anywhere else; in fact we'd like to playthere all the time. We've got a big band which needs paying and it costs

PHILADELPHIA-SPECTRUM-

Much influenced by Revolver MM jAN 5
E ARE GATHERED together, ladies andVV gentlemen, for a recital by that promising
septet of young British musicians whocall themselves the Electric Light Orchestra.
Please take your seats quietly and refrainfrom ruffling the programme. Tonight's
recital will include compositions by suchwell -know composers as Bach, Beethoven
and Chopin as well as pieces written andscored by the Orchestra themselves.

Well... the Electric Light Orchestra are thenearest thing rock has to a classical group.
One of the cellists even dresses in a tail suit,
while Bev Bevan's drumkit carries a picture of
Ludwig Van to reinforce the image.
ELO are probably the most original rock/classical group of all the bands that have tried
to fuse the two forms of music together. The
basic difference between ELO and all the
bands that ever attempted the merger - Nice,
Deep Purple and perhaps Procol Harum - isthat ELO was formed specifically for this kindof music, while the others tried it later, after
being successful rock bands.
As a result, ELO included the necessary

instrumentation from the outset instead of
adding an orchestra later. Their repertoire isbased heavily on classical themes - orquotations from them - and the split is astraight 50/50 in favour of neither or both
Forms of music.
And America has taken to ELO in asurprisingly short space of time. Although
they've yet to progress to the amphitheatre
stage. they're now comfortably filling thesmaller halls here on their own, andoccasionally sticking their necks out andplaying support to a bigger band in front of
20,000 or so. It could be that curiosity has
swelled their audiences, but the curious seem,:o have gone away feeling satisfied.
It's a classic case of the eccentric
Englishmen - something the Americans doteon. With their instrumentation and peculiar
style of musical expertise, ELO seem more athome in a small, older hall than in a stadium.
Here in Philadelphia -a town which itself is
as much steeped in history as anywhere in theLIVE!
- DECEMBER15 -memorable rock riff and an
equally instantly memorable
classic piece merging. Very effective.
Comparison with The Beatles doesn't
really end there, though. Much of ELO's music
could have been influenced by Revolver orMagical Mystery Tour and when Lennon and
McCartney experimented with strings onsongs like "Eleanor Rigby-. This facet wasmore apparent on Lynne's lengthy new opus
"On The Third Day", which takes up a wholeside of their new album. It last around 20
minutes, moves through various themes andwas reproduced live almost to perfection.
Violinist Mike d'Albuquerque was given an
opportunity to solo with a little Bach which
moved into a superfast version of "Orange
Blossom Special", the inevitable number
violinists choose to work their nimble fingers
to best advantage. "Showdown" followed,
before they finished the set with their British
single hit "Roll Over Beethoven", a long
version that erupted into a free-for-all among
the musicians. The two cellists arose fromtheir seats to leap aroundthe stage. cellos in hand a rather comical gesture.
Despite the activity thecrowd didn't leave theirseats, although theycheered for more. The bane
returned to play Grieg's"Hall of the Mountain King
which diverted into "Great
Balls Of Fire" with Lynne
Burks Q.: uutttll 0.:ouritr CrAtIttli
screaming the vocals
above the screeching
string section.
Backstage, Jeff Lynne
had enough time to tellme that ELO were happier
F RtCAY. CEC EMBER IA IVT3
working in the States
PAGE 37
than anywhere else.
1/1 SiC
The band had received
Sher td um.
ALLMAN BROTHF.RS. Phdedelphu
favourable reactions
LIGHT
ORCH&A
8 p m Dee 11 and Zt ELEXTRIC
TRA.Shubart Then, 8 and II pm fornoning
almost everywhere
RD.
PHR.ADELPICIA BACHE:MIA. MAX
Arack,ny of 'thaw.
they played. he said.
DOI F Londui ing Philadelphia

United States - ELO are playing a venue notunlike the London Coliseum. The audience isyoung, and because of the surroundings,
there's a distinct absence of the sweetsmelling odour of exotic cheroots that seems
to pervade almost every American concert
I've seen over the past few months.
On this occasion ELO are the only band
appearing, a situation that came aboutbecause an argument developed between theroad managers of Nils Lofgren's Grin and theroadies for ELO. It appears that ELO's crew
wouldn't allow speakers to be placed in acertain position, so the band walked out. As aresult there's a long delay before ELO appear,
but the audience is remarkably patient. Whenthey do appear, there's a hushed silence
during tuning. What the hell? A rock bandwith two seated cellists and a violin as well as
the guitar, bass, drums and keyboards.
The music, when it begins, has a quality that
only this kind of lineup could produce. Behind
the rocking guitar of Jeff Lynne is a sort ofdrone from the string section, almost likebacking tapes used by somebands. Except that this time
it's real. It adds a kind of
haunting quality to Lynne's
compositions, creating avery, very full sound, both

inspiring and uplifting.
The classical quotes comemidway through the pieces
they play. There wereexcerpts from Swan Lake
which reminded me of anold single of the same tune
I had years ago, "SaturdayNight At The Duck Pond"
by The Cougars.
But the best classicalexcerpt really occurred intheir version of "Day
Tripper", which suddenly
swerved off its normal
course and into a quiet
Chopin piano concerto.
It was an instantly

The best classicalexcerpt occurredin their version of"Day Tripper"

Ent

71.0 p m lornon yin

PHILADELPIRA 51GER.S. ROBERT CORN
conducting. Ai. Arm) of Music 8 toniht

Chris Charleswot th

a lot of money to keep a band like ours on the road, so why should we playelsewhere when we make much more money in America? They enjoy usmuch more over there, too. They just like to listen to music, and we getplay every town. We might sell out in Birmingham one night and donothing in Grimsby the next. Why should we play here when we can earnthings like four encores."
Bev Bevan elaborated: "Promoters over here are pathetic. They bookyou fora date and that's it, they just expect you to turn up on the day anddon't even come up to you and say hello.
"We've been around for a longwhile. In America things are such an
improvement, you can't help being bitter about things over here. This
album we've made can't be much better- it's such a good album, but if
this doesn't sell there just ain't no justice."
OK then, ifAmerica's so great and you do so well over there, are you going
to follow the present trend of British rock artists and go and live there?
"No," says Jeff Lynne, "I couldn't leave the blues." ELO last toured Britain
early in the year, and although they had successful full -house concerts at
places like Birmingham Town Hall and London's Drury Lane, many ofthe venues had empty spaces in the audience.
Jeff: "You get a cupboard to change in and it's cold and you're shivering,and you're expected to go out and put on a good performance; you can't
win. We're going to tour here again next year, but there's no waywe can

ELO have had four hit singles but nothing since "Ma -Ma -Ma Belle", andthat was quite a time ago. No singles have been released since, and as far
as Jeff and Bev are concerned they would be quite happy if none werereleased again.
"We don't want singles out, it ain't our scene," said Jeff. "It's against our
principles. I suppose we've been lucky that every record we've had out has
been a hit, but it's not part of ou r scene. We're not a singles band, but if you
have a hit single there's always people who think you're a singles group. In
America you can release singles and they don't class you as a singles band.
"Over here, for the majority of people, if you haven't got a record in thefortunes inAmerica?"

charts it means you're not doing anything, but that's a pathetic attitude.
But if the record company say they're going to release a single, what can
you do about it? You can't argue.
"I could write horrible hit singles, I'm sure I could, but I don't want to doit. I like to get my teeth into something serious, something with a bite to it.
You do whateveryou like, and I like something a bit deeper than pop
cliches." Colin Irwin
HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

41

THE HISTORY OF

ROCKThe History Of Rock is a magazine series celebrating 50 yearsof the music that changed the world - starting in 1965.
Month by month, it builds up into an unprecedentedly detailed
chronicle of the music and musicians we love.

THE HISTORY_111973
A MONTHLY TRIP THROUGH
MUSIC'S GOLDEN YEARS
1974
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(Lines are open 7 days a week, 8am-9pm, UK time)Readers' letters
MM JAN -MAR!sic vs mascara, the K -word, Robert Wyatt's tax bill and more...

Million dollar bash

Merseybleat

Who the hell does Steve Harleyof Cockney Rebel think he is?
In the MMyou quoted him as
saying: "You've no right to be onstage if you don't look a million

I must let the people

dollars, not if you think you're inshow business."
So in other words good bands
like Status Quo, Pink Floyd,
Hawkwind, etc, have no right tobe on stage, because they wear
jeans and T-shirts and look likethey should be working for thecouncil. Don't forget, Mr Harley,
it's not eyelashes and glitter thatmake a good band. It's the music.
PAUL GOVAN, Sutton Road,
Barking, Essex (MM Jan 19)

of Britain knowwhat a musicaldesert Liverpool has turned

MIKE EVANS, Huskisson Street.
Liverpool (MM Feb 2)

out to be; it's so bad now that it

Let's just say German rockwouldn't surprise me iff heBeatles said they hailed from
Manchester.
Firstly, with the rise in "pubrock" around Britain now,
Liverpool has tried to join in,with disastrous results.
Nearly everyone has turned

Why does it make Mr Dulish fromMonchengladbach, Germany, feel
sad if British newspapers aretalking about "Kraut Rock"?
Remember, once the British
decided that all goods fromforeign countries had to show
"Made in..." if imported by British
traders, it became a quality mark.
I think that "Kraut Rock" is a goodtrademark, too. If music is good,people will listen to it and it makes
no difference if they are British,
Japanese, French or German.
I know that many Kraut Rockbands can even be successful
in Britain. Some record labels
and concert agencies are
speaking about "Kraut Rock" andout to be the "cheap and nasty"
type, banging out tuneless "self -composed" drivel.
If it's a numberwe're all
supposed to know, we are treated

to an unrecognisable din churned
up out of distorted chords,
pneumatic drumming and flat,
nasal gruntings (if it is, of course
possible, to grunt flat).
The standards of the groups inLiverpool are laughable if nothilarious. The Cavern is themusicians' graveyard, and has
been for the past five years.
The audiences are nothing but

lethargic zombies -"wind me up,
let me go".

Nothing but a Yes man
After reading the unanimous badreviews and put-downs of Tales
From Topographic Oceans, it waswith considerable trepidation that
I flashed my cash at my local
record shop last Saturday, half
expecting to end up with somekind of misshapen musical
Quasimodo hopelessly entangled
in its own Byzantine intricacies.
I mean, if even Chris Welch
had reservations about it,
something must have gonewrong somewhere. However, after
spending the weekend listening toit, I'd just like to know what all thefuss was about.
Although it takes several plays
before it comes across. Oceans is
at least as good as anything Yes

have done previously, and it mightwell turn out to be as importanta landmark for them as The YesAlbum was. Sure it's not perfect.
"The Ancient" in particular takessome listening to, but it'll all comeacross eventually, just as Close To
The Edge did.
Anyway, Yes never set out tomake music to wash the dishes to,
so what's the sweat?
PHIL HARDING, Crown St,
Failsworth, Manchester (MMJan12)

all the support andencouragement it can get.

Any good group that does "makeit", if theyvalue their sanity, will
never come back to Liverpool.
JOHN HERDMAN, Lessups Road,
Liverpool (MM Jan 19)

I don't know where John Herdman(Mailbag, January 19) has been allthese years.
Far from "joining in" the current
boom, there has been pub rock in
Liverpool since the Liverpool
Scene first used O'Connor Tavern
for weekly sessions back in '67.
Since then scenes havedeveloped in the Masonic Arms,
featuring the best in local soulmusic most nights, the Sportsman-where Supercharge are the main
favourites with an enthusiastic
crowd, and several others aroundthe city.
O'Connors itself continues
to flourish -in the last year it'sfeatured local bands most weeks,
plus guests from out of town of thecalibre of Victor Brox, Pete Brown
and Lol Coxhill.
Nobody pretends that the scene- in terms of venues or groups- is
as healthy as it was in the headydays of the early '60s, but attitudes
such as those displayed by Mr
Herdman can only do a disservice
to local live music, which needs'THE

WINKIESROO CRISP

use it as a slogan.

There are other expressions eg, "Yankee", "Pommy", etc.

"Kraut" will sound good if themusic is good. "British Rock" willsound bad if the music is bad.
We have to understand little jokes.
We have to laugh, not be sad or
angry. That's my impression, asa German music manager.
KARL -HEINZ SNEIDER, Sneider
Promotions, Germany (M01Feb 2)

Robert Wyatt's mum writes
You may remember- andcertainly I will never forget -therecent benefit concerts held by theSoft Machine and Pink Floyd onbehalf of my son, Robert, who isparalysed after an accident. Thiswonderful gesture brought in ten
thousand pounds.
But I thinkyou maybe interested
to know that Robert will receive
seven thousand. '1nro thousand
goes in tax and one thousand in
VAT. Every penny is of importance,
for he must now find expensive
new equipment and a new home.
Also, not having been able toearn for eight months, it willprobably be a year or more before
he can earn again. Yet he has beentaxed on the ten thousand as

though it were an annual income.
What an odd world we live in thatsuch a manifestation of humanwarmth and kindness should beat the mercy of inhumangovernment action.

1111m11.

Your *Whir needs no petrol...

...juststr11)1}s!

HONOR WYATT, Delmore Road,West Dulwich, London (MMJan12)

HISTOFY Or ROCK 1974 143

11 rt. r

JON I ArKILCONCERTS
11,1Art ...WM:
set

1/I, mix.

Ror,Prow.
IGGY

TOUR

1974

IPRII- JANE

TIM BUCKLEY, RICHARD

THOMPSON, SPARKS,RICK WAKEMAN & MORE

It was evident ABBA would win
MM APR 13 Sweden wins the Eurovision Song Contest. MM reports thesp, lcle, and wonders what the songs that didn't make the cut were like.
ASTONE'S THROW FROM the haughty

crowd shuffling into the Brighton Dome
was an old tramp, hidden by a corner,
clasping himself against the chilly night air.
He stared blankly into space, and no one took
any notice of him as they passed by.
It was a deep contrast to the moment -the19th Eurovision Song Contest -and to thejewels, blue rinses, dress suits and bow ties
being worn into the auditorium. One wondered
what it all had to do with music. The very ideathat you have to dress to a certain way to listen
to it is like overkill in reverse.
Two buskers turned up on the pavement with
their guitars, took a look at the queue, andshoved off -they didn't seem to think they'dget very far playing to this lot. Once inside,
the crowd, these representatives of the"militant silent majority" whose appetite forthe surrogate is vast, were greeted by a guitar accordion -drums trio playing, inevitably, "Girl
From Ipanema".
This, after having passed through the tightsecurity net composed of constables (outside)
44 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

and over -jovial jobsworths (inside), whose toys
were airport -style frisking rods for examining
the inside seams of jackets. With the Irish,
Israelis and Greeks in the contest the poor oh
Beeb had got the jitters. They needn't havebothered really; who'd want to start somethingthat doesn't exist. Realising the utter futility ofan assassination attempt, I'd thrown my
automatic off the Palace Pier beforehand.
Earlier in the day I'd arrived to check in at thepress room. Posters saying "Brighton
Welcomes Eurovision" decorated the streets
and the buses. Well, a million quid's worth of
publicity to the town, so they said. Brighton,with its tawdry, anachronistic atmosphere,
seemed a fitting venue, however.
You had to pass a metal detector and haveyour case searched even to get to the press
tables where the BBC bureaucrats were left
onlywith releases in French. There were also
strange notices telling you not to run in thecorridors or touch the walls, lest you besuspected of sabotage. One wondered what it
had to do with music.

Swedish pop group Abbe,

performs during the theEurovision Song Contest
t974 on February 090974
in Brighton with their song

Eurovision:
our Waterlo
Swede bashers

trounce Livvy!

1974
AP

1k

I settled into my balcony seat withall of its own, Britain lagged about seven years
apprehension, above the cheap -looking silver
behind: it was in 1967 that we first won withand black stage (later to turn pink, turquoise
Sandie Shaw's "Puppet On A String", a number
and yellow like a birthday cake- it actuallythat really should be the Eurovision theme.
cost £5,000) among members of the Irish
Another interesting aside was that the Dutchpress, who had plenty of caustic comments toand Scandinavian entries sang in English,
make. The parade of the puppets, willingly
when surely it would have been more
putting their necks on the chopping blocklike
respectful to have them sing in their own
so many lost lambs, was about to begin.
languages. Apparently, they'd had someAn event comparable in its
advice from someone.
UM
THE 00.1 61110.1T011
01111.
gargantuan folly to that
Terry Wogan, for one, who"I think
women areunnecessary"jother international
embarrassment, It'sA

EMIOVISION SONG CONTUT

E

remeori

E 12

seass ame

was doing the BBC radio
commentary, seemed to

NISI all&WM
Knockout. But 500 million
think the whole lot shouldma
VOW,
006Nesviewers are tuning insing in English.
.104 WOOEVOIII/11.111.
ILW.11..
throughout Europe,
As nation after nation
subjecting themselvescoughed up its doubtful
passively to the pre -packed
talents, one pondered thesuperficiality of what are in
grey conservatism thatno way the choicest songs
could produce such hugein Europe, but essentiallyacceptance, far greater
Eurovision songs, anotherthan for any other music
kettle of (poor) fish entirely.
programme; one also
As Olivia Newton -Johnpondered on the record
was heard to say aboutcompanies in 20 countries"Long Live Love": "It's not the sort of song I'd
who were lending their ears; on the original
choose personally if I was looking fora new
7,000 songs from which the final entries were
single, but it's a good Eurovision song."
chosen -what on earth were theylike?
The British selection panel boobed badly. By
Old trouper Kate Boyle came and said thatchoosing a bomp-bomp formula song with theapart from the 500 million viewers in 32
usual waltz -like feel they failed to match thecountries there was another million people
products of the more enlightened Europeans
listening on radio: "It's a fantastic thought."
I ike Holland, Israel, Yugoslavia and Sweden,
Leaving the Dome afterwards, the old tramp
who won with their group ABBA andwas still hunched in the same nearby"Waterloo". (It was more than evident that
doorway. He knew nothing about it all, while
Abba would win, even in rehearsals.) Though
Europe had seen and heard it as it happened.
the contest remains in a fakeshowbizlimbo
Ignorance can be bliss. JeffWard
Wa

of song I'd choose,but it's a good
Eurovision song""A legacy of superb
MM JUNE 1 RIP, Duke Ellington.

UKE ELLINGTON, THE greatest composer and band leader jazz music has everknown, died last Friday at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Centre, New York, aged 75.
Ellington had been ill since the beginning of the year and his stay in hospital had to beextended recently. He was there on his 75th birthday, which took place on April 29.
An anticipated reunion with his orchestra for a 12 -day engagement in Bermuda last Tuesday
had had to be called off. But the band was
reorganised to open there under the direction of
his son, Mercer Ellington, with Billy Taylor
American composer,
pianist and big -band
depping for the Duke.
leader Duke
His funeral took place on Monday at New York's
Ellington(1899Cathedral of St John The Divine.
1974),circa196.5.
In a musical career that spanned more than 50
years. Ellington attained a status that has neverbeen matched by any of his contemporaries. He
was respected by all musical factions -from jazz toclassical pop. He was an accomplished pianist, abrilliant orchestrator and composer. Many of his
works became standards in the world's musicalrepertoire, among them such melodiouscompositions as "Solitude", "Sophisticated Lady","Satin Doll" and "Mood Indigo".
His first attempt at extended composition
was the brilliant suite "Black, Brown And Beige",which ran for 50 minutes when it was presented
at New York's Carnegie Hall in January1943.
British bandleader Alan Cohen sums up the whole
spectrum of Ellington's talent by saying: "He has
given us a rich legacy of superb masterpieces. -41.,
8 I HISTORY OF

sights:John Cale and Kevin A.

WO"It's not the sort

masterpieces

MM JUNE 15 An au

STRANGE DAYS! WALK into a Ladbroke
Grove hotel, open your mouth to say,"Where can I find Nico?" and theghostly, haunted tone of a harmonium rises
right beside you. Turn to your immediateright, and here, in this very hotel foyer, avery curious spot of improvisation is taking
place. Nico's feet pump away at the bellowsof the tiny reed organ. Paul Buckmastersaws at cello strings, and across the lobby
hunched in an alcove, Jan Akkerman picks
at a Spanish guitar. Thijs van Leer watches
this happening impassively.
But what's weird here is that with one of theworld's leading arrangers on one flank, anda poll -winning rock guitarist on the other, it's

still Nico'sAmateurHourkeyboard
doodlings that seem the most moving noise.
It's maybe unfortunate that her detachedstage personality extends over into herinterviews. In this realm, she's fascinating
to watch, her facial contortions and sudden
switches of expression often alarming, but

attempting to actually communicate with
her is at times like trying to make contact
with an autistic child.
Much of the time she seems distant, as
though troubled by some half -remembered
dream. Often she doesn't appear to hearthe question asked, or will counter one
question with another. However, this isn't
any Beefheart- or Zappa-type battle of wits,
this is almost tragic. Tragi-comic, perhaps.
Here's howwe begin:"There is a tree in the garden, we can talkbeneath it." Sure, that's fine by me. "Actually,
I would prefer to stay here."
What? Oh yeah, sure, that's fine too.
Fearing the worst, we begin by asking about
Lou Reed. It transpires that our chanteusedoesn't like the phantom of rock too much.
In fact, of the dozens of names that arise inconversation the only people she appears tohave any affection for are Eno and Jo Lustig,
an unlikely pairing if ever there was.
Nico recently flew to NewYork to procure
Reed's assistance with her forthcoming
Island album, which Lou has tentatively
dubbed /Want To Be Bald. Assistance,
however, was not to be found. Rather thanwork together, Reed and Nico fought instead.
Lou's got bad problems, says Nico, lips
puckering, Jagger -like. "He wants to be black."

She spits out this last word with contempt-a sneer perhaps rooted in her own infamous
tussles with the Black Panthers? Nico also
flatly denies that she'll be working with any

I
KEVIN AYERS JOHN EALE-ENO-NIE0

revamped Velvet Underground come autumn,
hell or high water. She scoffs particularly at thethought of Sterling Morrison and Mo Tucker
being involved.
"Sterling's an English professor at a North
American university, not into music so muchnow. And I would not work with Maureen
either, because she mucked everything up.
She did everything wrong. Like Lou, she wasa traitor. Lou should never have performed
the old songs with different people. Maybe heshould have played them alone. And I don't
get along with John 'Cale] either. He's sucha married person."
H mm. Do you foresee ever working ina rock band again? "It would have to involve

admiration from the other musicians thatworked with me."Did you enjoy playing with Eno (at Kevin
Ayers' Rainbow Concert, June 1,1974)?
"Oh yes," she sighs, suddenlyvery girlish,"a lot. He's great, incredibly talented. But don't
even speak of that terrible concert. I should
never have agreed to do it. Because I don't
enjoy Kevin's kind of music- it escapes mecompletely, and the same is true for John Cale.
Kevin's music is just fooling around."
Nonetheless, Nico is also featured singing
with Ayers on the singer's Confessions Of Doctor
Dream album. "That is true, and I thought it
was very badly mixed. Going backwards andforwards and together. It sounds like fake Arabmusic. I was disappointed by the record and theconcert. I said to John and Eno that we should
not do the show at all. We did not even get
a proper appearance, just drifted inand out.
"I don't want to put anybody down,"
and even Nico laughs at the absurd it Vof her own words here, "but justbecause we are all on the same recordlabel doesn't mean that we will accept
anything. At the moment I am justvery much, at least."
Ayers wrote a song about
you, I remind her, intended
I believe as an extension ofyour style. A piece called"Decadence". "Yes. Yes, it
was an extension, but I
don't know if it was theright extension. It's his
image of me, which is not"lcanonlybe
the same as my own. I canlike somebody
only be like somebody
else":Nicoin
London:me
else," she concludes, not alittle sadly, "at the most.
-mmineromPrimpumiump
But nobody else can be likeme. Or else my name wouldn't be Nico. It would
being drawn into other people's happenings.
be somebody else's name.
I am not doing what I want to do.""Kevin is very taken with what I'm doing andWhat do you want to do? "Perform my own
the idea of me being German. You see, he is kindsongs. Only if I perform my own songs aloneof attracted to Marlene Dietrich."
can I really feel alone."
Do you think like a German lady? "A fracture?"
So why perform Jim Morrison's song "TheI'm sorry? "A fracture, is that the wrongword?
End"? "Because it's the most beautiful song in
Oh yes, fraction. I feel very German in the way
the world."that I have lost the Second World War, and I was
She laughs again, face turning scarlet as she
too little to do anything about it. I think in terms
does so. Knowing that Nico was originallyof movies, cinema, motion
scheduled to play concerts
pictures. Everything's
with Magma on the French
visual.lcan't think in terms
band's last British tour, I ask if
of paintings, for example,
she has any involvement inripping people off. like my best friend."
that direction. "In away, I'm
Half expecting to enter
drawn a little to Christian
impassable abstract straits,
Vander, because he's an
I desperately try to steer
inventor. He createsback to rock'n'roll. Think
language styles of music."of a name. Any name. Tim
Why d id n't you play the
Buckley! You used to work at the Dom with Tim
Magma tour anyway?
Buckley for a while. "I really adore his voice, notNico heaves a deep theatrical sigh.
so much what he's doing right now, though. He's
"Everybody assumes that I want to be a beggar
become embarrassing like Lou Reed. Buckley iswoman, which I'm not. I'm not a beggar
a nother one who wants to be a black man. I
woman. Not a beggar woman.
can't understand it, can't appreciate it at all.""The reason that I agreed with Island Records
Much of Nico's time of late has been spent inwas that I was completelywithout any money.
planning what she describes as 'The Perfect
So I started stealing. I started ripping people
Picture' in conjunction with filmmakeroff. It was very embarrassing. And the amountPhilippe Garrel. "Philippe... doing everythingof money that I was ripping off was the kind of
possible to make himself a pile of ashes," shemoney that I would make if I was successful.
says somewhat enigmatically.
I lived in all the most expensive hotels. I ate in
And Nico's contribution to this piece of
all the expensive restaurants."
celluloid? "Lyrics, sound and my acting ability.
Then, without prior warning, Nico's stream I play the role of a person that's opposed toof -consciousness conversation flashes back tofemale emancipation. I think women are
Kevin Ayers. "It's a** ******""
unnecessary; I'd like to destroy the entire
funny thing. Ever
Women's Liberation movement -Women's Lib
since he met me(smiles) - they're a pain in the neck. They can't
Kevin Ayers has
get themselves together- ever- because they're
been playing Westnot strong enough." And here I retire, confused.
Indian music... IMuch too weird for me. Over to you, Spare Rib.
idnodni,at envenu,siikce.Nwoetst
Steve Lake

"I started stealing,
It was very
embarrassing"k********

nsOt

beggarwoman....nrognerririi

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

I 47

WatfordFC'snew
vice-president.
EltonJohn.at the
club's Vicarage
Road grounds inNovember1973"I've followed Liverpool all my life
and the reason I love football somuch is because the game produces
an incredible release from tension.
After a match I can almost feel thetension falling away, a cathartic
effect. And I get the same kind ofthing from music. Bands like theFaces have the same effect on me as
Liverpool, though I'm probably more
extreme about football. It's justsomething that people not into thegame don't understand."Rock and soccer both claim thesame social roots. "They both rely on
natural talent; football and rock'n'roll
are something ordinary, workingclass people can become successful
at," says Junior Campbell.
Soccer, like rock, relies on a will to
succeed. A motivation. That's why
Brazil are the greatest national team
the world has ever known. Soccer
provided the perfect escape routefrom poverty. In what other area oflife, for instance, would a slum kid like
Pete have succeeded? Or James
Brown? Sport and music, the two
ways out of the ghetto. And bothsupplied a focus for the aspirations
and, indeed, the identities of theiraudiences. Soccer's contemporary
image probably dates back to theearly '60s and the abolition of the
maximum wage limit.
The image changed to one the kids
could immediately appreciate. And
right up there was George Best, who
seemed much the same as a rockmusician. He had flair and arroganceand long hair and flash. The kids

MM MAY11 tioo used to play, and Pink Flop soil do. Elton s a director. All round,the bond between football is closer than ever. But why? The Maker investigates.
T'S FUNNY, REALLY. At the gigs now
they're all waving scarves and they'rechanting, just like at football matches.
They even sing 'You'll Never Rock Alone'..." Rick Parfitt, Status Quo and Crystal Palace.
Football creates its own passion. A special,almost intangible emotion which remains, forunbelievers, mysterious and inexplicable. It's
like trying to tell a stranger about rock'n'roll.
That moment, for instance, when Queens
Park Rangers scored with the last kick of thematch against Coventry in the cup. Or the day
England became World Champions.
Rock and football, twin aspects of popular
culture forever linked by the same dramatic
intensity. Just like when Bob Dylan finally madeit on stage at the Isle Of Wight and the night
became transformed by a new excitement,a magic almost. Or whenever a new Beatles
album was played for the first time.
So perhaps it's not so strange Elton John
should become a football club director. Not so
strange, either, that Rod Stewart should hirea special relay system from Scotland to Texas
just to follow the Scotland v Czechoslovakia
World Cup qualifying game.
Rock/soccer consciousness, today, is extra
high. Rick Wakeman, for instance, together.18 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

with Yes manager Brian Lane and Atlantic
Records' Nesuhi Ertegun are trying to become
directors of Brentford, a club that once had ayoung apprentice by the name of Rod Stewart.
Then there's the Spreaders, a soccer teamthat includes most of Humble Pie - Jerry
Shirley, Dave Clempson ("a midfield genius")
and Greg Ridley -plus the Pink Floyd's Roger
Waters ("a tricky inside forward") and Dave
Gilmour. And Steve Marriott is the team's
non-playing manager, or so they claim.
John Peel, of course,
has roots, having always
been an avid Liverpool
supporter. So too is
Terry Sylvester of The
Hollies, who even flies
to Liverpool to catchthe team's home game.
"I remember I was
driving home fromsome gig, coming up toa roundabout in Bury St
Edmunds, when I heard
on the radio that
Liverpool had scored. I
had to stop, I was crying
with delight," says Peel.

screaming for Best on the soccer pitch werereally cheering themselves, it was the same
identity. Best was one of them; when hescored, it was shared experience.
At the same time, of course, much the samething was happening in rock. Bands like The
Yardbirds and the Rolling Stones and The Who
were attracting a whole cross section of kids,from university students to pill -popping mods.
But the music remained solidly rooted in a

new, working-class, culture. It was only a brief
period, say1963 to1966, but during that time
there really was a unified "youth culture".
The music had spontaneity; the musicians
had destroyed the old "star system", thefeeling of Them/Us. The Who and the Small
Faces belonged, in a very real sense, to themod audience. The bands were theirs; themusicians seemed to be just kids from the clubs
who got lucky. But somewhere around1967
everything seemed to change. British bands
were increasingly successful in the States,
demanding huge fees and finding less and lessnecessity to work the clubs. They began to
distance themselves from their early audience.
And that initial inspiration, which had caused
the whole thing, began to dissipate.
In1965 The Who were singing "MyGeneration", full of arrogance and impatience.
But by1969 Thunderclap Newman, with Pete
Townshend's help, were singing about"Something In The Air". The feeling of latentviolence, frustration almost, had been diluted.
The message no longer connected. San
Francisco and the hippy culture, of course, had
given rock a new artistic stance. The Beatles'
Sgt Pepper was lauded by music critics. It was,they claimed, an indication of rock's maturity.
But what that album really signalled was theend to any unity in rock: a prelude in the schismthat began to develop during the late '60s.
"Progressive rock" alienated most of the newgeneration of working-class kids, thedescendant of the mods. The album -as lifestyle concept created new barriers. Rock as
kids committed tofinding some deep, perhaps even intellectual,
experience in the music.
The rise of the "counter- culture" and its
later manifestations, in fact, created divisions.
Meanwhile, the kids on the streets began to
discover a different subculture. The skinheads. They
cropped their hair, adopted
tough poses, and wore
workmen's boots. It wasalmost a total rejection ofwhat was going down inmainstream rock culture.
The skinheads, virtually the
antithesis of good vibes,
rejected the superstars ofcontemporary rock. They identified
with other heroes, footballers.
By this time, George Best had also
distanced himself from his grass -roots
audience, a victim of the star system.
Swedish girlfriends, Jaguars,
nightclubs... the whole thing just didn't
correspond with that initial image.
Football retained an identity for theskinheads, a game of extremes where
the drama's always natural and real.
And there's
a tremendous UP when your team wins.
The team became a focal point for fantasies.
And the skinheads' music was strangely
imageless. Reggae and Motown soul mostly,
anything good to dance to. But there were nostars, no point of identification. It was simply
the music, and simply records too. There were
few skinhead musicians, few aspirations to
produce pop music.
Around1970, rock was completely divided.
A longhaired generation still identified with its
original heroes. Bob Dylan's entrance at theIsle Of Wight was still a magical moment for
countless thousands of people. But, every
week, thousands more skinheads went tochant for their new heroes, football players.
Football had taken many of the working-classkids whose immediate predecessors hadcreated British rock.
Four years on and they'll be chanting
football slogans at rock concerts. Something'schanged. "Suddenly football's become very
fashionable. It's happened over the past two
years," says John Peel. The skinheads, too,have changed. Rod Stewart and Elton John
have found themselves as heroes, though notin the same, committed way the mods viewed
their bands and singers. The artist as star,
perhaps, but not the artist as one of us.
Still, the resistance of theskinhead generation isbreaking down. Football's
hip, so at least there's someunity. Slade, whose earlyattempts at becoming askinhead band - almost acontradiction in terms ended in failure, havefound a post -skin audience.
Elton John can doa benefit concert for
Watford FC, and that's OK, it's cool.
Flash and outrage have replaced
denims and personal anguish, andartists like David Bowie cantranscend the cultural divide.

"Suddenly
football's become
very fashionable.
It's happened overthe last two years"

Existentialist thinker/pretty face.

playing football

Bolan, too, had a couple of goodyears, though whether his 'Children
Of The Revolution' actually means
as much in the '70s as Townshend's"My Generation" did almost a
decade before is open to debate.
But the new rock still seems toremain mere supper -clubdecadence. The real breakthroughwill come when some young rockmusician starts back at zero once
again, writing songs rooted in therealities of those kids on the street.
In the meantime, down at QPR, Stanin Dijon. France

Bowles rules. OK? Robert Partridge

June 22.1974:
Pink Floyd

EL -TON!... Rod -nee...!

Watford!.. Scotland!.
MM MAY11

T WAS, APPARENTLY, the biggest crowd

they've seen at Watford FC for many along season. Forty thousand people,
spread right across the pitch. The last big
crowd, said the man in the corner shop,
was for Manchester United. Or was it
Liverpool? But anyway, that only
attracted 34,000. Kid's stuff.
Elton Hercules John, as you might've
heard, is a director of Watford FC, a Third
Division soccer club. Now, Third Division is
not exactly the dizzy heights of football.
At that end of the football spectrum mere
survival causes a few ulcers. So it was a jolly
nice idea of Elton to organise a special
benefit concert for the club, raising a few
bob to buy a neworwhatever.
player.
And theconcert, on Sunday, was jollynice
too, especially ifyou weren't trapped rightup front by the stage. Throughout theafternoon kids were constantly pulled fromthe crowd, crushed by the squeeze. It was
the only bad thing about the whole concert.
Elton, dressed in chic Watford gold andblack plus bauble trimmings, looked likesome satin bumble bee. And he sounded infine form despite all those stories about
fatigue that led to his European tour being
cancelled. He went through a selection of
his oldies, "Daniel", "Rocket Man", "Candle
I n The Wind", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road","Crocodile Rock", "Your Song", plus asurprisingly good version of "Lucy In The
Sky With Diamonds". The backing band
were tight and responsive, no doubt helped
by a superb sound system.
But one of the biggest cheers of the day

was reserved for Rod Stewart-sans Faceswho sang three numbers. The combinationof Elton's band plus Stewart sounded more
effective than the Faces of late, opening
with a raucous version of "Country
Comfort" and finishing with "Angel".
Nazareth, Scotland fans to a man, opened
the concert with a powerful performancethat confirmed their growing status. It
was an excellent way to spend a Sunday
afternoon-might even bring in a few morefans for Watford. Robert Partridge
HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 149

Return of the1111sollsroit

GRAHAM NASH

1PP

"Thoseguys getme hi h"He's proved himself with his solo career,
but GRAHAM NASh has an itch he can't
scratch: CROSBY CT!! S, NASH & YOUNG.

"I've seen a lot of bullshit," he says. "But
I'm willing to put up with another year'sbullshit if we can play some good music."
MELODY MAKER APRIL 2U TH E SPIRIT OF Woodstock is not dead. That's bad news
for all you posers that have just had your hair dyedbright orange, and finally splashed out on that divine
Lurex jumpsuit, but it's all right with me. I can always
use a bit of love and peace. So can Graham Nash. Well,
Graham is actually excited at the prospect, but thenGraham gets excited a lot. Not as excited as he used to, mind.
After hanging out with Joni and David and Stephen and Grace and Pauland Jerry and Neil, the impulsive former Hollie is treading more carefully.
He's cooled himself out. Mellowed is the vogue word, I'm assured. Mature
is another word altogether, but some kind of development is going on
inside Nash's head.
Naivety is a quality that Graham is often damned or blessed forpossessing. And certainly his enthusiasm suggests a kind of childlike
innocence. However, he's no dummy. He's acutely aware of the locationof his own faults, and he's found out
exactlywho he is and knows where he's
going. How many other artists could
claim the same?
Lyrically he's progressing. Becoming
more assured and self-confident. From
the nervous "Be sure to hide the roaches"of "Pre -Road Downs" to the singleminded "Rules and regulations, who"I see a giant holeeverywhere... That
indefinable somethingthat was there roundabout '69/70". Graham
Nash in1974

needs 'em I Throw them out the door"of "Ch icago" is a big step. Now he's

going further.
"Oh! Camil (The Winter Soldier)" on
Wild Tales is a pertinent and insightful
view into a real political situation. But, *1974°
AP

says Graham, squalling cross-legged among the nonchalance ofBlakes Hotel, South Kensington, his solo career as a profound orotherwise songwriter is of secondary importance to him.
"I'm a harmony singer, man. That's what I do best, so that's what
I'm going to concentrate on from now on. I've just finished a solo
tour. I've proved that I can get people off without help fromanybody else, so I don't have to keep on doing that."
And from June 1 onwards, Graham will be able to fulfil his best
function. That's when the pieces fall into place again, and David
Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young try to fit thepieces together again, after an absence of three years. They'll be
aided by Russ Kunkel of The Section on drums, and Tim
Drummond, a former Famous Flame of lames Brown, on bass.
The reunion, surprisingly, was not instigated by a member of
CSNY, but by that famed master organiser David Geffen, thebusiness brain behind the Bob Dylan resurgence. "I tell you," says
Nash, with the vaguest hint of California now colouring thosebroad Mancunian tones, "those guys get me high. CSNY has its
pros and cons, but the music overrides all that. Something happens
when the four of us get together, some special sort of chemistry."Nash's role in the chemical formula has always been a vague one.
Musically, he has little of the technical instrumental control that
Stills and Young possess, and he doesn't share Crosby's flair fororiginal or unorthodox jazz -type chordings, either. But then, likehis song tells it, he's a simple man.
With Young and Stills like duelling stags at either side of the stage,
another solo instrumental voice isn't so vital. Graham digs the
licks that Neil and Stephen let fly, but he's not impressed byvirtuosity for its own sake.
"Did you see Focus? I hated them, thought theywere awful. But
I get very paranoid about people that play good, because I don't.
I think I can write good, but I just can't get myself into the state ofmind to sit down and practise for, like, 10 years just so's I can go
mowowowowowowahwah..."other people, though. Neil practises for four or five hours a day for weeks
on end."Despite all the stories of feuds and ego trips, Nash insists that it's been
mainlywork situations that have kept the band apart these past years.
Rehearsals have always been scant, and this time out there's going to
be only three weeks or so before the group take on the major concert
halls ofAmerica.
"We always under -rehearse. We've never, ever, gotten to the point
where the show was slick. I'm a little worried this time; I don't know if
three weeks is gonna be enough. But there's always sufficient madness tomake it work."
Any truth in stories that the band battle backstage about whosematerial is going to be performed? "No, we've always got round that one.
We're very honest about it. You have to be. If somebody's song doesn'tturn you on, then you're not going to be able to feel it. You won't be able tosing it right."
Graham's pretty optimistic about the tour. Almost willing it to work.
"I've seen a lot of bullshit go down in the past fewyears, and I'm willingto put up with anotheryear's bullshit if we can play some good music."
Wow, that sounds provocative. He sighs, almost theatrically: "Wellnow... How can I put it? Sometimes people aren't who you expect them
to be. You expect people to be trustworthy and they turn out not to be.
But I've been realising lately that people aren't gonna live up to my
expectations and I'm starting to come to terms with that. Starting toaccept people for what they are."Evasive. I still don't understand. "Y'know... so what if friends areassholes some of the time? Aren't we all? Before, in the group, it used to get
serious, and we'd get real crazy about it and not communicate. We're
growing up, I think." He smiles, and adds, "At last."
Growing up and growing older. The years are beginning to show on
Nash's face. Considerably more than a decade in show business taking
its toll. And yet anyone less like a pop star in appearance would be
difficult to imagine. The sprouting beard and outgrown urchin haircut
give him an almost medieval look, not contradicted by the plain green
shirt and pigskin waistcoat.
Painfully thin and with cheekbones prominent in his starved face,shoes split and cracked, he looks like some Sherwood Forest outlaw downon his luck.
52 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

JIy13.1974:Graham
Nashonstage with
CSNYattheOakland
ColiseuminCalifornia

111"-41111.11.1.111.011Er`,111111011111111P"

vameasigeme

Nash cups his hand together and raises them in the air. He waits for me
to watch before continuing. Remembering that a man's a man who looks
a man right between the eyes, I do just that. He continues.
"I see a giant hole," he says. "I see a giant hole everywhere. I find very
little of that special magic in the music. That indefinable something thatwas there round about '69/70, the Woodstock period. We're going to bringthat feeling back. There's good music around, but I haven't, for a longtime, seen people get off like the way they do when CSNY really hit."
But Woodstock was five years ago. Can we be sure that it was real, that
nostalgia hasn't painted it a lot more rosy than it actuallywas?
"Oh, it was real. It was a wondrous event. There was a feeling there thatyou just couldn't believe."
At the time, this side of the Atlantic, the festival appeared, as one writer
put it, not unlike an orgy of self-congratulation. Graham tensed, visibly.
A little uptight, he spoke louder.
"I gotta tell you that getting 500,000 people together and having nofights and no murders and no craziness was a great feat, something to be
proud of. With 28 bands on, there was all the ingredients there for a major
madness, but that didn't happen."
So what did Woodstock achieve, in concrete terms, either for America
or for rock?

"It was just such a fantastically good thing. It changed rock'n'roll. Thatfeeling that we've been talking about was spearheaded by Woodstock,
although the seeds had been sown a little earlier. The first Crosby, Stills &Nash album had something of that spirit. That everybody is really not so
different, and maybe we can pull together. Just that hope."
It was the same motivation, the same optimism, that sucked Nash into
the early Jefferson Starship recordings. "Right. Those same people, Paul
Kantner and everybody- they're always out there saying, 'Listen. We
know it's crazy. Nobody's saying that the situation isn't bad, that theworld isn't fucked up. But for one hour we can get off!'"That's basicallywhat the Airplane say, and it's what the Grateful Deadsay too, except that they say it for five hours at a time. It's what we'll besaying, as well. It's so important for me...
"For two years I analysed and digested specific problems, political andsocial problems, and tried to help out where I could. You can't do it. You
really can't do anything.
"You're playing a benefit for old folks or Vietnam veterans or kids even,and some guy will grab you and say, 'Why don't you ever do benefits forblind people.' And it's just... 'Oh, Jesus, just let me play, will you.' But whenpeople are having a good time and being moved by the music, you can feel

GRAHAM NASH

them all becoming unified behind one force, and that unity continues
when the music's over. That's what happened at Woodstock. And thatsame energy is returning now, I can feel it."Nash believes that the Bob Dylan /Band tour is an indication of the newnon -cynical renaissance that he claims is taking place. "It's a cycle that's
gradually completing itself," he says. "Who would have thought that
Dylan would ever go out on the road again? I hope The Beatles get back
together again. You don't think they will? Well, I never thought that CSNY
could work together again."It's a different situation, surely. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Bob
Dylan can both play material that hasn't dated over the years, that hasa timeless quality to it. Yet The Beatles always seemed like a mirror for
whateverwas happening then. They can hardly come back and sing "SheLoves You" and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand".
"That's not true, man. I'd love to fucking hear them doing 'I Wanna HoldYour Hand'. Can you imagine it, them coming on and open ingwith that?
I would freak completely."
But more to the point, what are CSNY going to open with?
"I wanna start with Neil's to 'When You Dance I Can Really Love'.
I can't wait. Those four-part harmonies. Oh boy, that's exciting music.
Those goose pimples that I just felt down my back thinking about thefirst time I heard us on stage together is the reason that I'm here now, andthe reason why I left England in '68, and even the reason why I started
rock'n'roll."
Conversation shifts to The Hollies. Did we know, he says, that Eric
Haydock is a professional footballer with Stockport County these days?
And why is Bobby Elliott wearing a long blond wig, he asks. Bobby, says
Nash, was without hair even before The Hollies
started. He was always a good-looking bald kid.
"The reason I left The Hollies," volunteers Nashwithout persuasion, "was simply that I was
smoking a lot of dope and theyweren't. I swear
to God it was as simple as that."
We chuckle about flower -power publicity
Clarke never lookedright with a perm, a kaftan and a budgie bell
somehow. "I was into all that too, y'know. I can't
criticise them there. But," he adds, "I gave backmywhite suit. They've still got theirs. Think
about that one."
Did the pre-CSNY Nash know exactly what he
was heading for when he quit in '68?
"Are you kidding? Do you know what it took toleave my wife, my family, my money, my band and my country? I knew
instantly, the first time I sang with David and Stephen, that I had to leave."
Nash had first met Crosby when The Byrds toured here after"Tambourine Man" hit. They struck up a friendship back then, he recalls,
at the time when The Byrds got systematically slated in all of the music
papers everyweek, without fail. With typical drama, Graham claims that
Crosby "saved my life". Here's how:
"I was writing all these tunes that, for me, were self-expression things,
and I was happy with them. But The Hollies didn't want to know. And so
I really began to doubt my ability to communicate on that level. It was
Crosby that said, 'Hey, play that thing again. You mean you have anothersonglike that? It was Crosby that reawakened my faith in myself."
Later in the States, The Hollies threw a party for their friends at the
WhiskyA Go Go on Valentine's Day, friends including the Buffalo
Springfield and The Byrds. After a performance by the English group,
Stephen Stills and David Crosby took Nash fora drive round the area.
Plans were discussed.
"The next day we got together and David and Stephen sang 'Helplessly
Hoping' with two-part harmonies," recalls Graham. "They sang it
through twice, and the third time I was in there. And ha! I couldn't believethat ! could get subtle vocal harmonies with a band that I didn't know.
CSN sang as good as on the first day we started together.
"Sometimes I don't think that any of us had anything to do with it. Does
that sound st range? To me, CSN sounds as if it would have happened if it
was CSN orABC or DFT orwhatever. I'm really proud of that first album.
I think it was the best thing we ever did."Déjà Vu sounded more contrived. Less fun, somehow. What happened?
"I'll tell you. When we started the first album, we were all in love, andeverything was sunny. And then just before the second album, Joniand me split up, Neil got divorced from his wife, Stephen hadn't seen

Judy in months, and the week before we were due to start, David's lady
Christine was killed in a crash. We were bombed out. We were totally
wiped out. That's the difference between CSN and CSNY. It started out
reallyweird."
Similarly weird to those outside a small circle of friends is thewillingness with which the Laurel Canyon mob spell out the details of
their love lives before the mass audience. We all know that "Lady Of The
Island" and "Our House" were written for Joni Mitchell. How does it feelto have those songs still floating around four and five years later?
Graham thinks hard about this one, brow furrowed in concentration.
"I think," he says finally, "that that isn't really so different from you
reading an interviewyou did a couple of years ago. You'd probably think,'Yeah, I believed that then, but that's not where I am now.' We can all saythat about our old work. But I've never felt hesitant about opening myself
up in that way. It's painful sometimes, sure. I don't think ! could sing 'Our
House' now."
He laughs at his own seriousness.
"I don't know, though. Maybe I could sing it. I'm supposed to be doinga TVshowwhile I'm here and I don't know what I'm going to do on it.
They keep asking me, but I can't tell them. I won't know until I get
there and feel what the format of the show is, who else is appearing,whether it's a teenybop show or whether there's going to be someinteresting rapping."
Speaking of TV shows, one of the most bizarre things ever screened has
to be the performance CSNY once gave for a Tom Jones show. Neil Youngwas scowling viciously as the Welsh bump -and -grind merchant madenonsense of Crosby's "Long Time Gone", with Nash and the song's author
singing harmonies and a keyboard -playing
Stephen Stills wailing an additional soulful
vocal line.

"Do you knowwhat it took toleave my wife,
my band andmy country?""Hahahahahahahahaha, I have sometapes of that, and it ain't that bad, y'know?
Surprisingly enough.
"The point of the exercise was originally to try
to get across to a whole audience that wouldn't
otherwise hear us, but I'm not sure if it wasworth it. They treated us badly. In rehearsals
we'd just be getting up to the three-part
harmonies and they'd shout, 'Cut! Hold it! Morelights!' And we were furious -'DON'T EVER DO
THAT TO US AGAIN' - but theyjust thought wewere crazy."
Graham Nash is going dreamy again,sounding like he's missing the stimulationof the San Francisco community after a mere 24 hours separation. It's themost European, cosmopolitan place in America, he says. Nowhere else doartists from all idioms communicate so freely and so totally.
Is there not a danger, I asked, of the LA/San Francisco scene stagnatingwith all the cross-fertilisation that's happening between the California
bands? Everybody playing on everybody else's records. David Crosby's
IfOnly1Could Remember MyName seemed symptomatic of this malaise,apparently incorporating the services of everybody that had ever wieldeda guitar within a 100 -mile radius of SF.
"There's no stagnation. It's a means to keeping the music alive; in fact,
I think Californian musicians have consciously devalued the old solo
artist and band recording formats. They're redundant. That's one of thereasons why I left England, everything was so regimented. You had tobe 'in, oryou had to know George personally. In American studios it's
totally different.
"If you're there, and you hear a part and you've got the balls to say so,then you've got a good chance of playing it. Over here you wonder if you'regoing to blow your cool by saying, 'Hey, I hear a maraca there.' There's
really no boundaries in the BayArea any more; I can sing with everybody
and anybody can come and sing with me."
We walkout into an open quadrangle in the hotel as I prepare to leave.
Graham stops in his tracks suddenly.
"That's amazing."
He stares at a washing line, hung with undies.
"Look at that woman's underwear!"
I'm puzzled; Graham sure doesn't seem like any sort of fetishist.
"In America people don't hang out washing," he explains. "It gets stolen."
I wanted to say, "What? While you guys are all harmonising together?"But I hadn't got the heart. SreveLake
HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 153

1974
APR

"I have toassimilate
it all"MELODY MAKER lAY 25 ___TIM BUCKLEY IS a singer -songwriter with a difference- he forever changes direction.
There's a line in "Café" (side two,
track two on Blue Afternoon)
which runs: "I was justa curlyhaired mountain boy, on my way passing
through." But Tim Buckley, author and uttererof those words, has never been just anything.
Any kid who at the age of 11 is preoccupied withexpanding his vocal range, and at 14 and 15 ishustling to be allowed to sing in folk clubs, has tobe something out of the ordinary. Buckleywas,
and of course, still is.
While most singer -songwriters are onedimensional characters who after initiallyarousing interest continue as mere parodiesof their public's impressions of them, Buckley,in nine years as a recording artist, is consistently
changing direction.
Using only his inspired artist's intuition andhis sense of irony as a guide, Buckley will set
sail fearlessly for uncharted waters. Hence
Starsailor, his 1970 masterpiece that left many of
his original folk -oriented fans totally confused,while many jazzers welcomed him as a rightful
heir to Leon Thomas. But even that favourable
pigeon -holing would've been too comfortable for
Buckley's far-reaching imagination. Yet at one
time it looked as though Starsailorwas to be his
final statement. x.
54 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

TIM BUCK it hasalienated the folkies,
but is delighting the
jazzers. In London, he
opens up on his recent"orgasm suite", andhow his eccentric career
has been influenced byCleo Laine, pornography
and gamelan. "Sexsymbols never said
anything sexy," he says.
"I decided to do it."

"I've writtentwo
scripts... rdlovetodo
someparts-: Tim
Buckley in Beverly
Hills, Los Angeles,1974

1974APRIE-

JANE

After its release, Buckley hung up his 12 -string for 18 months and tookstock of what had been going down. He got himself married, and is now
foster -father to an 11 -year -old boy named Taylor. The implication beingthat wild Timmy had finally settled down.
No chance. The rock'n'roll circuit might be a painful business for achild prodigy turned misunderstood creative genius, but being awayfrom the stage was more painful still.
So Buckley roared back with a new band and a new album, Greetings
From LA, and brought with him fresh shocks. The fragile 19 -year -old who
had sung, "In the scarlet light ofValentines, our paper hearts are blind,"back in 1966 had been superseded by a bellowing, super -virile studhollering, "Whip me, beat me, spank me/Oh mama make it right again."
And it's this stud persona, albeit slightly tongue-in-cheek, that Buckley
seems hell-bent on promoting.
Last week, Buckley and manager Herb Cohen arrived in London for acouple of days to attend a Warner Brothers party given to launch
DiscReet Records. Warners will be distributing Tim's Sefronia album
over here later this month.
I found the man perched forward on the edge of an armchair ina Kensington hotel room, gazing longingly down at the suntanned,
glistening, widespread thighs of a foxy young lady, splashed acrossa gatefold spread in one of those Paul Raymond glossy mags.
"I just adore pornography," he moaned. "I mean, will you just look at
her? Isn't she just the loveliest little thing you've ever seen..."It seemed like an apt moment to air a personal fantasy. From the track
titles, rhythms and arrangements of the first side of Greetings From LA(the tracks are "Move With Me", "Get On Top" and "Sweet Surrender"), it
struck me that the whole had been conceived as a linked trilogy, a kind ofOrgasm Suite. Would that be reading too much into the songs?
"Not at all. That's just what it is. It occurred to me that all of the
rock'n'roll sex symbols, like Jagger, Jim Morrison, had never actually said
anything sexy. So... (long pause) I decided to do it."His face creased into a dirty laugh. Facially, he looks very different fromthe Dylan-esque romantic poet gazing melancholic from the sleeve ofHappySad. The outrageous curls have been severely chopped, and his
current trimmed, hip hair emphasises his film -star good looks. Now helooks more like Paul Newman than Bob Dylan, a state of affairs thatclearly appealed to more than one young lady at the press reception later,where his every move was observed by a semi -circle of silent admirers
who stood transfixed.
But the sex -appeal trip isn't Buckley's raison d'et re by any means,
merely one facet of a complex personality. His current activities embracenon -rock aspects of art and music, and his future plans indicate further
divergence of his talents and energies.
However, Buckley's future is best explained in terms of where he's
already been. He knew the poet Larry Beckett from his schooldays, andBeckett and Buckley were always particularly close, sharing the same
highbrow interest in literature: Kafka, Sartre, the metaphysicals andLorca (later commemorated in Tim's album Lorca).

July 20,1974: Buckley andhisFender Electric Xlljoin
The Allman Brothers Band,
Doobie Brothers and moreat The Bucolic Frolic. thefirst festivalat Knebworth
House. Hertfordsh ire

400.

56

HIST +

ROCK 1974

Both Larry and 1 nn were wnungpoetry at this stage and experimented
with putting their words to Tim's tunes. Early efforts were pretty
unsatisfying, but they persevered and Tim began working self -penned
material into the sets he was playing in country clubs, the only places hecould get gigs in his early teens. He was never totally country, of course,but... "As long as you could play the 'Tennessee Waltz", you were OK.
I had a lot of fun."But it was in New York that Buckley first began to attract attention. Andeven now, he feels that his roots are firmly in Greenwich Village. "Apartfrom The Doors and the San Francisco sound, all of the worthwhile
music out of the States in the past decade has come from the East Coast,and specifically New York."
However, it was back in Southern California that Buckley first got arecording break, playing uncredited guitar on The Byrds' first album,
and it was during these sessions that he met Van Dyke Parks, Jim Fielder
and then Mothers drummer Billy Mu nd i. With these notables plus Lee
Underwood, an aspiring young jazz guitarist, and with fine stringarrangements by Jack Nitzsche, the young Buckley cut his own debut for
Elektra. Nine years on, it's as fresh and unique as ever.
The same isn't quite true of Goodbye And Hello, his second album,
produced by Jerry Yester, which, while excellent by any standard, is verymuch a product of the era in which it was made, that euphoric "Summer
Of Love", California, 1967. Still Buckley was already stretching out,
experimenting with his amazing vocal tubes, actually managing toaffect at least half a dozen different voices for the labyrinthinecomplexities of the album's title track.
And all the time, reflecting and playing off the innumerable influencesthat he'd absorbed in his formative years. "Ray Charles, Hank Williams,
Clapton, Hendrix, Morgana King, Cleo Laine, Little Richard, Nat King
Cole, Roland Kirk, Peggy Lee, Duke Ellington, strippers, classical music,
avant-garde, from Stravinsky on, Messaien, Penderecki, Balinesemusic... I respond to anything that's done well, and I've been influenced
by all of it."After the recording of Goodbye And Hello, the Buckley -Beckettcollaboration ceased to function for three years, during which time afurther three Buckley albums were issued -Happy Sad, Blue Afternoon
and Lorca.
"Larry got very involved in what he was doing at the time, which was
writing an 80 -page poem about Paul Bunyan, and he moved to Portland
to do research. It's an American epic, and really brilliant."
Happy Sad, a reflection, presumably on the depressive side of Tim's
character, marked a move towards lyrical economy, but backings
became ever more subtle and jazz -like. With Lee Underwood and vibist
David Friedman achieving a quiet empathy, the music often sounds likethe Larry Coryell period of the Gary Burton Quartet, playing ballads.
Tim's vocal improvisations were beginning to upset a few folk club
clients, however. One report, from Hollywoodin late '68, records Buckley scat -singing
trumpet parts, which went over likea 9pm curfew with most of the
folkies that had followed him
through the first two albums.
"It's very easy to confuse peoplein Hollywood," Tim observed.
"Hollywood is like England.
INS 1189
They're still totally preoccupied
DENNY
RANDS LL
with image there. And they're so
Fsat
insular.
They really have no idea..Reot A
at 2137
what's happening musically in
SEFRONIA
the rest of America."
DOLPHINS
It's not generally known
that Blue Afternoon, Lorca andStarsailorwere recorded in aburst of creativity that lasted fora couple of months in late 1969.
And it's generally supposedthat Lorca, being Tim's final
album for Elektra, before signingwith Zappa's Straight label, wasmade prior to BlueAfternoon. In
fact it wasn't.
"That was a complicatedtime, between labels. But BlueTIM BUCKLEY

Afternoon was done immediately
after Lorca."
And "Lorca", the song itself, which
Buckley had tremendous difficultyin compressing into anything lessthan a 17 -minute epic, was a pointertowards the cataclysmic Starsailor.
An astonishing collection of styles- Latin ("Down By The Borderline"),new -jazz -aligned ("Monterey, The
Healing Festival"), European influenced, Ligeti-esque("Starsailor"), 1966 -type Buckley("Moulin Rouge") -and a numberof other things that defy any
classification. The album featured
Buckley alongside the dynamite
horns of Buzz and Bunk Gardner, and also
marked the return of Larry Beckett and more
obscurantist lyrics. (Incidentally, Buckley's
voice isn't doctored, altered or treated in any
way on Starsailor, the only "trickery" of any kindis the common -or -garden overdub. On the title
track there're no less than 16 Tim Buckleys.)"I intend to use every musician that
I've ever worked with somewhere on
the album, though I'm not sure of
specific songs yet," explains Buckley.
"I'll definitely include a lot of Blue
Afternoon, however. That album wasonly half -finished, and I particularly
want to update and complete 'Cafe'and 'The River'. That album got kindof lost while I was changing labels."
Whether or not this nostalgia forolder songs has anything to do withJim Fielder, who has now rejoined
Buckley after some years with Blood,
Sweat & Tears, is an interesting point.
But irrespective, Fielder will beplayingwith Buckleywhen thesinger's band tours here in the autumn.
Further evidence of Buckley's passion formusic is revealed when he speaks of his
activities away from the concert rostrum.
"I work in the ethnomusicology departmentof the UCLA in California, and my main
premise is with Japanese and Balinese music.
I do notation and translating from the Balinesemusicians to the kids that are there studying.
"The programme was started years ago byPete Seeger's father, and that's how I found out
about it. Right now, that's my main source of
new music and inspiration in the world. The
courses aren't set up as a student/professor type thing. What you have isa group from Bali actually there, dancers and musicians, gamelan
orchestra, the whole situation. What I have to do is to assimilate it all, andfigure out how exactly to play the instruments.
"It's a near -impossible feat, but you try to understand about the people,
the culture and the whole thing."
Speaking of unusual instruments prompted Buckley to ask after The
Incredible String Band, with whom he played here briefly back in 1968.
He grimaced on hearing that Messrs Williamson and Heron were now
heavily into Scientology.
"What? See ya, boys! It's hard enough to get along without signing
your shit over to something like that. Religion is the ruin of a great
many good musicians. You won't find me falling for any of that kindof stuff.
"But the Scots are nuts, aren't they? I mean that's not just my opinion,
is it? I mean they really are crazy. They'll argue about anything, andsomehow they always seem to know more about what you're doing thanyou do. And you always end up buying them a drink because they've
argued you into the floor."
The light-hearted turn that conversation had taken seemed agreeable
to Buckley as he launched into a lengthy monologue, totally unsuitablefor publication in a family magazine like this, on the sensual delights ofyoung ladies from Oklahoma to Mexico and the liberating effects of
Elizabeth Taylor, Brigitte Bardot and the Pill upon the same.
OK. You got any ambitions, Tim?
"Yeah. I wanna get paid. No, seriously, I'm writing a book, my
impressions of America, that I'd dearly like to see published..."Tim Buckley, ladies and gentlemen.
"Interior war drives him, shorn ofsleep. .. he takes the clear risk in new
dance... crusading
upwards from dearth.

"I'm happy to
do older songs,
as long as I
can continue
to experiment"

I asked about the sleeve of Greetings From LA.
The front depicts the town of Los Angeles, all
but invisible beneath a disgusting brown
blanket of photochemical smog, and insidethere's a grim photo of a very serious- looking
Buckley clutching a gas mask. All very
ecological, but somehow it doesn't quite ring true. Buckley doesn't seem
like any fresh -air -loving nature fiend.
Concern with pollution doesn't suit a guy who can say, "I can't standanimals, so I adopted a kid", and indeed the album cover was intended as

an ironic statement.
"See, in LA you can't even get through the day without a sense of irony.
And the message that the sleeve was intended to impart was that even inthis horrific atmosphere there can still be a lot of musical activity going
down. But of course, nobody picked up on that. I like the album a lot,
though. We made it all in two days, and it has a kind of immediate energy
about it."Greetings From LA was the first of Tim's albums that didn't feature
Lee Underwood as lead guitarist, the jazzer being replaced by Joe Falsia-a NewYorker. More rock -oriented, Falsia also produced Greetings andtook most of the lead action on Sefronia. Underwood, apparently, hasmade the move from artist to critic, and is now a jazz and rock writer for
Down Beat.
With Sefronia, Buckley seems to be attempting to reach a wider
audience, or at least to pick up old fans that have fallen by the wayside.

Forwhile the groin -rock and oblique elements remain, most of thealbum is direct and conventionally melodic enough to convert folks thathave never even heard of Roland Kirk or Franz Kafka.
The record even includes three songs that Buckley didn't have a handin composing, among them Fred Neil's beautiful "Dolphins".
"A lot of people prefer the older -type songs, and I'm happy to do them,as long as I can continue to experiment simultaneously."
Experimentation, innovation and invention are words that occur
frequently in Buckley's conversation. His is an alert and inquisitive mind.
For example, it's no accident that he chooses to play and compose on the
12 -string guitar: "With the 12 -string there aren't any cliches that you haveto try to consciously avoid, except maybe the old Leadbelly licks."
So Buckley has worked at developing his own guitar style, and is now
almost as individual instrumentally as he is vocally. The concerted
energy that has got him to this point is currently sustaining him though
the planning and execution of three albums -a regular studio album,
a concept album and a live double album.
He's already written more than enough new material for the studiorecord, and the concept album is well under way. It's a song cycle, anothercollaboration job with Larry Beckett, and is based on Joseph Conrad'sAn
Outcast OfThe Islands, further reflecting his literary fascinations.
The live album seems destined to produce rather more headaches. He
intends to re-record all of his personal favourites from earlier albums,
but is going to be restricted by time limits.

StarfaHe will singyou his 10

tales and then wandertill spring" - Larry
Beckett, 1967.

Cliches notwithstanding, if ever thetitle New Renaissanceman was applicable toanybody in rock music,
then Buckley's theartist to merit it.
Steve Lake

sailor
plans

gence

indicate

eneraiasofhifurther divertalents

andexcellent by any standard..
vary mucheninprodiad of thewhich It was made,"Summer Of

1974
APRIL-

JpNE

people some of
the time, or else
Harley has
a workable, if

fragmented,
vision of what
he's trying to do.
"Mr Soft"
succeeds

primarily on thestrength of thearrangement, akind of modified
Brechtian cabaret
vamp of the kindthat Bowie tackled
on "Time". What makes
this one work is a '30s doowop bass backing vocal
which maintains interest formost of the track's 3:17 minutes.
"Singular Band" has anothergood arrangement, mainly down
to the way that the drum breaks
are slotted in between the lines,
but it's "Ritz" that's the track thatbasically justifies the existenceof the album. It may even be
rock's first equivalent to Last
Year in Marienbad, as Harleywanders the mirrored corridorsof his phantom hotel, alternately
the only human being in the placeand just another phantasm.
Jean -Paul Cracker's elegantly
mournful violin collides with its
own dark side before the wholething erupts into a nightmare
party sequence that freezes intoa rictus of insane merriment on
the roll -off groove. It's "Ritz" thatis the most convincing piece ofevidence that Cockney Rebel
know what they're doing, andthat track seems more theresponsibility of the instrumental
Rebels than of its leader.
Psychomodo is an intensely
flawed piece of work rescued by
one imaginative masterstroke.
Whether "Ritz" was a fluke (asabout three-quarters of the restof the album suggests) orwhether it's a presaging of what
we can expect from the band in
future is a matter of conjecture.
One good track don't makea star, but Harley has provedthat he does have something
going. Whether he's in sufficient
control of what he's doing tohit the target every time isa different question again.

-may
REVIEW
ALBUMS
Cockney Rebel
Orlinft EMI
Alirathercharming:
Sparks' Ron(liaf °and
RussIl Mao'

A .t
SINGLES'l.) cif hS

n Ain't Big Enough F'"
I lie Both Of Us ISLAND

Even the press handout says it:"Without drawing overworked
that
Sparks, with their music andunique visual identity, willcapture the imagination andaffection of roughly the sameaudience sector which has
made Roxy Music such a
success." Or to put it anotherway: Sparks sound not unlike
Roxy Music. This is a totallybizarre record crammed withsynthetic sounds - Mellotrons.
Moogs and backward
tapes - building from
BOWIE
one delicious
crescendo toanother. And
it's all rather
charming.
The lyrics,

reading Richard Matheson?
If not, he should, they'd getalong, especially overMatheson's classic / Am Legend,
which is all about post holocaust vampires. There's
a certain affinity. The B-side,"Holy Holy", is heavily phrased
and brief, but interesting. A fairpackage. wiJur.:5Brinsley Schwarz

A good question that. There's
nothing funny about it at all
really. A dawn dew sound fromthe Brinsleys, as fresh as
daisies, with some good
strumming anddrumming that'tga-reminds you
not a littleof the '0o.
A tasteful
STEREOAPBO 0293 ex
song bybassist andsung in asinger Nickfreshly
Lowe. Davecastrated
Edmunds
shriek, are
DIAMOND DOGS
produced andthe re.... °who,. FFol
totally inaudible
he's now going
No eh, re.
apart from the title
on tour with thephrase. It's not theband. Mr/Junkind of thing you'd expect
ABBA
EPIC
producer Muff Winwood to gethimself mixed up with - as
You can't blame 'em for trying,
rumour it has he's none too
so ABBA 'nother one, albeit theenamoured by the Roxies. Not
epitome of blandness andthe sort of record you half -like.
mediocrity. Don't know where it
On the basis of this, Sparks
came from; don't know where
could cause wars. NINE Apr6
it's going. Don't care a swede.
Back to the production line
David Bowie
RCA
conveyor belt, boys and girls.
Lycanthropy for the masses.
Wait, the wall to wall's calling...
Wonder if darling David's been
1.11,1Jun 29
58 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

One thing you gotta admit about
Steve Harley, and that is that hedoes the funniest interviews
since Marc Bolan. He even opens
up Cocky Rabble's new album
with a track entitled "Sweet
Dreams", in which he lays down
this riff about how he can't keep
up the pace that he's made when
all the pop paper people keep
putting him down.
"Maybe 1'11 settle in the country

andfade,"he sighs theatrically
before retreating into his
private fantasy world of "Loretta
andLorraine and Louise" - icy,
mysterious glitter kids whoroam Harleyland, pouting andwithdrawn like the band on thefront cover.
No, but there's more to Harleyand his gang of mincing Biba
dummies than a fast mouth anda good costuming job. Not thatmuch more, but sometimes
Harleyland comes into focus
and assumes some kind ofself-contained reality. Usually
it's the band's arrangements(uncredited) and production (byHarley and Alan Parsons) that doit rather than Harley's overblown
and inept lyrics, but it gets done
just the same.
Your best bet would be toceremoniously burn the lyric
sheet before you play the album,
because knowing what Harley's
singing about will seriously
impede your enjoyment (if any).
The best lines generally emerge
unaided, and Harley's intonations
generally get the point overby themselves. At times hemanages to evoke Ferry,
Bowie, Hunter, Dylan andBowie by skilful mimicry.
Most of Psychomodo isdisposable, but three of the
tracks on the first side work
spectacularly well, which leads
one to the conclusion thateither you can fool some of theCharles Shaar Murray. NINE June 8

JJCale:gravelly
whisperingsand
perfunctoryrhythm noises

Bill Wyman
ROLLING STONES

Mostly everyone in the Rolling
Stones has, at one time oranother, talked about doing
their own album: none otherthan bassist Bill Wyman witha portfolio of nine songs, mostof which are so bloody
commercial, it makes you
wonder why the hell his writing
ability hasn't been utilised
before. (He says they won't fit,
but that's open to debate.)
Crooning in what can bebest described as a laconic
throwaway voice that fits neatly
between that of Harry Nilsson
at his most flippant and Gilbert
O'Sullivan, Wyman once andfor all puts paid to the theory
that he's just a poker-faced
mute, albeit one of the two bestrock bassists. However, hedoesn't push himself to the fore
as much as most people in his

position, preferring to integrate
his sardonic wit and whimsy
observations into the diverse
backing, which are skilfully put
together by a bunch of highly
professional American musicians.
On the other hand, don't
expect a selection of near -beer
Stones shuffles, for Wyman

leapfrogs quite freely throughfamiliar territory. He goes forsome droll New Orleans funk on
Wanna Get Me A Gun",complete with Dr John doddlin'away merrily among the pottedpalms; cooks up some sniggering
double-entendres on the shitkickin'"Pussy"; comes up withpure unadulterated Top 20 pop rock on -Monkey Grip Glue";
tries his mojo hand at gumbo rock on the evil -smelling "What A

Blow"; delivers some fine country
hoke on the catchy "WhiteLightnin- (which someone like
Waylon Jennings or George
Jones would be a redneckschmuck not to cover); prior togiving way to a plaintive ballad,"I'll Pull You Thro-, and stomping
out with some jerky black soul on"It's A Wonder".
A lot of people will undoubtedly
use Rolling Stones albums as the
only yardstick with which tomeasure either the success or
failure of this solo escapade. This
would be grossly unfair, because
in no way does
Monkey Grip bear any

relationship to what
the Stones crank out
in a recording studio.
OK, Bill Wyman
might have his nameand face on the cover,but it's very much a
co-operative venture.

Everyone's allowed their head
whenever the spirit moves them.
Here are a few commendable
examples. On the truckin'"Crazy
Woman" George Terry steps out
to perform some amazing feats
on steel guitar, while on "It's A
Wonder- guitarist Danny
Kortchmar plays better than he's
ever done. Nitty Gritty Dirt man
John McEuen strokes some nicebanjo phrases on "Pussy" withgreat support from country
fiddler Byron Berline.
Lowell George grabs the
spotlight on "Monkey Grip Glue",during which the permanent
drum beat of Dallas Taylor and
Joe Lain rattle away in fine style.
Dr John again makes his
presence felt as he gurgles away
on organ throughout "What A
Blow", and keyboardists Hubie
Heard and Duane Smith comeacross as potential killers
whenever they're within earshot.
And let's hear three cheers for
the Bonaroo Horns, who injectplenty of vigour into most cats.
Having listened to this album at
length, I realise that this album isvery radio -orientated, with eachcut having a separate identity. It'sa very listenable collection ofsongs. For those without any preconceptions there are a numberof pleasant surprises. When you
see it in the browser box, smile
nicely at the assistant and ask if
she'll play it for you. Bet you comeout of the shop a couple o' quidloll over a branch (and,as if you couldn't
guess, the title track
was recorded "on theback porch" of his
Oklahoma home),
JJ Cale is, spirituallyat least, a genuine
highway chile.
Okie is just perfectsoundtrack music forlazily hitching down
the Pan-American
highway in search of
Don Juan, the actual
tracks more likenotes -towards -songs
scratched ruminatively
on the margins of The Road To
Ixtlan (which, naturally, he's beenreading a page or two of every
now and then between plucking
out the odd chord and watching
the sun go up and down).
But enough of this romantic
garf. Cale's music may be themost consistently stoned ever toleak out of your speakers since
Gris-Gris, but he's still a Southernwhite in his thirties and doubtless
couldn't give a goddam about the
dreams of Ye Olde Smashed
Hippies. "S'Iong as they jes buy
ma records, man..." And why not?
Two sides of gravelly

lighter. Roy Carr, NME Apr 20

at all. It's more... zzzzz...
Cale's into Downhome Doze -JJ Cale Okie A&M

Out, a trick Dylan and Beefheart
appear to have been striving
after on their last albums, without
realising that striving in the firstplace ain't where it's at. Okie justlays there, flies buzzing round it,
growing approximately a quarter

Yeah, King of the Laid -Back andall that bananas, but it goes alittle deeper than that -'cos, eventhough he probably spends moretime on his backside rolling joints
than a three -toed sloth gets towhisperings and perfunctoryrhythm noises from some beat -up

geetar with a little understatedhelp from a bunch of the boys may
not sound too galvanising, but...
Well, actually it isn't galvanisingof an inch a year like an old cactus
out around the back of the shack.
And it makes Planet Waves andUnconditionally Guaranteed look
like a truckload of badly damaged
tomatoes in the process.
It would fight against theinconsequentiality of the wholedeal to select individual tracks
for attention, seemingly - butthere are at least two crackers
which you might like to sample
before purchase: "Cajun Moon",which actually rocks out, and"Starbound", which doesn't evenmake it past the two -minute markbefore fading away like the smileof a particularly hallucinogenic
Cheshire cat. They grow peyote
down there in Tulsa, JJ?
Okie is a warm, unfocusedmasterpiece in intermittentcy.
It probably won't climb onto oneof the 10 pedestals reserved forthe best albums of '74 (jeez, it'dhave to stand up to do that!), but
it'll be lying around in the near
vicinity. Just passing the time...
By the way, A&M, my copy was

full of surface crackle'n'crunch.
Care to check the pressing?
Ian MacDonald, N ME Jun 8

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 159

"I'm notinterested inshowmanship"
Sometime YER man
RICK WAKEMAh is alsoa solo performer of
his own fantastic,
quasi -historical works.
Choirs, actors,
orchestras... it's a
lot of plates to spin.
"Someday," he says,"something will bea disaster"

80 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

- MM APRIL 13 IT WAS UNFORTUNATE that Rick Wakeman fell prostratewith a severe bout of influenza only hours after his MM
interview this week. Because the last time we saw him,
he was on the verge of collapse after his sensational
Royal Festival Hall premiere of Journey To The Centre
Of The Earth.
They say everything Rick touches "turns to gold", but the fragile
state of his health shows how hard he has been working of late. And
there's much more to come.
The cheerful, friendly giant, apart from being one of the mostpopular musicians -among musicians and public alike -is ingreat demand, not only for his full-time workwith Yes, but for his
outside activities.
At 24, Rick feels he has earned and learned much from the musicbusiness, and now wants to put more back. There is much for him todo, and in some ways he's only started to tap his potential, but healso wants to help others with their careers.
It's a refreshing attitude and a change from many musicians who,on achieving success, seem only too anxious to retire with the bootyat all possible speed. He reflected first on the epic concert he gave at
the Festival Hall with the London Symphony Orchestra, choir andgroup, shortly available on his second solo LP.
"I'll never do two shows like that in one night again," he vowed.
"IfJourneywent on tour it would have to be one performance a night.
At the premiere, the first concert was really good. It had a few
mistakes, but it was fresh. For the first time in my life, I was nervous
as hell. I suddenly realised I wasn't sharing the responsibility.
"It was all down to me. I thought the rest of the boys in the groupwould have been nervous, but just before the show they werechatting away, and drinking, and there was me... a gibbering heap.
"The audience were great- they really came to enjoy themselves.
London crowds can be critical, but theywere warm and we could
feel them willing us to succeed.
"I thought the silent movies would be a disaster, because they only
arrived five minutes before the first show, and I had to improvise the
piano accompaniment, without knowing what
theywere like. I used the movies and old-time backing because thesecond numberofa showis so important. It can be a downer or justmore of the opening number, and I wanted to give the people
somethingcompletely different, to relax them forlourney, which is 42
minutes long."October22.1974:RickuruoN9Zd .ea.tmeatndi
ak
rfnoarththe
NationalPhi/harmoni

Orch!stra.theChoirOcf
his

Wakeman:quitting
was anobvious
OS& AkUVO\

1974
APRIL

JANE

"The concert was recorded live on Ronnie Lane's mobile truck, but there
were a few problems when it came to preparing the tapes for the LP. We
had to change tapes in the middle of David Hemmings' narration, and heflew back from filming to record a bit more in the studio. He had us institches, doing it in a German accent, Welsh, Irish, African -he's a cleverlad. It took us nine days to do the mixing.
"Someone in the street had accidentally kicked out the vocal mic cable
just before we started recording. So we boosted up the vocals that were
picked up on the other mics.
"We had another problem too -the snare drum broke and one of thedrum mics failed. There were also four bars of complete shambles
between the orchestra and the group. Fortunately an identical passage
occured later and we just used that one twice."
The album is now due out on May 9. Another factor in its delay (it was
supposed to be rushed out immediately after the concert), was the paper
shortage. It has a gatefold and eight -pagebooklet, and the designer refused to re -jig it asa single sleeve. The designerwon, but in themeantime Rick had to go to America with Yes.
He heard, and rejected the original cuts of thealbum while on tour.
"I just didn't like the sound, and it was worth
doing it properly for the sake of a few extra days."
The last Yes tour was something of amoment. There's no influx of exciting new bands coming up. There used
to be Genesis just waiting to break, and groups like that, but now there's
nobody to bridge the gap between the workhorse bands and the top,established groups.
"And I think the established bands should help the new ones come up.
That's why I want to help Wally. I've been very disappointed with the LPs
in the past year by the established bands. My favourite band are The
Who, but to me Quadrophenia didn't have the magic of what they had
done before.
"And Jethro Tull's Passion Playl didn't like at all. British groups seem tohave gone over the top, not deliberately. They're just trying too hard. The
music business has got incredibly into money- and promoters, agentsand managers aren't all that interested in promoting new talent when
they've got established bands. The best new band I've seen were a groupcalled Tubes in San Francisco, who are just like the American Bonzos."
One of Rick's ambitions for 1974 is to take

"The Journey...
album is how
I would have
liked Yes tohave gone"

his Journey To The Centre OfThe Earthentertainment on the road. "I'd like to dosome more concerts. Happy as I was with thefirst, I'm convinced the more we did, the betterit would get.
"I got a tremendous buzz from the show,
and everybody involved wants to do it again.
It depends howwell the LP does -but it's got
a 50,000 advance. Simple as the work mightsound, the score is bloody difficult, andDavid Meacham the conductor says there
are three other orchestras in England capableof playing it.
"They are the Bournemouth Symphony, theHalle and the Scottish Radio Orchestra. If we
did it with them we could cover most of the country that way. There's talkof doing it in America, but the cost would be phenomenal. I onlywant tobreak even, but if we did it for 10 days in America, it would cost around$22,000 a night.
"In England it's not so bad, but even here it costs a thousand pounds justto rehearse the orchestra.
"Do you know- I've been offered the chance of playing a Mozart piano
concerto with the LSO at the Festival Hall?" Rick lit up with quiet pride.
"I'd dearly love to do it, but there are concert pianists about who could
do it better than me and would give their right arm fora chance ofplaying with the LSO. I'd feel guilty because those people were not getting
the chance.
"I could do it... but I'd need to practise eight hours a day fora month.
David Meacham and the LSO have made me the offer, and I'm very
flattered. A solution to the problem would be if I wrote a keyboard
concerto of my music. My musical heart is in so many places, and in fact
I was a better classical player seven years ago than I am now.
"I've got a lot of material for a new solo studio album, and I'll stay awayfrom orchestras for awhile. I've got a lot to learn, but I've gained so much

marathon, and said Rick: "I can hardly
remember the individual performances now,
except that it was an improvement on the
British tour -thank God. We had a few amusing
ones. In Memphis they had a union strike andcouldn't finish the building, a new hall, in time.
"There was no seating or curtains and there
were eight separate echoes, every time you hit a drum or clapped yourhands. We couldn't play for laughing. What a terrible place -and this wasin the home of music. Steer clear, all groups!
"On the last night the roadies sent seven streakers across the stage.
With 18 tons of equipment to lug around, it was physically and mentallydifficult for us all. You just can't sustain it. My gear was just falling aparttowards the end. It was all held together with gaffer tape.
"Yes, you can safely say this was the last of the long tours. We'll never dothat again, we're all agreed. I want to spread the work out more, so we cando our own individual things, go on the road fora bit, record, and so on."How had the mighty Topographic Oceans fared during the tour?
"We had a meeting and after a couple of weeks, dropped side twofrom the programme. I thought side three was very messy, but asa compromise we dropped Two, and that actually helped to improve
Three. I firmly believe that Yes is an amazing band, and hopefullywe'll begoing back on the right path once again.
"I was on a plane the other day and they played Fragile on the eight track. I'd not heard it in over a year, and it stood the test of ti me. It was
tremendous, and I got more out of it than when we had first recorded it.
We all heard it, and I think it put a glimmer into everyone's mind."from Yes.
Yes are off on a European tour u nt i I Apri125. "Then I come back to finish"The big downer to come is if I help produce other bands there will be
off producing a band called Wally with Bob Harris. They're a really greata percentage of failure, and it's going to upset and disappoint me. It'll beband. They remind me ofYes in the beginning. They are very fresh andsomething I believe in and I won't understand why nobody else digs it!
dedicated, but playing their own ideas.
Things are going really well for me at the moment. Up at my local pub"They've got two tours supporting
they say, 'Everything he touches
Dave Mason, who's coming overturns to gold.' But someday,later this year, and Lindisfarne.
something I touch will be a disaster,
They're the first new English band
and I've not experienced that yet.
with a spark of talent I've heard for
Most musicians go through a perioda long time. They got to the finals forof disaster, and either they get
the MM rock/folk contest last year.
through, or it destroys them.
LK. .11) ,tak MA I ,,r1,,nThey'll surprise a lot of people.
"I'm very lucky, because things
thr I ilminn
lotions Orcht,int.
"I'm producing their LP and also
have developed nice and slowly,
conducted t) RAW \lelp.lumDa
I'm helping Mike Quatro, Suzi's
right down to good management
brother, who plays keyboards.
and musicians to work with. It
He's into the Keith Emerson
helps a lot. You have to try andshowmanship syndrome. But I'm
keep your head in this situation
not interested in the showmanship;and keep a balance."
I'd like to help his music.
If Rick Wakeman stays the way"There's so much I want to do...
he is, come success or failure, thenit sounds funny, but there is an
he won't have much to worry about.
incredible gap in music at theChris Welch
62 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

Rick Wakeman in London.

Janoary1974.-Isambard
Kingdom Brunei will be
another long-term project-- MM JUNE 29 RICKWAICEMAN HAS a grand design afoot that could result in
one of the most extraordinary, epic concerts in ye history of
popular music. In fact he has TWO grand designs. Apart fromplans to base his next album on the Arthurian legend, there is also ascheme to set the saga of Victoria engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel
to a rock'n'roll beat.
These are his first plans since leavingYes. Had the split with Yes been
friendly and had there been any changes in Rick's playing since? "Well,
I hope there haven't been any changes. The lads wouldn't let me cockthings up, anyway. Yes, the split was very amicable. In fact, Jon has been
ringing me up to ask if there was any way he could help. After two years
with The Strawbs, and three years with Yes, it sounds funny... and I'll
never be in Yes again... but it does get in your blood, that band.
"It's their whole attitude towards music that instills a belief in what you
are doing. It's their precision and integrity that counts. The band taught
me an awful lot, and in a strange way, hopefully, my music will develop in
the way Yes would have developed. In factlourneyis how I would have
liked Yes to have gone."All this week Wakeman, who is beginning to equal Elton John for

consistent hard work and energy, has been rehearsingwith his new band,in readiness for this weekend's Journey To The Centre OfThe Earth concert
at London's Crystal Palace.
And after that is a tour ofAmerica, which began life as a few promotion
dates, set when Rickwas still a member of Yes. The band are still
somewhat dizzy from the events of the past few months. Consisting ofold friends and some newcomers, they are used to life scuffling for gigs inclubs, pubs and holiday camps. The news that theywere playing Madison
Square Garden on September 14 was a bit like winning a substantial sumon the pools.
The lineup consists ofJeff Crampton (guitar), Barney James (drums),
Roger Newell (bass), John Hodgson (percussion), andAshley Holt andGary Pickford-Hopkins (vocals). Between playing darts, bar billiards
and sinking pints of bitter in the nearby Valiant Trooper, the band havepolished up the complex arrangements to The Six Wives Of Henry VIII
and Journey.
"Jeff is so clumsy, he keeps falling over things," said Rick in a break inrehearsals, "but he's really come out of his shell as a guitarist. He's an
outstanding player- one of this year's finds. The band desperately needs

to get on the road. After the first concert we did together at the Festival
Hall there was an incredible affinity between us.
"Once they have had a good, hard American tour, theywill be so tight.
We were intending to play just a few dates in America, but the album soldquicker and more copies than we expected.
"It's so exciting the way things are going at the moment. The band areplaying 100 percent, and they're pulling all the stops out. I'm lucky,
because I didn't want to poach them from their regular bands, but Garyrang me up and asked what was happening, and said that his band [WildTurkey) had broken up.
"I was going to ask Glenn Cornick anyway if he didn't mind if I pinched
Gary for a few concerts, when I made the decision to leave Yes down in
Devon, and sent the telegram to our manager. There's not a lot of singing
to do anyway at the moment, and he gets on really well with Ashley.
"The band knows all the arrangements now, and we're just improvingon the chords and tidying things up for our own egos' sake. We did a
potted version of Henry and Journey at the local club we play at, and theaudience went mad. Theywere expecting the usual rock'n'roll night. It's
important for us to keep playing all the time -anywhere.
"I want to do one more English date before the American tour, and it
looks like it will be in Manchesterwith the Halle Orchestra. There's anoffer from Granada TV to screen the show I ive, which would help a lot
with the cost. I don't mind losing a bit, but I could go bankrupt if I'm notcareful. On the American tour we're going to charter one plane, a Boeing
727, and travel with one orchestra and choir.
"I don't knowwhich orchestra we'll be using yet; Brian only just told me
about it. Apart from Madison Square, we'll be playing at the Philadelphia
Spectrum and the Hollywood Bowl, which was built for orchestras.
I don't give a monkey's where we playas long as the acoustics are OK!
"I was going to do the KingArthur story anyway, and Isambard
Kingdom Brunel will be a long-term project. I'd like to do the music fora cartoon on his life story, and if I start it now, there should be an LP out
in a year and a half.
"The KingArthur story is marvellous, with all the legends and all thecharacters. Lots of the places and people actually existed, like Tintagel
castle. I'd like to hold a day of pageant there with jousting tournaments
and people in armour and costumes.
When will Rick record his next album?
"We'll do it in November or December to get an LP out in March. We'll
probably record in Brussels for tax reasons." Chris Welch
HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 63

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1974aPNll]NNE- MELODY MAKER JUNE 1 sTEELY DAN, IN their short time together, have been hailed
as one of the best bands to emerge from America in a longtime. They have set the US rock scene back on a road tomusical creativity, and helped free it from the dominanceof British bands, established over the past six years. And
they have done all this within the framework of pop songs- no more, no less.
The main members of the band are Walter Becker and Donald Fagen,who write all their material and started out their career as staff writers
fora record company. Steely Dan is really their orchestra, designed topresent the songs on stage and record in the best way possible. As a result
they have been through a few personnel changes, but the basic five arestill together as theywere on the first album Can't BuyA Thrill.
They have built something of a cult following in Britain since thebeginning of last year, with Dis playing great compositions like "Do
It Again", "Reel in' In The Years" and more recently "Rikki Don't Lose
That Number". The songs have a depth and "finished" quality thatgives Dan the edge over other bands. The band also sport some fine
instrumentalists, Donald Fagen being an accomplished pianist witha sophisticated jazz and classically trained background, whose
introductions to some of the numbers provide one of the highspots of
their show. And there is Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, who has been received on the
band's recent tour of England as a new guitar hero. Jeff also plays pedal
steel guitar and conga drums, while Donald's co -writer, Walter Becker, isusually found at the back of the band, hidden away playing bass guitar.
Denny Dias plays a lighter guitar style to Baxter's funkier approach,while Jim Hodder is the original drummer, joined on stage by Jeff Porcaro.
Other additions to the stage act have been Royce Jones, a soulful
balladeer with an appealing style, who helps out on percussion, andMike McDonald on Fender Rhodes piano.
One of the reasons for the various additions -two drummers, two
guitarists -has been the quest for a powerful stage sound to match thealbums, which have incorporated session musicians from time to time.
For example, on the first album, Elliot Randall, the blues guitarist, wasadded and played lead on "Reelin' In The Years", and there were seasoned
jazzmen like Victor Feldman, Jerome Richardson and Snooky Younginvolved. Also Donald was not happy at being the main lead singer,
although he has an outstanding voice.
Steely Dan (the name comes from some strange New York phallic
device) are a fairly hard-bitten bunch, capable of being sardonic landdemanding offstage. They give the impression of being used to thepressures of hustling in the big city for a long time, before success came
their way, and there is less of the laissez-faire to their personalities that
one might expect to find in the average English band. But once they haverelaxed, they are amenable and talkative. The future will probably see
more changes in the lineup and they are cagey about a next album. But
whatever they do next, they have in a brief career produced somesatisfying and memorable music. You can't ask for more.

A S (-ONCE H iS BH

DONALD FAGEN IS ayou

STEELY DAN,

dark-haired, serious
young man for whom
Steely Dan is his orchestra and life. But he has a sense ofsardonic humour that isreflected in his oft -quoted
remark that "our songwriting
process is not unlike thecreation of junk sculpture".
Like his cohort, Walter Becker- they went to college together he is quick-witted, sharply
1111.

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spoken and keen to talk in pungent and forthright fashion. At the
fashionable Blake's Hotel in London, where the hippest musicians tend tocongregate, Donald was deep in conversation with Jeff Baxter about the
mysteries of the Third Reich. And both had been fascinated by their visit
to Radio Luxembourg's studios, which were Gestapo headquarters
during the last war. Black magic aspects of the Nazi creed were also underdiscussion, but it seemed healthier by far to talk on the subject of Dan,
Steely, and their many compositions. What, by the way, had lead them torecord Duke Ellington's "East St Louis Toodle-Oo" on the Pretzel Logic LP?
"There are about four recorded versions of 'East St Louis Toodle-Oo',"said Donald, crouching in a settee over a cup of tea. "We took the best partof each and made a composite version. We changed horn parts to a pianosolo, but we didn't change it very much. It was Duke's birthday recently
and I sent him a copy of the record, and I would have been very flattered if
he had heard it. But I don't know if he did.
"Walter and I are both jazz fans, and as a composition th is one stood up sowell, we wanted to hear it with all the expertise of modern hi-fi. Most of thegreat jazz compositions have been neglected. There is no jazz in America
now. There is a considerable amount ofelectric experimenting, but that
doesn't interest me, and their improvisation is strictly modal -and boring.
"John Coltrane was a fantastic player, but he was responsible for leading
people into making a terrible mistake. I like more changes in music, andanyway, I preferred John before his modal period when he was with theMiles Davis Quintet. So there is no jazz of note in the States now. Most of
the stuff played is nostalgic '50s arrangements with good soloists. And ofcourse Miles Davis has gone over the edge. I like to think we are a
rock'n'roll band -with class.
"My bass player and I write all the material, but the solos andarrangements come from the group. Walter and I think it out in advanceand then we go into the studios and work on the tunes from there. I thinkof them as compositions rather than songs. They are structured, butthere is room for improvisation.
"We're a strange band, y'know. The music is all wrong. We all sat aroundin our living room and came up with this way of playing. It's all very weird.
"Then there is the 'imminent break-up'. Quote, we're about to break-up,
unquote. That's all ridiculous bull. We're more or less fairly stable now as
the five humanoids that started this thing."
WALTER BECKER, THE mystery bass player, who keeps wellhidden at the back of the stage, usually perched in the
shadow of Jeff Porcaro's drums, is a cheerful jester with aquick line in verbal badinage. But despite his public reticence, he is avital, founder member of the Dan, who co -writes those amazing songs
with Donald Fagen, and for whom quality rather than commercialismis the most important factor.
"Our sound system is designed for small halls like the Palace Theatre at
Manchester, and we'd ratherwork in those situations than sacrifice thesound quality in a bigger venue. Dinky Dawson designed our soundsystem and he's brilliant. He's worked with us from our first gigs when weused to support The Kinks and The James Gang.
"That was terrible -bands used to play tricks on us in those days. Like
not letting us on stage for a soundcheck, or turning the lights off. When
Dinky first joined us to do the sound, I couldn't understand a word hesaid, but I knew he was an intelligent, professional guy.
"In our early days we had some terrible disasters. I remember a press
party we were supposed to play, when the equipment wasn't set up
properly and nobody could hear a note, and the lead singer picked up acan of beer, missed his mouth and poured it all over himself. That was ourpress reception. A heavy bummer!
"The singer was David Palmer. That was when Donald didn't want tobe lead singer- noway. Now Dave is co -writer with Carole King, whichshows where we were at. I didn't even know he could write. Sure, there
have been some personnel changes. First there was the six, and then there
was the five, and nowwe have three extra guys, including Royce Jones on
percussion and vocals. We had two girl singers on our last tour, one ofwhom was known as Porky and is here with David Cassidy now.
"Ostensibly we're an eight -piece now, but that doesn't mean we won'tchange it. But all the main five have worked on all the LPs. Incidentally,
we record every show we play 'live' on tape - I'm not kidding. If wewanted to, we could put out a live LP, but there is only one song we playon the road that hasn't been recorded before, and that's 'This Mobile
Home, which is a song about a trailer. You'll have to hear the lyrics. We
tried to record it for Countdown To Ecstas y and Pretzel Logic, and if it4

r_sr:LLY L/AN
PRETZEL LOGIC

had been like it is now, we might have succeeded.
We're not that interested in 'live' recordings, though,because there is a gross overkill in that department."
How did Donald and Walter get together? "We've
always written songs together, from when we started
at college. But people wanted Mickey Mouse stuff
and the things we were writing were so outré.
They were all four -minute songs -miniaturisation as Donald would put it -but
someone compared them to German art music.
When we do an LP we like to get 14-15 songs on

it, without sacrificing the recording quality. We
just don't have room for any more ambitious
writing, until we do LP sets, and anyway, it
doesn't do to get too heavy. The Who invented
the concept LP with HappyJack IA Quick One's
US title], right? I think that was very successful,
along with The Who Sell Out."Why does Walter keep himself hidden at the

STEELY DAN

playing guitar at the same time in small clubs. I felt
guiltyabout neglecting my school studies, and I wasjust really getting interested in my subjects, when
I had to make the decision. So I quit school in 1969 to
be a full-time musician. I was studying biomedical
computer science and completed my first semester.
But !couldn't bring myself to quit playing guitar.
"I had a rock band but it was difficult to getwork, because I didn't want to play Top 40 stuff.
We didn't have too much original material
either. Our bass player decided to go back toschool, so I put an ad in the Village Voice fora bass player and pianist. That's how I met
Donald and Walter. When ! heard their writing,well I just stopped trying to write songs.""We kicked out the other guys in the band, andyou know, listening to Walter and Donald's
songs was like hearing The Beatles with jazz
chords. I was flabbergasted! If I hadn't met
them, I'd still be back at school.
"When they went to California to work forABC
Dunhill, I hung around and eventually got a callto join them in the new band- Steely Dan. Before the call, I was graduallylosing faith and almost went back to school."
Denny has a strongly jazz -influenced style and he says his tutor had
been one of the finest jazz guitarists. "Billy Bauer- he worked with Lennie
Tristano when he was only 16 years old. He's getting old now but he canstill play and he works mainly as a tutor. I playas if I were a jazz musician,
except I'm working in a rock context with its feel and excitement.
"I never play licks off other rock guitarists, and avoid bending strings or
the use of vibrato."
How did Denny find working with Jeff Baxter in a two -guitar lineup?
"There are no problems -except I'd like to play more. Jeff can play all thewide vibrato sounds and bend the strings, and he's really good. We only
met up through the band, and we're on opposite ends of the stick, we're so
different. I play the jazz and Jeff is much more experienced as a rock player.
"It's fun to do the unison things as well- it's a challenge -and we havepretty nice parts."Jim Hodder's drumming has been aptly described as metronomic, andhe is indeed a perfect foil to the more ambitious approach of his partner inthe percussion section, Jeff Porcaro. Jim is an original member, one of"the five", and doesn't seem to mind too much the additional drummer.
In fact, he says he finds it stimulating, and their drum duet is one of thehighlights of the group's act.
"I like having the two of us drumming. It doesn't always work in groups,
and you have to forget about your ego. With us it sounds like one guy
playing at times, but it makes for a better combination of sounds. From
the time the band was put together, Donald wanted two drummers. I wasagainst it at first, but what the hell, we had two guitarists and two
keyboard players, so why not two drummers. And one of my favourite
bands had two drummers- FrankZappa & The Mothers. It can work likea locomotive, especiallyon tunes like 'Do ItAgain. It gives us both time torelax in different parts and we can concentrate more on the next fill.
"And of course you can pick your nose or drop a stick, and nobody
notices! What we have to watch out for is Donald when he conducts thoselong endings. It's great material to play in this band and we only clash
occasionally, not so that anybody in the audience would notice.""That first LP we did was only rehearsed fora couple of weeks, and I
didn't even know the other guys. So it turned out remarkably well. Before
Steely Dan I did a lot of session workaround the Boston area and got
screwed by managers -the usual thing.
"It seems everybodyhas to have a glitter image and I can't stand that.
Nobody in the group can stand it! But the fact is, we have been acceptedwithout glamour and fancy clothes. The whole glitter bit is stupid -it sucks.
"It's true we had two hit singles, and on our second LP we didn't have
any hits, so we had to be a little bit more commercial on the third one,
Artistically, Count Down was our best LP, but for the sake of the survival of
the group, we had to go more commercial on Pretzel Logic.
"But I think Donald and Walter are the two best songwriters since Paul
McCartney and Paul Simon. You gotta have material. There are so many
good players, with no material. Us and The Doobie Brothers and The
Eagles all started off around the same time, and I think good American
bands are coming back." Chris Welch"We record
every show
we play 'live'on tape - I'm
not kidding"back on stage? "You've noticed that? The reasons
are it takes the heat off me and I don't have to
make my presence felt. As long as I can hear Jeff
Porcaro's snare drum and hi -hat, I'm happy. I moved up there about 10
gigs ago. I just want to hear the drums and it's all cosy up there. I have aseat, and it keeps me comfortable and happy!"
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is in danger of becoming one of the biggest guitar
heroes since the days ofJeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Peter Green. Certainly
his English fans have taken him to heart, and at all Dan's concerts there
have been yells for Jeff and cries of "Skunk!". In fact, Jeffwould rather dropthe "skunk" bit. It came one night when he called on an old friend while

under the influence of alcohol. As the friend took rather along time toanswer the bell, he decided to relieve himself against the door, just as thedoor opened, thus drawing forth the cry: "You skunk!"
Jeff has a zestful, enthusiastic guitar style, which occasionallygoes over
the top of Steely Dan's otherwise disciplined standards, but injects into
the band a sense of fun and considerable excitement. Less tutored than therest of the musicians, nevertheless he has had more actual live experience.
He has worked in a great variety of bands, and is noted forhis pedal steel
guitar playing which has earned him a lot of country music work. He firstcame to famewith the short-lived but highly respected Ultimate Spinachand has been doing a lot of touringwith Linda Ronstadt. During his visit to
Britain he has been thoroughly enjoying himself and is definitely
responsible for the wilder off-stage scenes that accompany the band.
"It suits me fine that Don and Walter do all the writing," says Jeff, throughhis moustache and spectacles. "I thought that it wouldn't until I heard
their songs. I'm not a writer, I'm a technician. Donald tells me what heneeds fora solo, and I play it for him. Steely Dan for me is one of the finest
bands I have played with, as far as both lyrical and musical content goes.
"Sometimes in the States the kids just shout for 'boogie'. So we just wait
until they shut up and we can start to play. Boy, is that funny! I love that.
"We want the kids to have a good time of course, and we're not into thatFrank Zappa scene, the way Frank adopts a kind of missionary attitude
towards the 'kiddies'. But we do like to think the people who come to ourconcerts are there to listen to the music, and not just kids who come tohear the hits. It's true that we play more to ourselves than the audiencesometimes, but we have a lot of fun. After the show we scream at eachother if we have made any mistakes. But I've never been in a band that has
played so many different kinds of music before. I used to have to be in fivebands at once to get this kind of experience."
Denny Dias cuts an impressive stance on stage, with his massive, flowing
black beard and board shoulders, dwarfing the guitar strapped around his
waist. Denny, in common with most of the band, is a jazz enthusiast who
prefers working in rock music for the excitement and opportunities it
offers. He does not feel he is compromising his music either, and looks
forward to a future when he will be able to present a wholly unique style.
Working in contrast to Jeff Baxter, nevertheless, Denny manages tostrike up a firm musical partnership, as a member of the "guitar section".
He has thoroughly enjoyed his first trip to Britain, and says: "I love yourcountry. I feel I have come to a civilised land. Just travelling around ina taxi, I have met so many great people. I'm not into museums orsightseeing -it's the people who interest me most."
What had Denny been involved in before his work with Steely Dan?
"On a professional level, not much. I was going to school in NewYork and

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 167

1974"We're getting

marria e

proposa s"
th htfri WWI titantip tit mutt t. urussmiui, John's Children
and a "pushy mother", twr c ---^r child models became
the pop sensation of 1974, SPARKS. "We don't wannabe accepted as Tin Pan Ailey buligwriters," says
Russell Mael. "And I'm sure we won't be."- MELODY MAK ,JUNE 8 _THAT THEY ARE brothers is in- mediatelyclear.The samestrong line of chi n bow, tke same dominant cheek bone,

the same thin and bcny ham,. The one with luxurious,
curly, straggly hair. The ot her with slicked -down strandsof black and a dark blob o ' moustache, which sits like afull -stop beneath the exck_mation mark of his sniffer a nd-sneezer. Russell the pretty and Ron il- e it My. Russell the fast, slightly
nervous talker - his voice has the sane tremu ous quality in speech as insinging. Ron the considered, though- ful at nversationalist who will speak
slowly as though each word is being rneasarec by a ruler to ensure it fits
the meaning of the phrase.
These Mael brothers have an immense seaseof style. Because t heir st yle
is real, not the tacky pizazz of the New Volt mar ds and not the vogu ish

calculatedness of the Britisher (exceptingPir I erry). Though Americans,
Ron and Russell have more in commit n wi .h Paris Afa tch than with the New
York Times; with the Champs Elyseethan A ithBroadway; and, tocross theChannel, with the London Palladium than with Max's Kansas City.
How'd the style develop? How cornea da-ic male version of Shirley
Temple and this Chaplin -Hitler face In Yves St Laurent clothing havea Top Three record and a Top Ten album? Howrome?
In October this year, Russell Mael will be21. Ron will be 28 in August. "I'm
his father," says Ron. Back home in LesAngeles, young Ron Mad, who wasborn in Culver City, became interested in k calbands. Other people would
have jazz records, he says, or soul, but for him it was The Beach Boys, Ian &Dean and RichieValens.
The Maels started making music Moo seven years ago. They've had
several bands, but the personnel were always drawn from close friends.
The new Sparks is the first group in which they-ve played with musiciansfrom outside t heir cl ique. One of the first rour s was Moonbaker Abbey, "orsomething like that. It was the time yeu had to have a name I ike Moonbaker
Abbey or something ridiculous or you werelt seally w it h it," says Ron.
The formative group of all those Ma2ida-riwas Halfnelson, which they
formed with a school friend called Ea -I %mike il, a guitarist and wizard
68 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

arks Ron (left)and
RusmIltt laelin1974.
hedtobecalled
t400nbaker Abbey orserried -leg ridiculous "*hey sa- of their first
bandsie late -'60s LA

HALL.

CI I
Northurrterlar.d Road,

Newcastle upon

Sunda), 3rd N.tsembet,

Tyre I

1914, at 7.30 P et.

ISLAND ARTISTS
present

SPARKSIN CONCERT

The
odd
oupie

Sparies ar? flying! witha hit single and album,
the 'Waal brothers,
PLUS SUPPORT
Ron (left), and Russel,
5p.
have mad? it at last.
AREA ::150 SEAT
Qty Ilan Boa Otb.:.
Booluns
20a.
GEOFF BROWN reports
upon Tyne :Tel.
NortInmterland Road, Newcastle/NIEMEN

1974
APRIL

JOKE

of the tape recorder. "It was only three people making
tapes," says Ron. "Earl was always quite handy witha tape recorder. He knew all the things about wiring it
up, so you'd get overdubs and things." A regular punkgarage -band engineer, Earl is now second engineer at
The Beach Boys' studio.
"We were completely kinda locked in making
these tapes. We played them for other people,
and there just wasn't a sort of 'band' feel tothem, I guess. At that time," Ron adds, "people
were performing songs by other people and it
seemed just a waste of time to go and listen to arecord, figure out the chords and then learn how
to play and learn how to sing all the harmonies,
so the part of the whole reason we sounded like
we did was just laziness."That's the way they've always worked.
"It always met with disaster because we'd comeup with something that everyone would say, 'Yeeeuch, you'd be a lot
better off doing the Rolling Stones songbook,'" adds Russell.

"We reallylike to, in away, destroy
the song"

Ron: "We only learned about hooks in songs a couple of weeks ago, about
howyou're supposed to have hooks ifyou want them to be commercial."
Their musical training, you'll have gathered, was minimal. Ron hadtaken piano lessons. "Every Southern California lad takes piano lessons.
Really what I wanted to be was a baseball player. It just seemed to me thata baseball player sort of star was more important... Micky Mantle of the
New York Yankees," says Russell, "getting your picture on a little bubble -gum trading card."
Russell liked sports too. But he had no piano lessons. "I had been invarious choruses, and when we lived for a couple of years in Vienna I'dbeen in a chorus there. That was when we were really young."
Russell, born in Santa Monica, wanted to be a sportsman too. Even
more so than Ron. "Then something happened and we got distracted into
other fields." Like photo modelling, so much a part of their style now.
How did that start? "A pushy mother," says Ron. "In Hollywood there are
all sorts of adverts for modelling agencies- Does Your Child Have The
Talent and The Appearance To Be, uh, such and such...
"...For only three hundred dollars we can assess whether he has thattalent," concludes Russell.
So they were assessed and passed. Russell was about 13, Ron, 18, andthey did modelling, for the Sears Roebuck -type catalogues for around 18
months under the watchful eye, one assumes, of pushy Ma.
In Flashes, their fan -club magazine produced by Joseph Fleury (number one fan and confidant), they give their own names as Dwight Russell Day
and I Ronald Day, and their mother's name as Doris Day. Musically, says
Russell, they came to a point where theywanted to get a "reaction" to what
they were taping. "We knew it was possible to get millions of people
reacting, because we heard there were million -selling records."
So they took their tapes to every record company in the land and were
rejected by the lot. Still, they continued making tapes and carrying on ina generally amateurish way. "A guy who was sort of acting as our manager,
who fancied he was in the business part of the music... ['Which meantthat he owned a suit,' adds Ron) "...he sent a tape to Todd Rundgren in
NewYork," says Russell, who then does a pretty good imitation of the
Runt's voice byway of explai ni ng that TR agreed to come out to Los
Angeles and produce the band, by then called Halfnelson.

THE TAPES RUNDGREN heard featured Earl, Ron and Russell.
By the time he arrived they'd added Jim Mankey (Earl's brother)and Harley Feinstein on bass and drums.
"We used to beat on cardboard boxes with reverb on and run it throughamps" says Ron, explaining how they got percussion on their early tapes.
They'd get to play live, of cou rse, so that's why they hauled in their friends
to play in Halfnelson.
Rundgren, says Ron, was "really clever technically. It was just a problem
because there was a kind of slickness to the way he worked that didn't
work with what we were doing that we wanted to maintain, and Todd wasvery much into a lot of harmonies.
"Personally, it always worked 'cos he's a really good guy... and we're
really good guys. It was the producer -artist relationship that was a bit
strained, so after that album we parted ways on that basis."
They started playing live. "We got booked into a few places likedelicatessens," says Ron.
70 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

"Deli -rock, that's been our bag," says Russell.
"There's always been a certain mismatching of what
we are to the situations we've played in."
The first Halfnelson album had been out on Albert
Grossman's Bearsville label, and it met with noreaction. Grossman, says Russell, thought the
band's name was too esoteric. He thought thecover was also too clever. So he suggested theyrepackage the album and change the name.

Theywent away "and thought of all kinds ofnames that were totally innocuous". They finallycame up with Sparks -"And we thought, 'Yeah,
that's so boring it's sort of good,'" says Russell.
Grossman agreed. Russell does a fine

imitation offhe American Stomach liking theidea, and Albert let them do their own cover.
"We said, 'We've got the concept, Albert"'-we're on first name terms with him, see "It's going to be A PHOTO OF THE BAND! Whaddya think of it?'" Russell
grunts Grossman -like: "Yeah, I like it."No matter now they minimise and decry the effect, the name Sparks
does have a very real atmosphere. Flash, electricity and, as they say, "itjust sounds like a name a rock band should have".
They started work on their second album,AWooferInTweeter'sClothing.
Thaddeus James Lowe, engineer on the first album, who sang lead on The
Electric Prunes' "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night", produced. They
also came up with an incipient hit single- "Wondergirl", for which they
got a Purple Single because it sold 500 copies in one town, honest.
"Then they had this really brilliant brainstorm. "Let's send you toEngland while the single is selling i n America'," says Russell.
"We wanted," says Ron, "to take a holiday, and so we said, 'Well, do wewant a hit single or a holiday?' So we opted for the holiday."
Nearer the truth, we find that they'd long been complaining that theyshould be sent to England, mainly because theywere getting fed up
playing to salami and chopped liver in the delicatessens.
So, says Russell, "the time they sent us was when 'Wondergirl' wascreeping up the charts. And it crept right back down the charts as soon
as we crept out of the country."
They got to Europe late in 1972. They didn't only play London dates.
They visited and played in Germany, Switzerland, Holland and France.
"There were two reactions. There were a lot of intellectual types who...
It's like the farther awayyou are, the less popular you are, the more
impressive you are to those people.
"So we were really impressive to those people, because in Los Angeles
we weren't exactly the most popular band of the time. It became very
chic, I guess, to like Sparks, especially in France," says Ron.
Over in England, there were a few gigs to play. "The ones that worked out
the best were the ones after we appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. The
ones before, the reaction was fairly lukewarm, but after people saw us on
TV and realised that we were 'legitimate', the reaction was good. There
was almost complete change around from that point on. Because if theycame to hear us at that point expecting just any interchangeable bandthen it would have been really disappointing," says Ron.
How did they manage financially? "It was really simple," says Russell,"guys just kept shelling out money every day.""We even took back some," says Ron, "We were getting a spending
allowance and all. We just couldn't spend it fast enough. Each member ofthe band was pocketing his money. When we first came here we said,'We're cold, we're cold. We want coats, we want coats, and so they got intouch with the people at WEA, and before we knew it there were fiveleather coats." WEA distribute Bearsville Records, by the way.
After one gig at the Pheasantry ("in your Chelsea", advises Ron), the
OGWTspot and a couple of Marquee gigs, they thought things werebeginning to move at last.
Russell: "Right then they said..." Ron: "Time's up!"
Russell: "Telegram from USA. Come home. Come home."

0

NCE AGAIN, WITH that impeccable timing which has beena stunning feature of their early career, Sparks were shippedout of an England now showing signs of awakening interest.

"We flew back to Bearsville" says Ron, "and recorded a song that wethought would be a single, 'cos we were still naive enough to think that wewould have another release. We're real suckers. The song was neverSPARKSreleased in any sort of form. We played the WhiskyA Go Go once anda high school lunchtime concert in Los Angeles once, and that was it.
So we thought, 'Uh, I wonder ifwe're now in the retirement stage?'"
An impasse had, clearly, been reached. The Maels decided they wanted
to return to England. The two Mankeys and Feinstein had, says Russell,
hated England at first. Jim Mankey especially. But when the Maels
decided to return, the other three said they'd try London again.
"At the time we were trying to reassess whether everybody shouldcome back, what the plan should be. We didn't know exactly what wewere going to do. Our minds were wandering among a few different plansof attack."
They got in touch with John Hewlett, who had taken care of the band
during their first European trip (John, as you no doubt have previously
read, was the John of John's Children). "There was a feeling that the two of
us should come on our own," says Russell.
Ron: "One problem before was that we thought that the music wasn't
presented in the proper way. And we really had to find away to present it
in a way that was stronger. We always liked what we did, but we knew that
it was really necessary to be just criticised for our direction and not formusicianship and those sorts of things.
"We reallywere tight -knit but we really couldn't see, I guess, what wewere doing. There was no thought of anybody leaving at all, 'cos it would
be like kicking you mother out of the band."
They got a release from Warner Brothers and went to Island Records.
"When people found out we were looking around, we had lots of offers,"
says Russell. "We were a bit worried in case we didn't get a release, in fact."
Ron: "So at that time we were making ourselves as undesirable aspossible."
Russell: "We went into their office and would say, 'We're pretty lousy,
aren't we?'"
Ron: "And we're getting worse... by the day."
They had recorded a demo tape with some session musicians of analbum's worth of songs.
"All the songs from Kimono My House were actually written after that
period," says Ron. While they were working out their ideas, they kept
writing. "There's kind of an unreleased album that came between thetime of the second album and the new album."
In Britain, with MuffWinwood producing, Sparks spent a couple ofmonths recording Kimono. There was a series of crises. No plastic, so
they'd be a live band.
No, that couldn't be, because there was no petrol, so they'd be a
TV -exposed band. No, that couldn't be, 'cos there were work -permit
problems. "It looked like the whole world was caving in," says Russell.
The new Sparks band was pulled together. Drummer Dinky Diamond(his real name's Norman. He comes from Aldershot, now lives in Frimley,
and he's 24) was found playing in a Sparks sound -alike band ina pub.
"It's really difficult finding guys from newspapers," says
Russell. "We just assumed guys would be on a certain level ofmusicianship, so we found out first of all that a lot of guys
couldn't play that well... Then it's down to fitting in ideologicallyand personality -wise."On bass on the album was Martin Gordon. He's been replaced
by Ian Hampton, who was in look, another of John Hewlett's
bands, which has now split.
"We just wanted to make sure that before we started live (thetour kicks off on June 19) that we had the strongest possible
lineup and we just had to reassess the situation again... We doa lot of reassessing, don't we?"
Ron: "We're about to have a reassess in about a half-hour."
They were going to be augmented by an offstage organist, Sir
Peter Oxendale. He's out and there's going to be, instead, an
on-stage extra guitarist who'll become a permanent band
member. His name is Trevor Whyte and he also used to bewith look.
The other guitarist on the Kimono album isAdrian Fisher,
who was in Andy Fraser's band Toby. So that's the band.

IT'LL BE INTERESTING to see what kind of audience
these guys draw. "Yeah, we're looking forward to thataudience as well," says Ron.
"I hope," Russell says, pointing to Joseph Fleury, "that it's
the kind of people that he gets letters from. We're getting lotsof marriage proposals and stuff, and people who wanna know ifyou'd
like a, uh, honorary doctor's degree from Oxford. That's how vast therange of letters are. Yeah, it's gonna be interesting."
They're playing universities, places like that?
Ron: "No, we're playing at a delicatessen, a recreation centre in
Bradford, and..."Their set is just good presentation of their songs.
Ron: "We've always been classed as kinda theatrical, but the only kindof theatre that we like is that which is derived from the people in the bandas opposed to extraneous applied theatrics. We really like to maintain the
mystery of our lyrics by, say, if the song's about a horse, not having a slide
projected on a back screen of a horse running. Just having to imagine
something is really good, and not having everything drawn out for you."
Russell: "The personalities of the band itself should be the real strength,
as opposed to the band presenting something else around them likeprops. We don't want a lot of dry ice and stuff."
The Mael songs are unique beasts. Clever to the point of seeming
contrived, intellectual and often un-danceable. Ron writes most -a few
have shared credits.
Ron: "We never write together."
Russell: "It's the solitary -confinement approach to musical writing,'cos once you start trading off ideas things get watered down somehow.
It's better to have your own idea. We found it a lot better that way... We
found it a lot better if I don't even work... that really works well. I'm cuttingback a bit on mywriting; I'm now on a sixth -month writing plan. One
classic every six months."
The Maels like the idea ofwriting songs which, in their demo form of justvoice and piano, do not sound like rock songs.
Ron: "It's kinda forcing the making of songs that shouldn't be performed
by a rock band but yet having it with a rock -band instrumentation."
So if someone hears a demo and says it'd be great with strings or clarinet
or a Dixieland band, "we'll have an electric guitar playingwhat theclarinet or the banjo should be playing", says Russell. "Like, 'Equator' waswritten on a piano, and when he wrote it he never took into account that it
mightn't be possible to sing."
Similarly, where a group would transpose a tune into a keywhich waseasier to sing, the Maels would sing in the original, awkward key.
Ron: "We really like to, in away, destroy the song, 'cos a lot of 'em couldbe, maybe, bordering on Your Good Song, traditionally speaking. But
who needs good songs? It's better to have a thing sounding good than tobe known as a Good Songwriter. Who needs another Cole Porter orsomething? We don't wanna be accepted as Tin Pan Alley songwriters...
and I'm sure we won't be."Russell: "When you've got a nice ballad, you've really gotta try and ruin
it. 'Cos that's where the fun comes in!" GeoffBrown

Sparks on stage at Hilversum,

Netherlands.in1974:0-0
Martin Gordon,Russell Mae!,
Norman"Dinky-Diamond,
Ron M ael and Adrian F isher

RY

ROCK 1974

RICHARD & LINDA THOMPSON"We're nota doomyAnd yet RICHARD and
LiPluA THOMPSON

have called it Sour
Grapes. Are they asmelancholic as their
I Want To See The

Bright Lights Tonight
suggests? "I believe incontentment," says
Richard. "I want tobe peaceful. That's mygreat ambition."band"- NME JUNF 19 R'CHARD THOMPSON WROTE"Meet On The Ledge", in caseyou'd forgotten. On that basis
alone the man would be due acertain portion of immortality.
But this is 1974, and Thompson,w 1 il i li is new group Sour Grapes, seemed only

too willing to accept his role as support band on
the recent Traffic tour- indeed, highly gratified
to be given such an opportunity.
Past achievements apparently count for nought,
and he's once again back at the point of any new
band, desperately hoping for that initial
breakthrough. As founder members of Fairport
Convention, Thompson and Simon Nicol aretheoretically eminences grisesof the British folk-rock scene.

Thompson remained with
Fairport through five albums;
Nicol went two better, andwas the last original member
to leave.
Their reputations were
unsullied; there's generally

an unmistakeable quality
about theirwork, and yet theachievement levels of bothduring life without Fairport
have seemingly been low.
Despite the consistent andnotorious ill luck that convinces
SandyDenny there's a jinx on *

E

d

''5

i
HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 173

1974
the house of Fairport, it nevertheless remains
true that some indefinable quality of the group
has always encouraged its members to excel
themselves -while none of the various Fairport
alumni have yet given convincing accounts ofthemselves outside the context of the group.
Thompson has finally come in from thewilderness, however. After a disappointing solo
album a couple of years back, the new one withhis wife Linda (née Peters) just issued by Island
records, I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight,

is, I am now convinced, undeniably amasterpiece.

It triumphantly reaffirms all the high"If we wanted
to earn money
we'd havestayed in thealbum- first of all.
But they were certainly good value as a support act- for God's sake(as though Traffic weren't value enough by themselves), and after a while
Thompson and Nicol were trading licks with a confidence that recalled
the finer days of Fairport. Linda Thompson sang well, though she doesn't
yet have abundant confidence in her stage presence.
The rhythm section of two huddled together in self-effacing company,and generally seemed overawed and rather out of their depth. The
drummer bashed away with a certain plodding competence, but thebass player was scarcely audible.
I interviewed Richard Thompson in the dressing room before
the show at Oxford Poly. He said he was pleased the album had
eventually come out to coincide with the tour, and added thescarcely credible explanation that, "It's given the record
company a chance to get behind us, which they weren't very
willing to do before."That's right- this is the man who wrote "Meet On The Ledge".
OK, so what kind of act did Sour Grapes put on? Did they, forexample, include any Fairport stuff?
"No. We wanted to do 'Now Be Thankful' - it's a good song, andwe might get round to it some time -but we just thought we'd liketo break into some new stuff before we went back to the old.
"Anyway, Fairport are doing a lot of Fairport stuff. There's afair whack from the new album, and material we've raised froma year ago."

My main- indeed solitary- criticism of/ Want To See... had beenthat it was too full of world-wea ri ness and emotional deprivation,
so that it was not only harrowing, but seemed contrived anddesigned to fit certain conceptions about the nature of English
folksong. How did Thompson reply to such criticism?
"Well, I like the songs, I like the performance. It is a bit of a downrecord, but that was accidental. We tried to balance it, butsomething obviously went wrong somewhere... There are a lot ofslow numbers. But I don't think that's bad -it's still enjoyable, there
are some optimistic songs. We're not a doomy band -we try to coveraspects of our experience.
So they are all related to your own experience?
"Yes, they can't be anything else really."
Even, say, 'Down Where The Drunkards Roll'?
"Absolutely, yes. I'm only a potential alcoholic, but I'm working at
it. 'Calvary Cross' is about a muse, or about anything. It's about adrive that you might not want, but it's there, and you're a slave to it."Did he think that 'Little Beggar Girl' is too stylised, both lyricallyand musically within the conventions of English folk music?
"No. If I thought the same as you, I wouldn't have recorded it,
because I don't want to do traditionalesque songs. The song's about
us. We put on this show, we squeeze money out of people for playing
for just an hour."But aren't there any class ideas in there as well?
"Well, yes, but only in so far as the musicians are the beggars, andthe audience are the others -which is often true. To write about
74 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

know- it's in the rules."At this point, Critic collapses in a heap ofcontumely, and wonders, for the tenth time,
whether a job on Nursing Times might not be
more suited to his limited abilities.
Thompson's cleared of all charges of
wallowing in unhappiness. And yes, it isa great album.
But must carry on regardless. Surely,
deflated Critic asks Thompson, you're notactually poor?
"We're not poor, but we're certainly notrich. Wh ile we worked acoustically we were
earning a good living; but a band isn't theplace to earn money unless you're extremely successful."
So what's the objective in forming Sour Grapes?
"To play music and have a good time. It would be nice if money happens
incidentally, and we can certainly use it, but if we wanted to earn money
we'd have stayed in folk clubs -because if you're successful there you cando very well. And we did very well -both Linda and I together, and when
we were playing with Simon as well.
"On the whole the club scene is still very healthy. I enjoy playing folk
clubs, and I'd like to do it again sometime in the future. In clubs you havea better rapport with the audience; at a concert there's the big barrier ofthe stage and the lights, although I prefer playing electric guitar because
it gives more scope.
"I like rock clubs, though -where you get 300 people, and it's really
packed out and very hot, and the audience is on top of you. The early daysof rock clubs were really the best, and provided very good circumstances
for playing good music."folk clubs"

opinions we ever held about Thompson. The
songs are beautiful, finely sung, with some inspired instrumentation,and each track is given a stamp of individuality.
The album was completed last July, and has been awaiting release sincethen, though now it is fortuitously timed in that it coincides with theformation of Sour Grapes and their debut tour.
The day I saw Sour Grapes they took a time to warm up, and strangely
elected to play their trump card- the irresistible title track from theyour own experiences you can use allegory, you"You c an use allegory,
you know - it's in therules":Richard
Thompson on put ling
personal e sperience
intosongwriting

RICHARD & LINDA THOMPSON"Fairport will just have to work extremely hard. They have worked hard
Since his departure from Fairport, then, Thompson has spent much ofalready, but they'll have to make a concerted effort because they've had
the time playing acoustically in folk clubs. I asked him to adumbrate thethe handicap of having undergone many personnel changes.
other events of the fallow years after his departure from the group. To"I think it would have been interesting had we taken thestart with, there was only one personal album -Henry The Human Fly.
Unhalfbrickinglineup to the States- because that wasn't too alien to"Yes, it embarrasses me a bit, that record. I'm surprised anyone put it
American audiences.
out. It was done in a hurry. I'd like to do it again. The songs and the ideas"American people tend to be conservative and wary in their musicalwere very good, but it wasn't very well executed. Nevertheless, it soldtaste. In the beginning they used to say, 'Your music's reallyweird', and10,000, which is very good fora record that isn't pushed and which you're
yet a lot of the dance tunes were not far removed from American squarenot actively promoting.
dance or bluegrass music.
"During the rest of the time -well, I played with Sandy fora while, and"There was only a slight difference, and yet Americans seem to find thatthat was very enjoyable; then I was on lots of recording sessions."
slight difference very hard to take, which is a pity.
I opined that the best album he had been involved with was Mike and"When we first went over it was the blacks who came up to congratulate
Lal Waterson's Bright Phoebus; at which suggestion I'll swear his eyes
us- they'd been dancing around, and been a bit looser. But I think thatsparkled and a look of profound happiness came over him.
Fairport Convention is something that American audiences would like.
"Ah, great record. For me, that's the best British record of all time.
"Of the highspots with Fairport, a personal one for me was just before
Great songs. Amazing. It was good to do as well -I had 'flu at the time, but
Unhalfbricking, although even then we knew that stage wouldn't last.
I struggled through because it was so enjoyable.
As far as audience reaction was concerned, the best stage was just after"From a playing point of view, I think the best was on an obscure album
Liege & Liefcame out.
with Gary Farr called Strange Fruit -with Ian Whiteman and Roger"Another highspot for me was the Philadelphia Folk Festival. We werePowell and Ace from Mighty Baby in the rhythm section. It was reallythe first people ever to get an encore, which was very flattering for us;
steaming stuff; I don't think the record got anywhere."
there were just 10,000 people, all dancing.
Are you pleased Sandy's rejoined Fairport?
"At the time Sandy and Ashley 'Hutchings] left, I was very enthusiastic"Yes -I think it will be good for Fairport. The combined force might
about carrying on. We were all backs -to -the -wall. I left as a reaction
finally do something in America. It's high time this British folk-rockagainst being in the band too long. The music I was playing was stunted,
sound earned the people in it a bit of money. None of us have ever earned
I wasn't thinking for myself. I was too aware of what theanything. But it's not just a financial aspect; it's a recognition aspect forothers were doing, and about that time I forgot how to
the whole style.
I WANT TO SEE
write songs as well. was only writing songs that
"It would be very nice if Fairport were finally successful in
THE BRIGHT LIGHTS TONIGHT
other people could sing or like- there wasn't
America. After all, we share a common musical root with
11,1111, 1140.104 10. 0/01:110
anything real there.
America. If you think of James Taylor and The Band- their"After I left, it really helped me. I'd been intunes are very Scottish.
Fairport since I left school, and leaving wasquite exhilarating, like leaving home. Having
MP 6186-A
to think for oneself was a very novel and quite
pleasant experience."
So that was the potted story. Fairport, thenoysession work, one album, and lots of work infolk clubs.
"The three of us- myself plus Linda and Simon-were working acoustically. We'd been talking aboutaugmenting, and then this tour came up. So we foundWillie to play drums -he's a friend of Dave Mattacks, and used to bewith Kevin Ayers and Sandy -and the bassist Steve is a friend of his
who actually turned up the afternoon of the first gig."
Thompson had toyed with the idea of calling his group Hokey
Pokey. What happened to that name?
"I don't know. People in the industry thought we'd have problems
with it in the States, where it's a 1930s dance. But hokey-pokey men
were in fact Victorian ice-cream sellers and permutations of thatare still used in various parts of the country -Scotland for example.
"Ice-cream cornets are pokey hats. On stage we do a song called'Hokey Pokey' -which explores the possibilities of ice cream as alewd symbol."
So Sour Grapes were formed, having the distinct advantage of theproven managerial talents of Jo Lustig, he of Steeleye Span renown.
And here's to the future, and the consolidation of Thompson's fresh°Alease of artistic life as evidenced by I Want To See... .

But finally, bearing in mind the admittedly doleful aspects of thealbum, what is Thompson's conception of happiness?
"I don't really believe in happiness- I believe in contentment. If
you're happy, that presumes you're sometimes unhappy, and thatmeans you're never peaceful. I want to be peaceful, that's my great
ambition." RobWoffinclen

Life without Fairport
bi..

the

"Ali, great record.
that's the best British n
all time. Great songs. A"To write about sour own

had Mu at the timeos the musicians are the,rs. and the audience arerrs SOUk

GRAPES . . . but
no, not in that sense.
.Sour Grapes is the.0.0 hand featuring'others - which is often true crpenenCeS you can use.

alle-gory you know - It's in the
At this point, Critic

collapses

on

°ing.

a heap of contumely, andwonders, for the tenth urne,uswhetherjob

1

It was good to do as
struggled throughbe.

was so enjoyable.
-From a playing
view. I dunk the best .
obscure album with G

called 'Strange Fruit'
Ian

Whiteman

and

1974
APRIE-"Myset is ama:ing-:
Bowie's Diamond Dogs
tour arrives at the

JANE

Municipal Auditorium,
Nashville, June 29,1974-

MONTREAL FORUM

Far-reaching imagination LIVE!
_MONTREALJUNE 22 David Bowie debuts his remarkable new show, a theatrical representation ofthemes explored in his new album, Diamond Dogs. Bring on the ropes and the boxers!
AFEW THOUSAND LUCKY
Canadians witnessed a completely
new concept in rock theatre lastweekend when David Bowie opened his North
American tour in Montreal on Saturday(Toronto, Sunday). It now seems likely thatBowie was speaking the truth when heannounced his retirement from the rock stage
at the Hammersmith Odeon last year. For theact that David puts over on this tour has asmuch to do with rock'n'roll as Bob Dylan has
with Las Vegas.
The one -and -a -half-hour, 20 -song show is

a completely rehearsed and choreographedroutine where every step and nuance has
been perfected down to the last detail. There
isn't one iota of spontaneity about the wholeshow. It is straight off a musical stage -a pieceof theatre complete with extravagant
mechanical sets, dancers, and a band thatstands reservedly to stage right and nevereven receives a cursory acknowledgement,
like an orchestra in the theatre pit.
The show belongs on Broadway or
Shaftesbury Avenue rather than on the road.
The whole concept takes a complete turnaround from what a rock audience anticipates.
but at Toronto on Sunday it left them stunned.
Perhaps the crowd at the O'Keefe Theatre
literally couldn't believe their eyes. Fittingly,
there was no encore and the applauding
audience was greeted with the announcement
10 minutes after the show stopped that Bowie
had already left the theatre. The Colonel
Parker touch is forever there.
A Christmas pantomime would be an unfair
parallel, but the ideas behind it were exactly
the same. Bowie comes out of this show assome kind of magical being. A star above
stars, as untouchable as the sky; not once
does he address the audience, or even allude
to their presence other than an odd grin. Eachsong is linked together so that no delays occur
76 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

during the show, and he doesn't even takea bow at the end. The material is a sensible
mixture of songs from the DiamondDogs
album and assorted old favourites.
The backing band - Earl Slick, an American
guitarist. Herbie Flowers on bass, Mike
Garson from the old Spiders on keyboard andTony Newman on drums, are first class, butnote perfect to an almost mechanical degree.
Their presence -as opposed to their music - isless important than the stage setting and thevarious effects that evolve from behind
hidden doors. The dancers. Warren Peace
and Gui Andrisano, sing backup vocals andshuffle props and mics around the stage withtotal precision.
The set is taken from the disintegrating
metropolis, Hunger City. created from
Bowie's imagination for the concept of his new
album. The rear of the stage is a 20ft-highbridge constructed from span girders andforming a catwalk that rises and falls at Bowie's
command. Three equally high lighting towers,
cunningly disguised as toppling skyscrapers,
beam down on the star of the show.
Illustrated at the left ofthe stage, against one ofthese pillars, is some kind ofphallic symbol spurtingblood towards the sky. Theband are off to the right.

Bowie's arrival on stage a tape of odd sounds
and peculiar jungle noises was heard throughthe PA system. placed halfway up the hall
instead of actually on the stage.
Eventually, after some slow handclapping,
the lights were dimmed for a roadie in blue

dungarees (regulation uniform for the wholeroad crew) to announce that Bowie wassuffering from laryngitis but would appear
regardless. The opening song was "1984".
Bowie was dressed in a light grey suit withblue -and -white polka dot, collarless shirt andred braces. He retained the same outfit for
the entire performance, apart fromoccasionally removing his jacket.
He appeared without any noticeable
makeup and gone was the spiky hairstyle oflast year and the year before. In its place wasa neat parting; it left little doubt about the
masculinity of the performer. It took a couple
more numbers, "Rebel Rebel" and "Moonage
Daydream-, before the significance of theshow began to sink in. Around this time theaudience realised they were witnessing
something totally different from a normalrock concert. The cheers
grew louder, but few could
imagine the surprises instore. For "Sweet Thing"
Bowie appeared on the
catwalk for the first time,
dressed in a long trenchcoat and gazing down on
the dancers below while
singing and pouting.
Yellowing lamp standards up on the wall
gave it an eerie but sad atmosphere.
Eventually the whole huge bridge machineryswung into operation rather like Tower Bridge
allowing a steamer to pass through. Bowie
was lowered between the two pillars to landsafely back on the ground. Next song was"Changes", with more dance routines, then

"No David -just agigantic, sparkling

Throughout the entire
show, Bowie goes throughblack hand against

ultraviolet lights"

a series of well -rehearsed
dance steps and mimes toact out each song in the persona of thecharacter involved. The expanse ofunoccupied stage in the centre is ample for all

manner of complex choreography involving
chairs, ropes and sundry other props.
The Toronto concert began over half anhour late and, of course, there was nosupporting act. For 45 minutes prior to

MOE 14 --()AID HOWIE"Suffragette City", "All The Young Dudes"and "When You Rock And Roll With Me",
which seemed to close the first sequence ofthe performance. Houselights went up andfor the first time Bowie bent to receive his
applause. His set facial expression seemed toreflect incredible security. He knew it wasgood, so there was little point in pushing theinference. It was almost total arrogance a MainMan star, indeed.
"Watch That Man" began phase two of theshow, though the delay was actually less thanmost bands take between every number. NextDavid played acoustic guitar for the first andonly time in the show for "Drive -In Saturday"
before the second major climax. As the
opening chord of "Space Oddity" thunderedfrom Slick's guitar, Bowie appeared to haveleft the arena, then a door atop one of theskyscrapers swung open to reveal him in aseat on a pole - actually a hydraulic boom
extending from the base of the phallic symbol.
David began the song perched up there,

Bowie to take the stage once more. For the
final medley of "Jean Genie- and "Rock And
Roll Suicide", a tiny but powerful spot at thebase of the stage was switched on to create
giant shadows of David and his dancers
looming over the painted metropolis on theback drop - another eerie but brilliantly
choreographed idea.
The show was over before you knew it.
Suddenly the audience were yelling for more ata stage that had emptied in seconds. The burstof applause lasted some 10 minutes before theannouncement that David had left the theatre.
It was the most original spectacle in "rock" I've
ever seen, a complete move forward in
direction for both Bowie and pop in general.
The star comes out of it as an all-roundactor/singer/dancer/entertainer, leaving
behind his status as a simple singer -songwriter. Equally worthy ofpraise are set designer Jules
Fisher and choreographer

Their attention to detail was almost
frightening. During "Space Oddity", forexample, David sang into a telephonereceiver rather than a regular microphone,and in "Cracked Actor" Hollywood -type
movie cameras and spots were hastily set up
around the singer while a makeup man arrived
to splash on face powder.
Quite how much the setting, machineryand rehearsals must have cost in man hours
and money is anyone's guess but it seemed
doubtful that Bowie will be signing a bill muchless than £50,000 for the project and thismay go some way towards explaining theunusually high ticket price.
But David Bowie 1974 is not rock any
more. He can only be described as anentertainer who looks further ahead thanany other in rock, and whose far-reaching
imagination has created a combinationof contemporary music and theatrethat is several years ahead of its time.
Chris Chartesworth

Toni Basil.

but as the verses

progressed and David took
on the identity of Major
Tom, the boom moved
forward and extended
diagonally outwards so that
he was projected somewhat
precariously out above thefront rows of the audience.
Complete with flashinglights everywhere, theeffect was nothing short ofsensational. From then on
the various effects weredifficult to comprehend in
one short viewing. To grasp
every detail one would haveto watch at least threeshows. At one stage (during"Diamond Dogs") David wastied up in ropes by thedancers and at another hewas in the centre of a boxing
ring, wearing boxing gloves
to sing "Panic In Detroit".
He even had a big blackdude walk on in a track suitto act as a second, towellinghim down and fitting a freshgum shield between verses.
But even these effects
paled compared to the

Houdini-like routine during
the last half hour. For thisDavid appeared perchedabove a platform of mirrors,
wheeled on from the rear.
The platform turned out tobe a gigantic square box
rather like some conjurer's
lavish prop, into which
Bowie descended anddisappeared from view.
The front doors of the box
were then opened by hisdancers but... no David. Justa gigantic, sparkling black
hand against ultraviolet
strip lights. Eventually thehand lowered to reveal
a glittering staircase forDavid Bowie

RCA/VICTOR

A new album release by David Bowie istoday looked on with as much awe as arelease by The Beatles in the '60s. Later
this month it will be with us, and by June it's
guaranteed the album will have sold by thethousand regardless of musical merit.
Bowie's new album really is excellent. It's a
departure in that the Spiders are no longer with him,
and it's also a departure in that the whole production

previously attempted. For most of the tracks he's
adopted a "wall of sound" technique, borrowed nota little from Phil Spector, but the richness of it allenhances his voice no end. He is accompanied by one
old Spider, Mike Garson, on keyboards, and has also
recruited Herbie Flowers, of Blue Mink and session
fame, to play bass, and a couple of drummers in Tony
Newman and Aynsley Dunbar. Alan Parker plays
guitar on one track only, while David is credited withacoustic and electric guitar throughout as well as
various reed instruments, Moog and Mellotron.
The theme of the album is the aftermath of a
nuclear holocaust, and the scene is set in the opening
track, which is a recitation by Bowie over some eerie
horror -movie soundtrack. The track's called "Future
Legend", but any thoughts that the entire album is
one of the recitations on doom through science
fiction are quickly dispelled as the piece blends into
the title track, a chunky rocker in the Stones tradition.
"Diamond Dogs" reflects the tone of the record, infact. Many of the following numbers are heavy,
bouncy pieces. They're commercially orientated andreminded me of the Stones' work on Exile On Main St.
The "hot tramp" of "Rebel Rebel", for example, seems
synonymous with Mick Jagger's "Bitch" and "Brown
Sugar". They bite hard and have a ring of decadence
that's never out of place in a good rock song.
On the "Dogs" track, David plays reeds, pushingout the riff in King Curtis style, rasping over the
guitar lines. It's a long song - almost six minutes that's left deliberately unfinished. The first side
contains another two rockers in similar vein,"Candidate" and "Rebel Rebel". The latter has beentaken off the album as a single and needs little
explanation. "Candidate" is slotted in-between two
cuts of the same song, a slower number called"Sweet Thing" which opens with Bowie singing in a
deep bass voice over another space -fiction type

introduction. The bass voice gives
way to a more recognisable Bowie
vocal sound that's eventually caught
up in a sea of voices. A soprano sax
solo leads into "Candidate" and backinto a reprise of the first song. "Rebel"
closes the first side - an ever -so -slightly differer t
version from the original.
In general the second side is mellower than thefirst. The opener, "Rock And Roll With Me", is the best
track of the lot. Despite its title, it's not an out-and-out
rocker, more of a song in "Changes" vein, in a heavy,slow time signature that invites an audience to singalong. "We Are The Dead" was a disappointment,
perhaps because it is over -long and didn't seem to say
a great deal. Opening with a jerky rhythm backing, i:'s
almost exclusively David singing over a Clavinet or
electric piano. Somewhat anonymous.
Bowie has been playing "1984" live for over a yea now. Openirg with some Ringo Starr packing -casedrum work, it's another that builds into a wall ofsound that captures the drama of the hooklines atthe end of each chorus. "Big Brother" is anotherhuge production number with a trumpet fanfare ar da large choir backing up Bowie's deep vocals.
It's almost an operatic piece, and at times Bowie';
voice seems to be joined in the mix with various girls'
voices. The trumpet plays a marching time signaturethat leads into the closing music, a chant that'sdeliberately repetitive. Title is the "Chant Of The
Ever Circling Skeletal Family'', and it's really a tapeloop going round and round again and again. The
backing gradually disappears until the fade-out.
The overall effect from the album is that Bowie if
more concerned with good production than everbefore -and that he's consciously writing songs
suitable for his upcoming stage show.
At least half
the tracks on thisset are bound tobe firm stage
favourites,
especially if he
can recreate therecorded sound.
David has produced
another really goodrecord. Chris
Chartesworth. NW/slay/I

AP

1974

"He's so fullof energy"
Drug -free after ar
acupuncture curb,
ERIC CLAPTON is

now full of beans

and full of alcohol.
Live in Copenhagen,the guitarist lays
waste to poshhotels, Persian rugs
and some of hisback catalogue"He gets drunkwith the tension,'
explains manage
Robert Stigwoo(-"W

JUNE 29 -HERE'S THE SLASH -'OUSE around 'ere?" asks Eric

Clapton, sitting beside a champagne bucket into which he's
recently salivated. We're at the Plaza Hotel, Copenhagen,a plush little number compete with first editions of Dickens
in the library and antiques in the loo.

Clapton looks a little jaded. H is velvet jacket, green with red
trim, is split at t he shoulder; a scarf hangs down from his neck, and instead of a carnat ion
peering elega nt ly from his button -hole, Clapton has a cluster of plastic tulips trailing from it.
The face is clean-shaven and the figure is slimmer than of late. He wouldn't win any Best
Dressed Man OfTheYear awards right now, but only a rock staron the road would be sitting
decked out the way he is.
Clapton doesn't talk much - he leaves that to David English, a director of RSO Records, whoentertains Clapton by telling h i in jokes or by making references to the antics Clapton got up to"last night", the opening night of Clapton's first tour in three years.
There's tal k of t hrowing banana skins out °fear w i ndows and of chucking glasses out ofhotel windows. Tut, tut, these Englishers! But it's all rock'n' roll - and thank the Lord, Eric
Clapton's back at it. He just laughs a dirty laugh as he cha in -smokes cigarettes or knocks backt he cha mpers.
Pretty Hawaiian Yvonne Elliman -who played the part of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ
Superstar- is now seated at the same table w it h another superstar. She's a little out of too andisn't quite sure exactly where she is.
Aftera time Clanton gets up to go to the Plaza's restaurant just around the corner -but doesn't
succeed in scoring any food. "You'd better rescue Eric," one of Clapton's entourage informs
English. "I le's liable to get thrown out of there."
Someone else appears and says that Eric's under one of the dining tablessinging"Band On
The Run".
At least he's got good taste.
Eric Clapton's mellowness - if you think he's drunk now, wait till later on -isn't either
pathetic or sad. It's just good, clean fun and it's a great relief to everybody to see him back on
the road after so long. As with most rock musicians who disappear for a time, Clapton's been
subjected to the usual stories, often sordid, usually fabricated, of drug problems. But in hiscase it's true. Robert St igwood, the Aust ralia n who's had Clapton under contract since theearly days of his career, isn't afraid to admit it -and the services of a Lady Fellow OfThe Royal
College Of Surgeons were employed to get Clapton straight again.
"There were no withdrawal symptoms. It was all done with acupuncture," says St igwood,
who was so impressed with the doe's treatment that he gave her a two-year grant to continue

her research.
"Eric's just like he was four years ago. He's so full of energy," enthuses St igwood. "I'd better be
quiet. I'm talking just like a manager," he adds.
HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 179

1974
APR

CLAPTON'S COMEBACK HAS been the most long-awaited
affair in British rock outside of a Beatle reformation. But, unlike

Clapton, the Fabs never completely disappeared. If they weren't
releasing records as a group then they were putting out material assolo artists. Clapton hadn't put out a new studio record since "Layla" and that was at the beginning of 1971. Subsequent albums have either
been compilations or live recordings.
Since the Derek& The Dominos tour and Clapton's attempt at somekind of anonymity to cope with the superstardom that was flung at him,
he's only been seen on a public stage twice: once with Hari Georgeson
and buddies at the Madison Square Garden concert, for Bangla Desh, andat the Rainbow last January -where most of the British rock aristocracy
showed, either on stage or off, to support Clapton just in case he needed
propping up. That gig was one of the rock events of 1973 and proved just
how much the public wanted to see Clapton back at it.
Listening to the subsequent and inevitable live album of the Rainbow
gig, it's obvious how unsure Clapton was of his playing ability, and of hisrole as bandleader. His friendship with Guardian Angel Pete Townshend
was crucial to that gig and to Clapton's return to the recording studio andto the concert stage.
The announcement that Clapton would record a new album came at
Easter after speculation regarding his return to a working band had
persisted since the previous year's Reading Festival (where Clapton madeThe Copenhagen gig is the tour's second night. RSO's press lady, Helen
Walters, describes the opening night (in Stockholm) as "interesting".
The gig had turned out, to everybody's surprise, to be open -air -and,
what's more, in a funfair complex. As the band went over the two-hourmark the funfair's owner got a little anxious: the longer the band played,
the more money he lost from the big -dipper trade. And members of theClapton entourage had to keep the guy talking in his office so he wouldn't
turn off the power.
Naturally, tonight's gig is a sell-out. The Copenhagen press has been fullof reports as to how George Harrison, Ringo and Townshend are going toshow their faces. They didn't, of course, and as the time draws near the
only celebrity in any danger of turning up is Ringo's wife, Maureen.
Townshend would have been here but he's a bit knocked up after The
Who's recent American dates.
CLAPTON ARRIVES AT the gig, the KB Hallen, a 4,500 -seater

sports auditorium, totally unrecognised behind a ludicrous
pair of heavy -rimmed lens -less glasses, his short barnet

underneath a trilby. Yes, Eric's a bit of a comic these days.
And while we're on about comics, "Legs" Larry Smith, the old Bonzo,
is there to keep everybody larfing. A Danish band (who have a namesomethinglike a Buddhist chant) open the show. Perhaps it's just the heatin this large aircraft hangar of a hall, but after four numbers, they're a bit
an unusual public appearance- naturally with Townshend at his side).
too much to take.
After various lineups were suggested by the imagination of the music
Large blasts of orchestral music, the kind that's played at the climax ofbusiness and rock press- Bruce, Keltner and Clapton... or a reformeda circus act, herald what you think is Clapton's entrance. But it's not.
Cream... or perhaps a band with George Harrison - it was announced
Instead, "Legs" appears in an outrageous polka-dot suit complete withthat Eric would again be playing with former Leon Russell bassist Carlmuch hand -kissing of the audience and a toy guitar hanging around hisRadle. The names of the other musicians remained a mystery until after
middle. The accent's on fun. This is all a bit strange. Isn't Clapton a pretty
the album, titled 461 Ocean Boulevard, was recorded.
moody guy on stage? Isn't he now famous for rarely batting any eyelid,
Yvonne Elliman, incidentally married to a director of Stigwood's record
once settled with his guitar beneath his fingertips?
company, was one moniker, but the names of the other three musicians And here's "Legs" Larry Smith, kind of knocking the stuffing out of
guitarist George Terry, keyboard player Dick Sims and drummer Jamie
Clapton's guitar -hero status. The sounds ofThe Who's "Pinball Wizard"
Oldaker- meant nothing to most people. And when those few whoare played through the PA and "Legs" mimes. Very strange. And thenhad actually heard tapes of Ocean Boulevard reported thaton comes Clapton, who, dressed in a bona fide boiler suit (none
ERIC CLAPTON
Clapton was playing country music, the mystery of whereof your tailored Townshend models for Eric) and the46,
his head was now at deepened.
loathsome trilby hat, looks like he wandered on stage by
A tour was announced -a full-scale trek ofAmerica
mistake. He's clutching a black -and -white Strat. He
with a couple of gigs in Scandinavia to kick things off.
plays the opening phase of "Tell The Truth" and theThis tour totally ignored the UK. Which more or lessband come in behind him.
explains what we're doing in Copenhagen.
Yvonne Elliman, acoustic guitar at the hip, is the
only other person upfront. The rest of theClapton unveils
band hide in the shadows. The music isanew humorous
persona -and anloose, free and easy, with George Terryunder -rehearsed
playing the high lead breaks (Duaneband-inDenmark.
Allman's part in the originals); Clapton
June 20,1974
SNOT THE(Rot kt444,,
1664,1 tu, 66,14,o,4646,4just sings in a very croakyvoice and plays
Dor 140,4
rhythm. But his vocals suit the overalllooseness of the music. He looks happy,
grinning a lot -a lot more than usual.
I

SIIE11111

And he looks old.
But what about a solo, Eric? Just before
the band take the volume down, he obliges.
It's brief, fast and very fluid -and allowing
Clapton to take all the stage, it sends
shivers down the spine. Then quickly hereturns to rhythm guitar and Terry plays
some more on slide.
No words and straight into the blues.
Clapton puts both of his hands on the mic
and the vocals to "Key To The Highway"
sound really frayed. Dick Sims switchesfrom organ to electric piano and the band
get looser- a little too loose. Another finesolo from Clapton.
"Layla" is the third number, and Sims'
organ steams in behind Clapton's riff. Ms
Elliman, who'd disappeared for the last
number, reappears in floppy hat, bangs atambourine and sings not particularly
effective harmony lines. I'm afraid theband just about fall apart on this complex
number. And they're obviously under74s.

ERIC CLARION

rehearsed. Again, Terry plays
Allman's part and he plays
extremelywell, Clapton following
him with that beautiful tone
that's his and his alone. But thisdoesn't compensate for the
band's ineptitude.
"Thank you," Eric shouts
cheerily. It's not the usual humble
voice of appreciation but more like
Pete Townshend's style of rap.
Folks, Eric Clapton has become
one of the lads.
Then he flings off his jacket and scarf, grabs
a bottle of beer, swigs it back, mutters something
about "this is what we call a pause" -and goes
into the very fine "Easy Now" from his solo
album. His vocals aren't too fine and he seems
to have difficulty in aiming his voice at the mike.
The band come in halfway through. And they're
still only lukewarm.
From the way he begins all the songs himself-and from the way he conducts the band at theend of each number- it's only too clear morerehearsals are needed. There isn't one number
where the band come in as a band. Bad.
The first (and what turns out to be the only) new song of the evening isrevealed. It's called "Let It Grow", and although it's badly played, it sounds
like a good songwith a building, hymn -like quality. Terry takes anothertotally Claptonesque solo. It's not until two numbers later that Clapton
and the band really deliver the goods: the slow blues "Have You Ever
Loved A Woman?" Clapton plays the best guitar of the night -acompletely furious flurry of notes is followed by a warmer phrase and theaudience, as old, applaud each line.
Relief. So Eric can still play, dare I say, the best blues /rock guitar in theworld. So maybe he lacks the technical prowess of a Steve Howe or John

L RIC CLAPTON'S RETURN
1wasn't triumphant. It

F A wasn't intended to be. But

Eric is not

he's on stage, enjoying himself
and getting back into it. The band
really didn't show too much
April10.1974:Petepotential (apart from guitarist
Townshend(right)
George Terry) but obviously
at a party in Soho.
they'll tighten up for the USA.
London. to celebrate ,Clapton's return toIt's difficult to see how Clapton
active service
k will react to an American tour. Will
his stage manner revert to the oldstyle (stoned seriousness) orwill he continue toadopt his light-hearted approach?
The backstage area is a series of anterooms-and Stigwood isn't allowing any journalists
or photographers to get near Clapton. Carl
Radle wanders through the dressing room
reserved for us and, despite Ms Walters' intro,
is not exactly going out of his way to talk.
But the other musicians in the band areprepared to say a little. Sims, Oldaker and Radle
all come from Tulsa and have known each otherfor years. Oldaker had, in his time, drummed
with Leon Russell, and he and Sims havetaken with theporn show:"B -O -R -I -N -G!"

McLaughlin, but his playing in "Have You Ever Loved A Woman?" is thekind of electric guitar playing I like to hear. End of drool.
"Badge" follows. Although the arrangement is different to the original,

with Clapton's introduction playing the full phrase complete withbassline, it's a good number and the band do seem to have tightened up.
Clapton and Terry both solo, each taking the chorus riff at various times
while the other plays opposing lead.
Then "Legs" reappears on stage in another ludicrous outfit. "A big handfor 'Legs Christian Anderson' on leader guitar," bawls Clapton, who now
seems much more comfortable in his bandleader role. And although his
playing isn't as fine as it can be- the tone isn't quite as hard and clear- heplays with more confidence than at the Rainbow last January.
But just when the band seemed to get a little tighter, they now loosen up

worked together on and off for the last six or seven years. It was Radle who

introduced Clapton to the two musicians, and although (according to
Stigwood) Clapton could have had either Keltner or Gordon in the band,
he chose Oldaker for a drummer.
The brilliant George Terry got involved down at Miami's Criteria
Studios, where he's a staff sessioner most of the time. He played on Bill
Wyman's Monkey Grip album, and while workingwith Clapton also didsome sessions down at Criteria for Stephen Stills' new LP. One ofTerry's
compositions, "Mainline Florida", is included on Ocean Boulevard, but hesays the real one to listen out for is a Clapton song called "MotherlessChildren". There is also an old Duane Allman song included. The album
took ten -and -a -half weeks to record, according to Terry. Clapton didn't
have any material when he arrived at Criteria, everything being more orless worked out on the spot.
As to the permanence of the band, Terry is thinking of going on the roadwith Stills- but Stigwood is optimistic and sees the band lasting a longtime. And about those (non-existent) British dates? Well, Terry doesn't
think there's too many places to play in Britain but there are possibilities
of a couple of gigs later in the year.
MEANTIME, CLAPTON'S CAUSING a bit of a scene back at

again for "Willie And The Hand -Jive", which starts off kind of funky withclarinet from Sims -and then gets unbearably loose. And Clapton's
obviously enjoying himself: messing about, poking his Strat in-between
Ms Elliman's legs (who, apart from looking pretty, doesn't reallycontribute to the music at all).
Clapton grins even more and introduces the band: "George Harrison on
guitar. Mary Magdelene on vocals," he shouts. Terry introduces Clapton:"Derek Domino on guitar.""This is one from one of my famous albums which have sold a hundred -the Plaza as he enters again wearing the trilby and glasses
and... a duck -whistle which hangs from his neck. Now Eric
has seemingly formed quite an attachment for this whistle anddemonstrates his prowess on the instrument every few minutes or so
between flirting with Yvonne Elliman and downing rum and orange
juice. "We're all under arrest," he shouts, now sitting at a table in this rather
sedate room. And he follows his statement with a shrill blast of the whistle.
"Eric gets a bit drunkwith the tension," comments Stigwood. To
entertain the assembled throng, Stigwood has laid on a special showing
at a Danish porn club some half -an -hour's drive away. But as the ladies
get into their number, Clapton insists on joining in on the act by dropping

thousand million -trillions," Clapton announces.
"Let It Rain" follows and the band really muff it, although Clapton

his boiler -suit to waist -level.
But he's not too taken with the show: "One, Two, Three, B -O -R -I -N -G,"plays well. That beautifully sad Blind Faith song "Can't Find My Way
Home" follows, and then Clapton
breaks into a Chuck Berry riff for"Little Queenie" which is ridiculously
loose again.
But you're past caring as Clapton
starts to move around the stage.
He windmills his arms and laughs.
He gets down on his haunches. He
points his guitar upward. Oh yeah,
Eric's changed alright. A long, slow
version of "Crossroads" is the encore.
And that's it.

he hollers every few minutes, his whistle accompanying the catcalls.
Stigwood has by now given up trying--to keep control over his star, who had
earlier nearly got the whole party
thrown out when he staggered up
to the stage and peed on one of the
NM club's Persian rugs.
The rug was replaced. Other thanthat, Clapton spent his time either
flat out on the floor or stretched out
on a chair next to Yvonne Elliman.
Yep, Old Slowhand is back and it's all
good drunken fun. SteveClarke
HISTORY OF ROCK 19T4 I 81

Leo Sayer on
big new tour

CSNY, LED ZEPPELIN,

JOHN LENNON, KEITH

RICHARDS & MORE--.41,0418 Meataftww...

"The age of cynicism

has passed"
MM JUL 6 tree music returns to a new site in Hyde Park,with Kevin Ayers and Nico providing the entertainment.
NICO, REDDISH -BROWN HAIR flowing over her shoulders, gazedwhite-faced and impassive out at the summer thousand, as her suedeboots pumped energetically at an elderly harmonium.
"Janitor Of Lunacy", she sung, and it was as if a star of 1920s German films

had been projected forward in time, to the otherwise merry proceedings at
the free concert in Hyde Park on Saturday afternoon.
Nico- making a surprise appearance -contributed one of the morememorable, if slightly sinister, moments to a leisurely event. "The age ofcynicism has passed," one participant proclaimed, as the ramifications of
the day sunk in. For here were no high hopes built up by massive promotion,
no feelings of pressure or suspicion. This was a reality behind the endless
discussion about rock- its meaning, purpose and responsibilities. The
reality was not in sales talk, units sold or deals struck, but in artists making
music free, the staff of Blackhil I Enterprises taking a week to set up a stage
and facilities, and the sun shining on a peaceful gathering that even picked
up its own litter -albeit with a few inducements.
As Edgar Broughton said: "This just cuts across everybody's ideas about
the rock business. It's hard to take it in at first."
The stage, focal point for some 8,000 fans, whose non -disruptive presence
was barely recorded by the media, was much more sophisticated than thoseprimitive affairs of some six years ago, when the Nice, Traffic, Pink Floyd
and later Blind Faith jammed on a roofless rostrum in the lake -side, natural
amphitheatre. Now the site has been moved, since the historic Rolling
Stones concert, to a wider, flatter plain. Harder for those at the back to see orhear, but away from other park users.
On Saturday the bill was designed to attract fans of the best inunderground music. No teen idols, supergroups or pay -festival attractions,with the possible exception of Roger Chapman, who could fall into all
categories at once. Instead there was Gong, Kevin Coyne, GT Moore and theReggae Guitars, Kevin Ayers, Chapman & Whitney and Nico. And Jeff Dexter,

without whom no open-air festival would be authentic. He sounds firmer
these days, less amazed by events.
Gong performed an interesting and successful selection, somewhat
curtailed by pressure of time. There was confusion at the end, too, when
the PA momentarily cut out and Jeff could not explain why there was notime for an encore. Daevid Allen's somewhat agonised and occasionallya musing vocals reminded us that the age of the far-out chanteur is not o'er,
but I preferred the band's instrumental prowess and ability at building
atmosphere and excitement. In this they were aided considerably by theinventive and explosive drumming of Pierre Moerlen and the excellent
guitar of Steve Hillage. Gong earned a multi -throated roar.
Around the back, Eno was observed and Alvin Lee, on hand to watch one of
his favourite guitar players, 011ie Halsall, now with Kevin Ayers after a stintwith Jon Hiseman.
In fact there seemed as many milling around backstage as there was out
front, but the organisation was able to cope, and the schedule pressed ahead
with Chapman & Whitney, the band born from the ashes of Family. Roger, in"Liverpool Lou" T-shirt, seemed happier and more into the music than he
was in the last days of the old group. With baritone sax and double -necked

W

ti
6

"
August 31.1974: the second
free concert in Hyde Park
that year, headlined by Roger
McGuinnaf ter Roy Harper'we(with "H easy Friends" suclas David Gilmour) and others

N4

1974

JULY - SOMBER

guitar cooking behind him, he provedthat he really is one of the finest andprobably most underrated of the old firmof true -grit rock singers. He was at hisbest on "I Just Wanna Make Love To You",the rocking blues given fresh life, while
new songs "Tokyo Rose" and "Street
Walker Song" had a socking but tastefulbackbeat that typifies the ba nd's work.
On came Nico to sing two songs, butthey had a strangely hypnotic qualitythat
sent a chill shiver, despite the sun. I half
imagined bats were wheeling overhead,and expected an owl or two to hoot. As itwas, we listened in silence to her low,musical incantations. "This song does
not have a title," she told us, then pumped
even more furiously at the harmonium.
An organiser's bluff tones broke thespell. "John, what's the time -five to five?
Then we've got an hour. We're laughing."
In that houryoung Kevin Ayers, he of thesilver suit and boots and blond hair,entertained with a much moreorganised and pulsating rhythm thanmight have been expected.
011ie Halsall's fleetfoot guitar (actually
he plays with his
hands) was a joy,

Meanwhile Kevin, slightly d istraugh t,
raised his voice a semitone. "I keep
getting electric shocks from thismicrophone. The microphone is...
alive!" Nobody took much notice of thisdetail, and although 011ie had played amean solo, Kevin pronounced in anaside: "That was really horrible."
But methinks he was disturbed by thevibrations. "This one is called 'Stranger
In Blue Suede Shoes'," he mumbled,
persevering. The band were at their best
performing Kevin's songs properly, andloping along with an agile country feel.
But they spent a lot of time jamming, notalways successfully.
Two of the Chanter Sisters attempted
to sing back-up vocals on The Kinks'"You Really Got Me", but retired withthunderous expressions when thetempo began to accelerate to a messy
climax. Much better, though, was "I've
Got A Hard -On ForYou, Baby", theunequivocally titled finale.
As the crowd disengaged, and filtered
back into the anonym ity of the streets,st range visions caught my gaze. A

middle-aged
Japanese man withwhile the rhythm
We listened ina brown, weal her section probed
beaten skin, who hadsilence to Nico's
and pushed withsomehow forced his
considerable energy.
way to the front of
low incantations
Kevin's great, deep
8,000 rock fans.
resonant voice
What strange
seemed to be intent on boring a way into
tidings would he report back to Tokyo?
the underground railway beneath our
And there- a man wearing a red robe,
feet, as he sang of small cafes and the
purple tights and clutching a small baby,
blues. But there was devilry afoot.
striding purposefully in a westerly
Feedback could not be silenced evendirection. "I wonderwhat they're all
though a roadie dashed and scurried inthinking," pondered Edgar Broughton,search of faults. "Paul, the monitor's
surveying the scene from a now empty
gone off on the other side!"stage. Chris Welch"Nothing will happen unless
you make it"

MMnUGiO Ir Feelgood play atst pub -rock festival.

LON DON'S FIRST PIIB- ROCK festival- at Islington's Hope & Anchor- starts later
this month. The Festival Of Real Music will feature, according to promoter Dave
Robinson, "all the original pub -rock bands". The first date, on August 20, will beheadlined by either Brinsley Schwarz or Ducks Deluxe, depending on their respective_studio commitments.
The festival will continue with Dr Feelgood (21),Bees Make Honey (22), Ace plus Gary Farr (23),
Phoenix plus Jo Ann Kelly (24), Chilli Willi &The Red
Hot Peppers (26), Clancy (29), Kilburn &The HighRoads (30) and Kokomo (31). Other bands scheduled
to appear, but not yet allotted a night, are Gonzales
and Jonathan Kelly's Outside. All the gigs will berecorded for possible broadcasting on Capital Radio.
Robinson has organised the event because of" theapathy on the London scene". He told MM: "People

were complaining that nothing was happening. But
nothing will happen unless you make it. You've got to
educate people, but first you must attract them to thevenues. That's what the festival is aimed at doing.""I canhandle all
the angles
MM AUG10 A catch-up with Mick Jagger.
soon to offer new LP It's Only Rock 'n^^IC PYrOrtrIltrstn., " hr .!n. r"Thn fORRY I'M LATE.""B's all right Mick.""No - it's not all right."
Mr Jagger, much forehead exposed bya somewhat drastic haircut, paced into his suite at
London's Ritz Hotel, looking just a shade tired. He'dbeen up all night at mixing sessions for his forthcoming
long -player, but this wasn't going to stop him
discharging his duties as our most esteemed andcelebrated statesman of rock.
It's extraordinary to think how long Mick Jagger has
been pitting his talent and wits against the demanding,all -devouring public. Eleven years have passed since
Mick and the Rolling Stones first emerged with "ComeOn", the hit that launched an era, and set a lifestyle andpattern for all that was to follow.
And yet still Mick leads the good fight in the causeof outrage and rock'n'roll. But there are changes.
The aggressive glint to his probing gaze, the insolent
curve to his mouth and businesslike bustle involvedin entering or leaving a room are still there. But
occasionally the resolution slips, and you glimpse asofter, more vulnerable Jagger beneath the flippancy
and cynicism.
He impressed with his desire to communicate andextend courtesy, when he of all rock stars has the mostexcuse for being impatient with the askers ofquestions. For Mick has not always been used fairly by
the media, and "used" is the operative word when it
comes to some of the books that have been written
about him in recent times.
In recent weeks he has spent some time in theStates, where he kept up his habit of attending the top
concerts, and keeping well in touch with events. Eric
Clapton and David Bowie's show were among his
engagements, but somehow he managed to miss his
brother Chris Jagger's American debut. "Chris did
some shows at the Bottom Line in New York, and I
heard that his band was really good. You know he dida few gigs in England to warm up, under another name.
He's getting into it
now, and you've got
to remember it's thefirst shows he's everdone. But somehow
I missed him in theStates. I can help
him in some ways,
and he's asked mefor bits of advice,
but he's got to do iton his own.
"I went to see Eric

Clapton and David
Bowie in New York,and they seem toattract the same

Jagger{it's timefor achangehut netv

Meer state

"Iwanttodosomething-I dunno-different!":
Mick Jaggerint974.
discussing the Stones'
next stage show

people to each show. They have very catholictasted in America. Eric was playing very well
- really nice. I was sitting on the edge of thestage. I saw the Bowie concert from the halland he was very nervous, but everyone gets
nervous in New York."
We hadn't seen Bowie in Britain with his
new show and it didn't seem likely the Stones
were going on tour for a while either. Was it
now a case of bands gearing their acts for
America first, while Britain came second?
"With a show like Bowie's you can mount itmuch more easily in America, and obviously it
THE ROLLING STONES
costs money to put on. What can you do in
Britain, apart from the few big gigs andoutside events which are at risk through
RS 19301
the weather?"
VOeC1.
TsTr:
There had been wild rumours of the
T.8; tat
ST
Stones playing at Charlton. "Wildrumours! We won't be doing anything until
Christmas, or failing that, early next year.
IT'S ONLY ROCK N ROLL (BUT I LIKE !Ellossov,
And the reason is - we just didn't want to play0)%11114 hangeon 8 V
gigs this year. I don't know why. Ijust felt it
was worth waiting until we get a new show
together. I don't know how the others felt butlurch towards stardom? "Great - he's got it
I wanted to wait until we had new material.
off his chest at last. No one was stopping
We didn't play America last year and there
him. Mick [Taylor] wants to do one and I'd
are two LPs we've not played songs from.
like to do one. I've never actually started"But if we'd gone out two months ago andone, but we could all do bits of recording
played gigs in England, we wouldn't havein-between working with the Stones. And
new numbers, which I need to keep me at it.
not everything we record with the Stones
If we wait for the new LP then I'll feel happy.
comes out. Maybe now we'll have time to
We weren't even offered Charlton. Maybe
think and do what we want.
we were, and I didn't hear about it. I want to"Mick is producing somebody at the
do a new show - change the whole look of it.
moment -a solo singer called Robin Miller
I want to do something - I dunno - different!
- and Mick will be playing on his single,"Most bands want to just play - fine - butand maybe I'll do something when we've
I want to put on a new show and of course wefinished the Stones LP. It's finished really,
can't just do England. I'd rather wait until theand it'll be out the first week in September.
show is together and play everywhere. It
We're choosing which songs to use. It'll bekeeps me interested in being on the road andcalled It's Only Rock 'n Roll, and the title is
it takes a lot of energy, time and thought. So
self-explanatory.
rather than just play England, I'd rather take it"The album is a very mixed bag - there's
around, and then when we got to England it
even a bossa nova, a couple of slow ones,
would be better anyway. It's economics, too.
some ballads, a Caribbean tune... Well, you'll
It costs a lot of bread, and we don't want tohear it. It's a lot different from the last one,charge a fortune for tickets. £2.50 is enough."anyway. We're aware of what's going on in
What will the new show be like?
the rest of rock, sure, but it's not a race.""Wait and see. Can't tell you!" Mick smiled
How did Mick feel about artists who stage
like a mischievous boy, but doubtless there
comebacks in rock? "It's great to see Eric
will be an extravaganza, perhaps like theback again, and the new Georgie Fame LP is
foaming soapsuds that engulfed them on the
good. It's hard, really. You
Stones' recent videotape
should never get out of it.
of "Only Rock 'n Roll (But
You should always stay in
I Like It)".
there. That's what I aim to"Oh, that was detergent.
do. There's never been
Most unpleasant and it
a long period when we
took such a long time to do.
haven't made records.
We couldn't have the lights
We've not missed a year
and cameras inside thesince we started in 1963."
tent in case we all got
But hadn't Mick ever felt sickened by theelectrocuted and we had to be insured forwhole rock business, and wanted to quit?
quite a lot of money just to shoot the scene.
"No, no. I can handle all the angles. Some
We did the film for promotion. There are a lot
people are pressurised, but I don't feel likeof young people who might not have heard ofthat. If you get the feeling you can't take it
us. They might never have heard the band."any more, then you should get out. I don't
Mick looked quite serious, and althoughfeel any pressures and I'm going to stay."incredible, it did seem possible there might
But why keep at it, after all this time? "It'sbe a budding pop fan, with satchel andstill exciting and there's a lot of energy in thelollipop, going about her business in Cheam,
music business. And there's a lot of music
oblivious to the activities of Michael and his
going on. That's why I want to stay in it. I'm
Stones, Rolling. And talking of activities,
not on the road all the time, and Ijust take life
what did he think of Bill Wyman's sudden

tfrs.

"There's still a lotof energy in themusic business"

as it comes. I never look at the future, because
no one can see it - so it's pointless. I have tothink for now, and I'm in control of that.
"If the Rolling Stones put out a single, it
doesn't necessarily mean it will be a hit.
We've got to be prepared for failures. We
could be failures in some places and not inothers. You can make movies that are notparticularly successful, but they can beenjoyable, and it's all experience.
"It's funny with films. Even the biggest
actor can die and the film can lose money, but
he'll just go on to the next picture. No you
can't talk about my film career - it was not a
career, just an interlude. But they were great
to do. Performance was not promoted,
because the company didn't like the film. I've
never talked to James Fox [Mick's co-star]about it, but he's never done a film since.
I never saw the film myself."
If Mick was not willing to be drawn on
movies, he spoke out vigorously about thebooks that have purported to tell his life
story. He was cool, but not unemotional.

"They were mostly fictional, written bypeople that had never met me, and wrote
them based on rumours or their imagination.
J Marks' book you've got to read. It's pretty
bad. I never met the guy and yet he's written
some complete rubbish that's just a figmentof his imagination. It's just people wanting to
make a bit of bread and I don't want to seeanother book about me again. The less thebetter. But I can't do anything about them,because they are very careful not to libel you"I don't want to get involved in thelegalities, because what do you get out of it?
Just for an example, Anthony Scaduto wrote
about me and Brian Jones having a sword
fight which he's glamourised and just didn't
happen. It sounds very romantic, me andBrian jumping about, fighting with swords,
but it didn't occur. I've got no time for thatkind of biography. It's not very nice - in fact
it's quite vicious.
"It's all pretty sick, really, pretty bad.
I expect he'll be writing a book on John
Lennon next." Chris Welch

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 185

"We're doir
it for the
4

t

r

.

41E.

it., four years away,

IL4

Si
YOUNG return to playhie - often to 60,000 ,44
people at a time. Is it
just a money -making
operation? Apparently
not. "We missed eakkat

other," saynrah
Nash. "We Missed,that bounce -off."

88 I H

.7

;

1974

Jul713.1974raftorahows
in Vanc
rand
Saattle,CSNY headlinean all -day event -with
The Band, Joe Walsh andothers -at thia Oakland
Coliseum, California

11974

Jay-01E1MR-

MELODY MAKER AUGUST 10

accounts, an emotional experience for all of them which resulted in theirplaying for four -and -a -half hours and running through almost their
entire catalogue. They ended up doing 40 songs and Crosby's voice justabout packed up.
Now it's been trimmed to three hours, which is still a lot of music, butthere's still the feeling that they could go on all night. In Denver there wasa 12 o'clock curfew, and but for this I'm sure we'd have had another hour.
The internal arguments in this group have become rock folklore overthe past three years. Each one groused because they thought they werebeing upstaged by another, and the bickering between Stills and Youngseemed to indicate that CSNYwas no more.
It took Elliot Roberts (manager of Crosby, Nash and Young) to make themove, first ensuring that each artist had the summer free, then booking
the stadiums with the assistance of Bill Graham and then packing theband off to Young's ranch near San Francisco for a month's rehearsal.
Of the four, Young still remains the loner figure, choosing to travel in his
own caravan by road from show to show instead of in the plane with therest of the band. Each night he packs up his guitar, wife, baby son and dog
and hits the road.
After the Denver show I asked Crosby what had happened to the elusive
Neil... "He's two miles out of town by now and so high on the show that
nothing can touch him," he replied. "He's out there so happy. He cameand did what he had to do for three hours and knows he did it well.
Nothing can make a man happier than that."
Young remains quiet and somehow aloof, disappearing into the night
and not reappearing until a few hours before the next stop. He's had hishair trimmed and most of the time he hides behind reflective sunglasses.
Indeed the Loner.
For Stills, the Denver show held special significance. He lives about twohours' drive away from the town, up on a ranch in the mountain, and thecrowd (there were 61,000 at Mile High Stadium) gave him a special
welcome. His blond hair is cut short, and he's never seen without afootball jerseywith a large digit on the front. The Stills uniform.
Crosby and Nash remain chums. IfYoung is the composing talent andStills the instrumentalist, then Crosby and Nash between them provide
the vocal ability to put over the material as it was intended to be worked.
"I can't write songs like Neil, but I know his songs are so good that I justhave to sing them," Crosby told me. "And I know that because they're sogood I can sing them as good as I'll ever sing."
Stills seems to he the perfectionist of the group; he gets annoyed if
the sound isn't perfect, while theothers seem happy if the audience
are happy. "Hey, English," heshouted at me after the show.
"What daya think?"
I told him I enjoyed it, especiallysome of his lead -guitar work. His job
in the band is that of lead guitarist: hetakes 90 per cent of the guitar solos
and he's proud of his work. Later inthe evening he had a fierce argumentwith Nash about the quality of themonitor speakers and it took Elliot
Roberts to drag them apart.
Crosby and Nash are the mostenthused, Nash especially. He
seemed as high as a kite after theconcert, rushing here and there andrefusing to stop talking to anyone
who'd listen. With some difficulty

ILE HIGH STADIUM, as the name implies, is 1,760
yards high. That's a mile above sea level, but evenso it sits at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, which
are the backbone of the United States in much thesame way as the Pennines are the backbone ofEngland. The only difference is the size.
Colorado is one ofAmerica's most aesthetically pleasing states. Freshwater springs run down the mountains and fresh air is in abundance. In
the summer the sun shines a lot and in the winter Denver, the state
capital, becomes a ski resort.
It seemed appropriate that my trip to Denver was to watch the seventh

mdb..

stop -off by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young on their current tour of the USA.
As Nik Cohn puts it in Rock Dreams, CSNYsing "highway songs, full of
light and space", and that admirably sums up Colorado.
No matter what else occurs in 1974, the year will go down as the year
when the giants returned to the stage. First it was Dylan, then Clapton
and now CSNY, the superest of all American supergroups.
Quite why all these heavies have chosen the same year to make acomeback, no one is quite sure, but the result is a feast of music for the vast
following all these artists command over here.
It has also resulted in some of the largest gross takings in the history of

rock'n'roll. Dollar figures from attendances have soared, records
shattered all along the way. Many superstars will be much, much richer
by the end of the summer. Stephen Stills has been quoted as saying thatthe first time CSN went out on the road was for art, the second time for the
chicks and this, the third, for the dollars.
Quite how true that is I'm not sure, but eitherway the CSNY tour will
become the largest -grossing tour in the history of rock'n'roll.
Graham Nash insists otherwise. "We're doing it for the music, man,because all of us know that none of us can make as good music together as
we can apart," he told me in his Denver hotel. Nash, thin and wiry, spokeso passionately that I couldn't help but believe him.
way, the CSNY tour, according to a press handout, willencompass 22 cities and 27 performances before an estimated audienceof 1.1 million people. The average ticket price is $7.25 (about £3), so it
doesn't need a maths degree to work out that each member of the band
will walk away with a fine sum of money at the end of it all. And while I'mwriting this more concerts are being added. so the potential gross income
is really quite staggering.
Four years have passed since
CSNY performed together. In themeantime there have been solo tours
by Stills and Young, and a duo tour by
Nash and Crosby. All these attracted
sizeable audiences, especially
Young, so it comes as no surprise tolearn that the CSNYconcerts are allat baseball arenas holding up to
60,000 people. By English standards,
that's a festival a night.
The four players on stage seem tojoyously celebrate their reunion. At
the first show in Seattle it was, by all

SUMMER JAM WEST*!CROSBY STILLSNASH & YOUNG

I got him away from the crowd for 15
minutes to talk. "It was a dramaticwant to play music together again.
A real need, man," he replied when
I asked point blank what motivatedHE BEACH BOYS
1!)--

WALSH AN
11

1)1/

YOUNG
SSE COLINGUESTS**AND SPECIALk

THE BAN'Sy

RoseytV

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them to reunite.
"We'd all done our individual trip
and made our individual statements
for whatever reasons we had. We'd
got that out of our system and thenI think we realised about a year ago
that we had a really fucking hot band

D BARNSTORM

*

*

*

*

*

*

INTARIO MOTOR SPEEDWAY'T., AUGUST 3, 1974*

i f we wanted and we could reallyAugust 11,1974:

backstageat Rich
Stadium,Orc hard
Pa rk, N ew York -(1-r)Graham Nash,
Stephen Stills. David
Crosby, Neil Young

make this hot music. We missed each other, y'know. We missed thatbounce off. When there's four of yer up there and there's Stephen at one
side and Neil at the other and me and David in the middle. Just watchingthem converse with each other. That's it, y'know. That's it.
"Did you hear that conversation they had when Stephen was on clavinet
and Neil on guitar? Mmmmmm. So spacey. They're great musicians,man. You can't deny it. They got me high six times tonight in the show. Six
times I just flashed out."
The show varies from night to night, and they're capable of playing
some six hours of material if they want. "We just decide how we can best
handle the collective energies of 50,000 people or however many there
are," gasped Nash. "That changes suddenly every night and we have tochange suddenly too. When we talk to each other at the end of every song,
two things are going down. First we'll discuss the last song, and if Steve
did a solo that was neat we'll tell him. Then we'll ask each other how wefeel about the next song.
"Can you imagine what it's like to be a part of a really hot band and thennot play for four years because we didn't feel that musical honesty? Now
we feel it on stage, I mean this is a band. There are seven people in it, but
it's a band, a real band.
"Did you see any bad vibes? Do you think we could fake it that good? I'm
not into this vibe trip, but I know that we're more considerate of eachother's feelings, we give each other a little more space, we'll takesuggestions and not close 'em off immediately like used to happen, andthat's because everyone's really secure in who they are individually.
"To me, having been involved in the original trip and now this one, it's
better. I think before we didn't feel solid enough inside ourselves to be
totally comfortable all the time. Now that we've grown up a little, nowthat we've proven that we can all move people individually, we knowwewant to be a band. You heard it for yourself.
"Like tonight, when we did 'Sugar Mountain, we stopped playing andheard 60,000 people sing back at us. Do you knowwhat a rush that is?
Phew! There's
something different
about this band." Nash
can't say whether the

regrouping is permanent or not. "It's always been this way. If we get off,
we'll play music together. Nowwe feel we'll continue it as long as it feels
this good. Let's continue it while it's happening.
"We never write together, but we play together. Say, Neil will come up or
Stephen will come up with a song and if it flashes us we'll do it. If we decide
we love the song enough to participate, we'll give our best to the song."
Nash says he is passionately looking forward to playing in England in
September, and confirms that the band will be there regardless of thecost in transporting them (and the 64 people who are required on theroad with them): "I personally believe European people have kept a faithin us that has been undying. They believe we're still there and they'reright. We are still here. I can't wait until we get to Wembley.
"I went to England recently and at the time I knew that what you saw
tonight was going to happen, but people have heard so often that we'regoing to get back together that I didn't come on strong about it in England.
"I knew it was going to be great music, but ! didn't really put any of thefire into it because they've been let down before. But now I havesomething solid. I can look you in the eye and say, 'Man, that was a greatshow and I was part of it.
the money? Nash's eyes narrowed. "The thing most people thought
when we were getting back together was the enormity of the finances of itall. Everybodywas talking about the largest ever grosses and whatnot
and I started to get real paranoid. If people think we're only in this for themoney, then they're fucking wrong. That ain't happening, man. No way.
"We play for three hours every night at least, and at the first showwe
played for four -and -a -half hours. That was an amazing show, man, anamazing show. We put everything into it and we're totallywasted after
every show and I get totally pissed off when people insinuate that we're
only in it for the money. Man, we could have made millions over the last
fouryears, believe me. But we didn't because we didn't feel like it. We
didn't feel like playing together and if we're in it for the money, you tell me
why we didn't go out and play over the last five years anyway."

Love the one you're with!
V,

C.TE

.airmGita al..o.nal brotherly"-T"-1*.TNash knew he'd made his point. "I guess I'm just rapping too much because I'm
so excited. I'm just out in space every night. Do you know we did three songs wehadn't rehearsed tonight. We did Neil's 'Old Man', and playing that for the firsttime in front of 60,000 people is absurd. "But we did it. We're always walking on

this incredible tightrope."
The tightrope that CSNYwalked in Denver was hitched up earlier in the day,with Jesse Colin Young receiving a rousing ovation at the opening act while
thousands were still filing into the arena, most of them deliriously happy to beout in the sun listening to music and anticipating the headliners.
The Denver audience, unlike a NewYork audience, seemed to cheer
everything: in the Big Apple, the "show us what you can do then" attitude

abounds everywhere.
The Beach Boys followed Young, playing their usual set of ancient hits thathave stood the test of time inexplicably well. New manager Jim Guercio was on
bass guitar, but the change seemed to matter little: The Beach Boys will always
sound the same, and their flowing harmonies seemed ideal in the Colorado sun.
At 9pm, after three-quarters of an hour's delay, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Youngappeared to a standing ovation, something they've got used to by now. The four
principals move to the front, Stills to the left and Young to the right, with Crosby
and Nash in the centre bobbing between mics and occasionally sharing.
They opened with Stills' "Love The One You're With". The show is divided into
two halves, with a 15 -minute break between. The first half, the longest, openswith an electric set and switches to acoustic. The second half is all electric.
Each principal gets an opportunity to solo, and all the time the combinationsof musicians are changing. Sometimes it's just Nash and Crosby together,sometimes Young on his own, sometimes Crosby, Stills and Nash without
Young, and sometimes all four. The numbers where all four play and sing
together are undoubtedly the highlights.
Crosby's "Wooden Ships", with Young at the grand piano, followed "LoveThe One", and next Nash went over to the keyboard for "Immigration Man",
Stills taking the guitar solo. A new Neil Young song, "Traces", followed with
Young playing a huge Gretsch White Falcon guitar and Stills taking anotherguitar break.
Crosby stepped up next for "Almost Cut My Hair", screaming out the vocals
above the combined backing. For this song, Nash stepped over to the organ, but
again it was Stills' guitar that carried the weight.
Young's turn came next with "Cowgirl In The Sand" and the electric set ended
with all four joining together for "Pre -Road Downs".
This early section was really an aperitif for what was to follow. Nash hurriedly
explained that there would be a slight delay and they'd be back to play someacoustic music. Five minutes later an assortment of acoustic guitars (abouta dozen) were set up around two stools and four mics.
Surprisingly, it was You ngwho appeared first to sing "Only Love Can BreakYour Heart" plus "Old Man" with no accompaniment at all. Then Crosby cameout alone with a new song called "For Free", and Nash followed with two songsat the piano, "Simple Man" and "Prison Song". For the latter he was joined by
the whole band, who stayed in place for Young's "Sugar Mountain", one of thehighlights of the night.
Sti Ils was next to the fore with "Change Partners", sung by the whole band, and"Questions", which he played alone. The acoustic set finished with "Suite: JudyBlue Eyes". All four tore into the song, and although some of the harmonies wereoccasionally a little off-key, they handled this difficult piece with assurance.
The break was cut short because of the cu rfew and the second half opened
only 10 minutes later with Crosby si nging "Long Time Coming". Next it wasYoung with "Don't Be Denied" and then Stills with a new song called "First
Things First", on which he played the congas.
Crosby came in with "Deja Vu" before Young played a couple of new songs,"Revolution Blues" and "Pushed It Over The End". It was during this part of heshow that Stills and Young were given more
space to solo. The show ended with "Ohio",a great crowd favourite, but they returned for
one encore, a lengthy version of "Carry On",
which proved equally popular.
The band were driven away suddenly when
it ended, and one hour later Neil Young was
happily d riving towa rds Texas for the next
concert. Stills didn't make it home to his
ranch, but had disappeared by the morning.
Crosbywent out walking in the mountains
and Nash enjoyed a healthy English breakfastof bacon and eggs before scouring the Denverbookshops for rare editions. It's his latest
hobby. Chris Chartesworth
90 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

Actively dangerous
NME AUG 17

Neil Young

REPRISE

Right now, Neil Young is in kind of an invidious position. On
The Beach is his equivalent of Lennon's Plastic Ono Band
album in terms of being a reaction to and rejection of his
earlier work, but whereas Lennon's change was both
gradual (starting, really, from Help!) and included in its
course pieces like "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds",
Young has made his artistic stock -in -trade theinvestigation of personal pain from the very beginning.
And that's the catch, really. In our July 20 issue, Steve
Clarke attacked On The Beach as too negative too selfpitying: "It's a downer in that depression is the mood whichmost of the album evokes.- Steve's a devotee of Neil
Young. Probably knows the man's work in twice the careful
detail that I do. I'm not a Young devotee. I could nevertotally accept his employment of self-pity as a creative
focus. Sometimes I felt it a shade dishonest or
manufactured (eg, "Tell Me Why"); other times the wholething got just a little too deliciously lush (eg, "When You
Dance I Can Really Love"), like Leonard Cohen. A sugared
pill just the correct distance into commerciality to be still
believable. And that could be the main reason why the
majority of Neil Young fans won't get into On The Beach.
The pill is no longer sugared - either by sweet melody or bygarlands of posies. Young has, quite simply, welched on
the deal. Which, in turn, suggests he's Woken Up.
On The Beach isn't, as previously interpreted, the fag end of Neil Young's romance with rejection. but actuallya quite positive piece of work in the Merciless Realism
bracket of Lennon's primal period. How else to account for

the reportedly totally revived Young now touring theStates with CSNY. I don't know - but it's now up to me toprovide the documentary evidence from the album itself.
An album that seems clearly to be Neil Young's best so far.
Steve, in his original review, suggested that On The
Beach was the result of Young's supposed disenchantment
with studio recording. He'd done Time Fades Away "live"
and Journey Through The Past was a rag -bag of "live" cutsand studio outtakes; On The Beach was his first serious
studio effort since Harvest in 1972. The
supposition is that Young was

postponing the inevitable because
he knew he couldn't cut it any more.
The -postponement" guess isprobably fairly accurate and it
supports both cases. If he had nofaith in himself any more, he'd holdoff -and if he didn't quite knowwhat he was about to say, he'd holdoff just the same.
It's still supposition,
though. On the other hand,
if we've "supposed" so far.
we might as well keep on
supposing. Suppose Neil
Young was getting towards
his wits' end, what with all
that's expected of him andfatigue and drugs anddirectionlessness-made-avirtue and all. Suppose it
was time to make a new
album and he had thematerial ready, just like hehad six times before, but somehow
didn't believe in it any more - didn't
believe himself, didn't believe his
audience were picking out what heregarded as important in his songs. He's
stymied and he's going down fast. Thensomething happens that Opens His
Eyes. Someone says something to him,
something happens - whatever. He
suddenly realises where he is and what
he's doing. Perspective. Reality. He
writes a new bunch of songs fast. Out
comes On The Beach. The precise
nature of the occurrence which changed
Young's head, will be looked at later. For
now, let's keep that supposition in mind
and begin looking at the album.
"Walk On" walks the album on. Gently
rocking, very "live" sound, but veryclear too. At once we get perspective:"Iremember the goodolddays...". And
straight after we get the reality available
from that vantage point: "Sooner or later
it al/gets real/Walk on."Say the person he's talking to here is his
current lady, Carrie Snodgress, and the"them" in question is Young's audience.
Ze pieces begin to fit together, nein?
A lyrical bitterness about "the man" (andyou can take it straight as Big Business or
bend it towards the Drug Connection) is
reiterated constantly, from his showbiz/
high society aspect in "For The
Turnstiles" ("Singing songs for pimps
with tailors/Who charge 10 dollars at thedoor")to industrialist magnates in"Revolution Blues". It's hard to say
whether "Revolution Blues" is meant tobe seen from Young's point of view orfrom that of a persona. Manifestly he doesn't
live "in a trailer at the edge of town" or
possess "25 rifles just to keep the population
down". Manson's lot, maybe - or, more
relevantly, the SLA. But not our Neil.
On the other hand, he evidently identifies
strongly with that outlaw -avenger attitude,even if he's laughing about it while he's pulling
triggers in his head. The mode is prime '65
Dylan. Militant psychotic -surreal.
"For The Turnstiles" is about how everybody
gets nailed by the business of fame sooner orlater, underlined in an
extraordinary closing verse
in which Young sees all thebaseball stars "left to die on
their diamonds" (battingbases) while "In the stands
the home crowd scatters/For
the turnstiles."On side two we get to thereal meat: the tale of Young's
personal experience in the last few years andthe story on which this whole interpretation
hangs. In successive verses. Young finds
himself alone at a microphone after a radio
interview and interjects the image of being"out here on the beach" where "the seagulls
are still out of reach"; he resolves to get outof town, head for the sticks with his bus andhis friends, and follow the road, although
he doesn't know where it ends - the songclosing with a repeat of the solitary line
"The world turning/I hope it don't turn away"

September 14.19-44:
Neil Young on stage

withCSNY at
Wembley Stadium

and a beautiful guitar solo over a slow fade.
"Motion Pictures", dedicated to his
girlfriend, Carrie, star of Diary Of A Mad
Housewife, is the work of a man who had ashrewd suspicion that The Business was doing
him in, and only just found out how. It covers
this ground with the impressive economy
which characterises the whole album: "Allthose headlines, they just bore me now/I'm
deep inside myself, but I'll get out somehow/I'llbring a smile to your eyes." Which has in turnbeen arrived at via a verse that represents the
young policy statement forthe past: "Well, all thosepeople, they think they've
got it made/But / wouldn't
buy, sell, borrow, or trade/
Anything I have to be likeone of them/ I' d rather start
all over again." Note theecho of the last line of"Stage Fright" and thedeadly seriousness of the proposition.
All the loose strands are woven together inthe final track, "Ambulance Blues" -abeautiful song, possibly Young's best ever.
Young picks an aged acoustic and blows
smeary harp, Ben Keith slaps a bass that keeps
getting its shoes caught in the mud, Ralph
Molina pats hand -drums almost inaudibly, Joe
Yankee chinks an "electric tambourine", andRusty Kershaw's violin sounds like the hillbilly
cousin of Robin Williamson's creaking gimbri.
It's raining. Obsessively so.

The pill is nolonger sugared bysweet melody or
garlands of posies

The lyrics open with a direct reference tothe perspective outlined at the beginning of
the album: "Back in the old folkie days. the air
was magic when we played..."The verse again, and a crucial one: "Iguess'II call it sickness gone/It's hard to say themeaning of this song/An ambulance can only
go so fast/It's easy to get buried in the past/
When you try to make a good thing last."
Which supports the case for the Traumatic
Change Theory quite admirably. Now it's justa case of: (a) What caused the change?; and(b)What does the change involve? While
we're mulling what this character means,
Young blows some more, now rather deflated
harp. Only it isn't a breather. It's a Dramatic
Pause. Young slams back with the rebuttal
and a clear statement of where he's at now:
never knew a man could tell so many lies/He
hada different story for every set of eyes/How
could he remember who he's talking to/'Cos I
know it ain't me and /hope it isn't you..."That certainly doesn't sound like the work ofa depressed, negative man tome. It sounds
extremely positive, actually - and note that
"Ambulance Blues" is the only track thus listed
which isn't any kind of blues at all. There's
scattered evidence for a Dylan experience inmany tracks from On The Beach, but the mcre
important thing is that, though Dylan andYoung may have taken a parallel path recently.
Young now sounds actively dangerous,
whereas Dylan's just singing his own peculiar
gospel. /an MacDonald

HISTORY OF ROCK 197491

ws out ofmy head""I

NME JULY 6 annie Wood has his own album to do. Is it another nail in theFaces' coffin? It doesn't bother Keith Richards. "He came back after a drink
one night." says Ronnie. "ended up staving here and really getting enthused."
IT WAS ON the evening of the recentCharlton event that Eric Clapton gave thefirst indication he might have recently
cashed his brain in fora new model. Towards
the later stages of the evening he could befound wandering around backstage burbling
something along the lines of "Everybody
down to Ron Wood's house afterwards...
a party, right? ... a house to wreck," with analmost frightening lack of restraint.
As might therefore be expected, a few
hours later, Wood's house had taken on some
aspects of disarray with bottles everywhere,a couple of faded female gatecrashers
literally crashed into an available corner andvarious chauffeurs/drivers playing snooker
in the billiard room with a disinterested "seenit all before" attitude. Only Ron Wood's lady
seemed exclusively in control as she ushered
guests in and out with commendable patienceand good heart. Over the previous twomonths she had become experienced indealing with similar situations.
92 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

Meanwhile, down in the basement studio,
Wood and Clapton, together with Keith
Richards, were indeed producing some music,
but the inevitable conclusion to be drawn wasthat if the evening's proceedings were any
guide it would take until Armageddon for Ron
Wood's solo album to be completed.
As it turned out, he'd already finished it,recording 22 tracks over a period of twomonths in his home studio, during which his
house had almost become a haven for any
musician at a loose end or stranded in town
for the night. After starting off with a basic
lineup of Mick Taylor, Ian McLagan, Andy
Newmark (drums) and Willy Weeks (bass), thefinished article now also includes assorted
contributions from Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart,
Keith Richards and George Harrison, to namebut a few. Also, it appears the wayward nightwith Clapton was hardly representative of thereal atmosphere of the recordings, even if it
required a degree of leadership and disciplineon Ron Wood's part.

"The last thing I wanted was a jam...
everybody sitting around playing E for twodays. It did happen sometimes, like if I had
three drummers in and no drumkit orsomething, but usually once everybody got
behind their instruments in the studio it wasdead serious. In a way, everybody respected
the fact that I had no experience in the field ofleading, so the feeling was that I could sort ofpractise on them."
The night with Clapton was different
altogether. "I was really out of my head thatnight and Eric was really violent andboisterous," he recalls. "When I heard what
he was saying at Charlton my heart sank andKeith [Richards] and I came back reallyquickly. Eric still turned up and we had a longplay, but it wasn't very productive.
"Instead he was good in that I played him
the album and he made me sing all the words
down his ear and he'd be making remarks like,'You can't play that,' or something. We just
had a good time. Also he's really inspirational
to play with anyway,
like Keith or George[Harrison], because
they've all got a lotof roots in the pastand can connect
immediately withan old number
or something."

KimoncRon's
House..

RONNIE WOOD

July 25,1974: Ronnie

Woodin ThoWick on
RichmondHilLSouthWiest London. He bought

thiehousofromthoactor
SirJohnMillsini971

The artists who eventually featured mostprominently on the album, apart from Wood.
are Keith Richards, who stayed at Chez Wood
during the sessions, and Newmark andWeeks, who've always stuck close to funky
street, previously working with Donny
Hathaway and Sly Stone. Nevertheless, inconversation with Wood so many othernames crop up it's hard to keep them all inperspective. Every now and again he'll slip ina remark like, "Yeah, McCartney was onorgan that night", and without a complete
tracklisting it's hard to work out exactly whoplayed what and when on what number.
In terms of material, it's made up of Woodoriginals and a few more familiar numbers like
"I Can't Stand The Rain". "We've got a reallyfunky, dirty track to that," says Woody.
"Although my singing would hardly compare
to Miss Peebles." Then there's "If You Gotta
Make A Fool Of Somebody" and a Sly
Stoneish-style "Crotch Music", with Richards
and Wood swapping guitar lines.
Last Saturday at least, Wood appeared
pleased with the results, sitting behind thecontrol desk in his studio picking a few lines
from his guitar in classic rock -star pose. Twohours earlier he'd flown from the States, andin half an hour's time was due at a Faces

rehearsal in preparation for Buxton. Timeappeared at a premium, but despite hisfor it again, and after keeping my hand in onschedule he looked remarkably spritely,
Rod's albums I thought I'd like to get at it again
thanks partly to a two-day stopover inand see if my approach had changed.
Bermuda. Ron Wood without his usual death "Once I had the first lineup I was all set towhite pallor and looking as suntanned as ago, then Mac was keen to play and Keith
lifeguard is an unusual sight indeed.
became involved. He came back after a drink
His motivations for making the album don't
one night and ended up staying here andappear to run terribly deep, other than that hereally getting enthused. I never thought hehad some songs on a cassette he wanted towould, because I never thought he would dorecord properly, some time on his hands, andany work for anyone else, y'know with his timea studio in his basement that he presumably
well spent with the Stones. But at that time
thought would be better used than allowed toAnita was in Switzerland and Mick [Jagger]
collect dust.
was doing a lot of the Stones' vocals at Island,
It has now led to the staging of two concerts
so Keith was at a bit of a loose end, in limbo
in London (July 13 and 14) featuring material
between here and Island."from the album, with a lineup that includes
Wood has always expressed admiration for
Richards, McLagan, Newmark and Weeks.
the Richards guitar technique, and socially
The inevitable conclusion is that it's one morethey obviously hit it off. All this doesn't
step towards that much -vaunted Faces breaknecessarily mean that all runs smoothly in theup that has stirred up so muchstudio: "I must admit I worried a bit at the startgossip in recent months.
because of the time I thought he took in"There's none of this 'split'
recording. Like, on any Stones' sessions I've
thing in the air at all," he said.
been to they always seem to be there for days
"There's just a lot of chemistryon one number, and that frightened me a bit.
with everybody in the band
I thought I was going to have to build myself inright now, and this album anda lot more studio time. As it turned out he wasshow is a good outlet for Rod toamazingly together. He didn't hang me up at
sing at Elton's show, or Tetsu to
all time -wise, and the enthusiasm he put into it
play with Stomu Yamash'ta, orgave me a good kick up the ass now and again.
for the Small Faces to reunite"Rod also helped a lot. He was still geared
for a couple of gigs.
to a studio mood after finishing his own album,"Everybody is letting off
and rather than feature his voice he gave me
steam in different directions
pointers for my own singing and joined in theand looking forward to getting
chorus. I really had to jump in at the deep end
together again. It can't do thewith my singing anyway, not being a vocalist as
Faces any harm, especially ifsuch. Rod and Jagger opened me up a lot andyou get in a rut with the music
I tried to put myself in the position where I
paper -buying public who get todidn't have time to think about itknow a group year after year.
"It could all get really silly some nights,"The best from the Faces isthough. Like Rod suggested I tried the old
yet to come. We've had some
Jimmy Reed number 'Ain't That Loving You
great times already, of course,
Baby', and he was saying it was dead easy andbut unfortunately we've maybe
I couldn't fall off at any of the corners, so we'd
never quite come over onrecord that. Then Keith would arrive and say,record, which has caused a few frustrations'You can't play it like that, it changes in thefor us in the past. With this album there's
wrong place', because he used to analyse allnone of that kind of pressure anyway. I'mthese old blues records inside out. Then I'd
not trying to compete with Phil Spector or
think I'd have to record it again, but by that
Richard Perry, just limiting myself to eight time I would have an idea for a track and it'dtrack surroundings."
get overlooked."
So was there a conscious effort to get away
Wood's studio itself is really a fairly modest
from a Stewart/Faces album?
affair, if quite homely, with a plush red carpet"Not really, because I thought it would be
and assorted objets d'art
different anyway because
on the walls. According to
I was taking the helm. If any
Wood, the fact that it wasof us did the same, it'din his studio, in his home,obviously sound different.
quelled any possible"I'd always had this thing
clashes of ego among thewith Andy Newmark saying
with a name on
various visiting luminaries.
he'd be on it if I ever made"If I'd recorded in any
an album. Then when I wasof the known studios inwith the group in Japan
America or London it'dand Australia something
have all been big
clicked. I suddenly opened
announcements like, 'Eric
up for some reason and
Clapton's here, what can we dub him on?'realised I had enough ideas to start working
Instead, everybody just fell in... and fell out...
on. I was really proud of my playing then; I justof the door really. Before you knew it you
wanted to keep in the groove.
had a track with a name on without anybody"I mentioned it to a few people and thethinking about it. It was all just friendly vibes."
thing started rolling. People kept asking me
So, finally, does it concern him if it sells?
'What day do we start?' Mick Taylor put a lot in"Not at all. If it just sells to my family and toat the beginning, 'cos before I knew Willy's
a couple of friends I can bribe to buy it, it'll be
whereabouts Mick was going to play guitar,
OK. There's no previous solo effort to live up to
and I was going to play bass. Like, I'd got sickon any level, so there's no worries." JamesJohnsonof the bass after Beck, but the feeling grew

"Before you knew
it you had a track

without anybody
thinking about it"

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 93

1974

JUIY -SEPTEMBER"One
broken tooth,everyonethinks you're
Atanuuritzt,aopens up about

Brian, Mick and "thebest -kept secret in
the Rolling Stones".
And drugs? Keith
discusses a recent
appointment in

NME

you're going to
get wasted," heconfides, "getwasted elegantly."5

MST 31-T'S A BALMY monoxide breeze that blows off the Thames across from Cheyne Walk.
There's a yellow GPO truck stewed up on the pavement across from Keefs front door
with two guys in overalls making marathon work of stripping bits of wire with pliers.
Somewhere between there and here -Atlantic's omni-carpeted West End smoked glass labyrinths -the man is, you might say, in transit. This, if one is to lend credence tothe popularised Richards persona, being no mean feat.
Your confidant, having arrived early, is dropping cubes in anticipation. The Big K's newest
exploit, as relayed to him in the cab coming over, having been the drawing of a knife duringa recent altercation.
Skip lightly, then.
Still feel the cops breathing on you, Keith?
"Oh ho -do I, baby- I see these phoney workmen outside my front door everyday; I'm movin'very shortly. Mick an' I feel it -but it doesn't bother us particularly. I mean, after every raid one
just improves one's security systems, ya know?" A lackadaisical smirk and a quick glance right at
Spanish Tony, a tall, chisel -faced Aramis king with immaculate grey sprayed hair, expensively
cut denims, shades and a Hawaii Five-Owhiff of neat and silent ruthlessness.
Yeah, but how about the latest one, the gun bust?
Aw, that saga ended in Marlborough Street Magistrates Court with a very sensible magistrate
who saw the way the wind was blowin' from our friends at Scotland Yard and -uh- wasreasonable enough to understand that- er- because I had to plead gu ilty because fromeverything found in my house, technically I was guilty..." x,1

Switzerland. "If

94 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

villain..."Keith Richards

givinganinterriew
at the Atlantic
Recordsoffices in
LondartAugust1974

1914

95

It happened last year. The cops blew inon Keith and Pallenberg and a friend andthis gun and this whole pantechnicon of
medicine cabinet marvels!
"There are like- uh- 15 charges andwith everyone I had to say 'guilty' - butthen I came out with my mitigation,
which was fantastic because it really
showed the cops up for what they were.
They even tried to string in this old Belgian shotgun that was built in, ah,
1899 or something -obviously one of those fowlin' pieces a father'd givehis son when he was 12 or 11 or something. And the police tried theirdamnedest to tell this 'ere magistrate that this weapon was a sawn-off
shotgun. From that moment the magistrate saw what was happening.
That I'd walked into my house which I'd rented to a lot of people who'dbeen very clumsy and not cleaned up after themselves."
The person to his left nods sagely; this young guy with long black hairthat looks as if it's been boot -polished, anda pair of Peter Fonda mail-order shades partiallyobscuring a mouldering Mother's Pridecomplexion. Richards later claims he arrived
on his doorstep to present him with tapes of
his group, Cyanide. So here he is hitting into
the Jack Daniel's like a recently qualified
Southern barfly.
"Actually," says Richards, in his personablenasal tones, "it was a very nice gun, the newmodel revolverwith a hammer guard. It'dbeen sent to me by a bodyguard on our '72 tourof America, who felt that I should never be
without one- 'You're never alone with a Smith

CONTRARY TO POPULAR legend, Richards is one sharp
interviewee. Anyone who's viewed the oft -quoted Robert
Greenfield Rolling Stone interview will, if they have any kindof taste, have marvelled at: (a) his turn of phrase; (b) his humour -prancing about beneath the dry, absorbent facade. Greenfield coveredit all- as Anthony Scaduto, who lifted mighty chunks for the bones ofhis book Mick Jagger is well aware. This, too, seemed like some kind oflegitimate jousting point, anyway, as Himself appears to have been
doing quite a few press things recently, most of which seem to ramble
on about the belated critical laurels bestowed on Exile and a bit of junkabout the new album.
The real questions you'd like to pose are: (a) How many times a year
does he have his blood changed?; (b) What is the composition of the
cocktail menu of congestants that supposedly necessitate this?; (c) Whatin the hell happened to his teeth? (viz The Charcoal Smile); (d) The
validity of some of the more outrageous fracas he's supposed to have been
involved in; and (e) Why each part of his body appears to function fromsome several unconnected information centres-thus, for example, giving him the lope of aclumsily handled marionette as yet perfected
only by Nick Kent... and that after years of study.
Over to Scaduto, though, even though heprobably doesn't deserve it. There are certain
allegations in the book -both direct andindirect -that Keith might want to respond to
if for no other reason that a whole bunch ofpeople're gonna read it, and like most thingsin print, believe it.
"It appears to me," Keef says languidly, "thatAnthony (Anthony???) got Marianne very, veryout of it for a few days and wrote down
everything she cared to memorise and - uh -"It was a very

& Wesson. 96 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

nice gun...
sent to me by abodyguard on
our '72 tour"KEITH RICHARDS

embellish. 'Embellished Memories' I'd call it.
I haven't read it, but sure I'd love to hear 'em-at least it'd save me reading the crap..."Righto, squire. Well, firstly, Scaduto hints
that in the beginning -when Mick had
started doing the odd one-off with Alexis
Korner's Blues Incorporated - Keith was kindof excluded on account of this uncouth yobbo
image -that what he was into at the time wasalitt le - uh - rough.
Like the very first time when Keith andJagger got up together with the band and tore
through a ravaged version of Berry's "Around
And Around":"When their single number was completed
they received a polite bit ofapplausefrom someand a stony silence from many. Cyril (Davies,
co -leader and singer harpist with the band)
joined them. 'Good voice you got,' he said to
Jagger. He pointedly ignored Keith. Dick Taylor,
sitting it out as a member ofthe audience, felt
strongly that everyone in the place had hated
Keith's disruptive Chuck Berry routine andwere anxious to dismiss him as a mere rocker...
"Jagger swilled some beer down his throatand said nothing. He was so overwhelmed by
the excitement ofhis first public appearance
that he could not saya word or even consider
the dreadfulaudience response to Keith's
playing. Jagger had made it. He'd played inJune1974:theStones-(I-r)Mick Taylor. Mick
Jagger, Keith Richards,
Charlie Watts and Bill
Wyman -shooting th,

front ofa hundred people and he was certain
he'd pulled it off .."And subsequently he claims:"Amongsome members of Blues Incorporated
and their wives, crew and associates, there wasa strongfeeling that Jagger had abandoned

Little Boy BlueAnd The Blue Boys, that he had
broken up the group by becominga singer invideofor"It'sOnly
Alex's band. Keith most of all appeared
RoclenRoll(But !LikeIt)"in London
stranded byJagger, Keith was always tagging
alongat Jagger's side, the friend with the guitar
who watched from a table out front but was never permitted to play because
he was a rocker...""It's an interestin' twist," says Richards,
smiling contemplatively. "I never wanted to playwith Blues Incorporated and they never wanted
me to play with them. The true story about thatis that Mick, myself, DickTaylor from the oldPretty Things and another guitarist who's now
an official with the Labour Party, Bob Beckwith,
met Brian in this club that Alexis was playing.
We'd sit in for a couple of numbers and a few
weekend dates, deb dates that Alexis copped
occasionally through - uh -kissing the hem ofsome lady-in-waiting.
"Mickwould be invited along on some of thesedates to sing just because he was a bit of a freakthen and they loved the response... getting allthese chinless wonders comin' up: seay,'Ay,
cheppie, can yew play 'M000n Rivah'?' - to Alexis
and Cyril Davies, can you imagine? But I never
had any desire to join that band: that band droveme crazy, quite honestly. I thought it was justa very, very amateurish attempt by a lot of
middle-aged old men, ya know?
"The only period he [Scaduto] touches on withany kind of sensitivity is when there was thisperiod of two months in '62 where Mick wasdoing quite a few gigs with Blues Incorporated tothe exclusion of rehearsals with the embryonic
Rolling Stones. Brian particularlywas feelingthat Mickwas just after as much bread as he could
get- uh, two pound ten a week -and because he[Brian] was a stickler for rehearsals he felt that to a certain extent Mick
was deserting us -which was, to any rational person, rather silly, because
the Stones weren't working at all.
"To be honest I can't remember that far back, but actually ! probably
played really diabolically then -but I was still a better guitar player thanAlexis everwas. I mean, I loveAlexis and the kind of music he lays down,
he's really good at it, but the kind of music we were getting into then well, he wasn't 100 per cent behind it. He was tryin' to force somethin'that wasn't really in him. It got to the point where after three or four weeks
we'd go down and Mick'd say, 'Let's do "Roll Over Beethoven", and Alexis
would suddenly plunge one of his metal thumb picks through his stringsand say,' Oh sorry, old chap, I think I've busted a string -you just carryon,
because he knew he couldn't keep up with that kind of beat, ya know?"
There was no kind of class barrier between the three of you? I mean,
Brian and Mick both came from middle-class homes and you were
working class. Scaduto, to an extent seems to play on this...
"No. That's... that's beautiful. Anthony's surpassed himself there I didn't think 'e'd get down to that one. Mick and I had known each othersince we were five years old. We lived in the same street. It wasn't until
five or sixyears later that people realised that those things didn't matter.
In those days it was more of an inverted snobbery; it could be usedagainst you. One was presumed to come from the lowest part of town
and play the guitar too; grammar school people were considered to bepansies and twerps."
And the suggestion that Brian was a purist and that his disillusionment
stemmed from the band moving away from the original sound?
"Brian was never a purist. He used to like to pretend he was, when it
was convenient. Which was great. It was a great trick he had. In actual
fact, Brian used to play saxwith a Cheltenham rock'n'roll band called
The Ramrods who used to do all Duane Eddy stuff -and that was his
claim to fame."
And the claim that the very first studio cuts (at IBC studios with GlynJohns) were considered by Brian and the rest of you to be superior to therest of the initial commercial releases?
"We thought theywere good fora first effort, but that was largely down
to Glyn, who was an experienced engineer. Theywere linked to us via the
Cheam crowd when we were doing all these little pub shows," he says.
"Rather like you're doin' now," he adds, addressing the remark to Senor
Cyanide, who meanwhile has been trying to look desperately rugged
whilst wiping himself out with bourbon, losing out with gauche little
gestures like knocking the bottle over and spilling the contents of theashtray over the plate of cold cuts.
"Don't trust nobody," he advises, "and don't
sign nothin'." The kid nods.
Brian's disenchantment, he says, returning tothe original point, arose out of an incident inLiverpool towards the end of '63 when the band
found out he'd been laying it on their managerof the time (their first), Eric Easton, that he was
the leader and was thus entitled to the peelingoff of an extra fiver a week. The band, withforceful aplomb, immediately redistributed
this additional wealth.

"Mick and I

had knowneach othersince we were
five years old"

Next?
"Brian played a special role in the band,a musician's musician who seemed to be
everywhere at once," Scaduto writes, foaming alittle at the nib, "whose function within the band
was to use all the instruments he had mastered tocreate the ringing harmonics that gave to theStones' music a texture and embroidery andmade them the so-called Greatest Rock'n'Roll
Band In The World. Brian's music was ofsuch
a beauty that it brought the Stones together inthe beginningand held the group together likeglue through the trip to superstardom."
A much -contested point. Nico seemed topartly agree (so did Steve Marriott in a recent

conversation) but, c'mon, he wasn't thatgood,surely? Just another case of Scaduto reinforcing
his argument?
"To be fair to Brian..." Richards accepts acigarette and pours himself another drink,
HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 197

1974

JULY -SEPTEMBER"because he's dead I can say, 'Oh, Brian was a fantastic musician', but it
wasn't true. Brian wasn't a great musician. He did have a certain feel for
certain things, but then everybody in the band has that for certain things
too. And there was a nice bit of chem ist ry there fora while wh ich
unfortunately didn't stay. Brian was the least capable of copi ng withteenybopper stardom and it made him so depressed that eventually hebecame a liability, and especially because of the pressure we- as a band

-were under. Also Mick and I, afterAndrew had got us into writing which we'd never dreamt of doing. After the first couple got to Number
One it increased Brian's antagonism towards us."
Scaduto, at this point, shifts into fifth and puts his foot down; he suggeststhat Andrew, Keith and Mick formed a kind of exclusive triumvirate forworking up new Stones material.At one point he even has Bill
complaining about it. "Brian," he says, "felt that Jaggerand Keith had been
engineering his isolation from the group in an attempt to drive him out.""Not true," says Richards. "Brian as far as I know neverwrote a single
finished song in 'is life; he wrote bits and pieces but he never presented
them to us. No doubt he spent hours, weeks, working on things -but hisparanoia was so great that he could never bring himself to present it to us.
"Bill wrote and we did give 'im a chance -on

Satanic Majesties -which we even put out as asingle, goddamn. Bill Wyman is the only cat in
the Stones to have singles out under his own
name, ya know? We bent over backwards toencourage people to write. We really do notwant to have to take the responsibility ofcoming up each time with new material we're really working on Mick Taylor now because I think he could be a great writer."
Could you not have approached Brian, though-encouraged him?
"I did. Around '661 had a change of heart
because the pressure dropped off as we stopped
touring; for the next year Brian and I became

firm friends again -1 was livingwith him andAnita for two years.The
thing that blew it was when we went down to Morocco and he was pulling
this hard -man number knocking off Moroccan whores- uh- and being
absolutely disgustin' and everything, so I said, 'C'mon, baby, I'm takin'
you home', so we left and that was the end of Brian and me as friends.
"Over that year I'd developed a very st rong friendship. I'd managed tobreak down a lot of barriers, but you see Brian always had to have anenemy, he always had an imaginary foe. He was a bit of a Don Quixote,
I suppose. Brian would always manipulate people into these situationsof provi ng your friendship to him by doing something dastardly to theother person.
"All I tried to do with Brian was bring 'im more into the groove, because
he wasn't really doing anything any more- he wasn't contributing
anything to the group. Alllwanted to do was bring him back into themainstream again, but Brian used that fact to create a vendetta against
Mick, because Brian always wanted to be... like this whole thing of'Who
do the chicks like the most?' that started with him back in '63.
"I'm sure that goes on with Slade and The Sweet now."
Well, that's Mr S trussed up and deep-fried. One of the things I pickedup from scanning old Jagger interviews particularly those of Messrs Kent and Carr -wasthat Jagger appears to exhibit this tiny twinkleof condescension towards Richards' perhaps
more tightly defined R&B origins -and inparticular his oft -touted love for early Chuck
Berry. Like the question -and -answer thing Carr
performed with Jagger this year in which he(Carr) leads through with the statement: "He'Richards' still plays Chuck Berry", to which
Jagger is supposed to have chuckled andreplied, "Yeah- but I try and forget about that."
There are also hazy second-hand reports ofminor irritations between the two in recording
Goats Head Soup.
Taking it a couple of stages"Brian wasn't
a greatmusician. He
did have acertain feel"Richards, August 1974:"Mick is veryconsciousof not wanting to be
associtated withanything that might beconsidered'oldhat-December 8, 1969:
Richardsand- Anita Pallenberg
relax at home -3CheyneWalk.
Chelsea. London

further, you can cast back to the beginnings ofthe band and Jagger's reputed concern for"making it" almost as a solo -act -within -the -act,
and then project into the future where we find the
man apparently achieving his ambitions in thisalleged socialite stance which, you might recall,involved the inclusion of such superluminaries
as Truman Capote, Warhol and token aristocracyin the form of Princess Lee Radziwill on the '72
US tour (consider, too, the band's- and inparticular Jagger's- involvement with theOrmsby -Gores. "LadyJane" was supposedly
written for Jane Ormsby -Gore.)
Richards, not unnaturally, slurs off in a well disguised sidestep:"Mick," he says, "plays games with every
interview because Mick always has his guard up.
Mick is also very conscious, to my mind, of not
wanting to be associated with anything thatmight be considered 'old hat'. He doesn't listen
to Chuck Berry any more, but then ! don't play
like Chuck Berry any more unless Mick comesup with a song that calls for that treatment, andthen I'll love it and blow it out like that, ya know?
"But Chuck Berry is by no means the only guitar
player I dig. There's... there's a hell of a lot ofothers, from James Burton to-ah- (draws breath,exhales sharply, shrugs) there's millions of 'em,"Bill hasprobably oneof the biggest
bladders inexistence"

goddamn, and 'arf of them you never 'eard of."
At which point he launched into a turgid
discourse on guitar players from Mac Gayden
to E Clapton, whom he refers to as "a chubby
bearded lad who will no doubt change into someother form within the next year or so". (He confesses to worrying about
the Big C's "current condescending attitude to rock'n'roll".)
Mr Cyanide, meanwhile, has lost his reins completely. The tape ispunctuated by the sound of glass colliding with glass and a short treatiseon liquor in which C blows a measure of cool by referring to Budweiser as"Boodwizer" during the Big K's praising ofVunderverks of Kentucky.
"Boodwizer's nice," says the kid.
"Yeah, but that's real Milwaukee commercial stuff," says Richards
languidly. "You actually go down in Kentucky, Louisville, and they've got
bourbons that make Old Grandad and Jack Daniel's look like Schweppes
bitter lemon... There's one called - ah - Rebel Yell and that's-ah -dynamite shit."
I bet, but -ah -well, Keith, what is this stuff about you and-ah -theseblood changes in Switzerland?
Rod Lynton, Atlantic press officer, inhales audibly and gesticulates that
this is a faux -pas. "What?" says Richards, grinning through that charreddental bombsite. "That's beautiful. I love that. I've heard about that thing
and I'd love to do it just because I'm sure that eating motorway food for 10
years has done my blood no good at all. The only time I've ever been to
Switzerland is to ski."Motorway food? Richards on skis? Richards looks as if he's on skis justwalking down the street. I mean, c'mon... Well, try some light relief. Is ittrue that Jagger was influenced by Little Feat's Sadin' Shoes in therecording ofExile, then?
"I'll let you into a secret. I've neverheard Little Feat, although I've
heard of them. I'm actually quite,
ah, ignorant of a lot of things that goon, mainly because I'm forced to livein these wooden huts in the forest
for quite a long part of the year, ya
know, in Switzerland. You don't
really get to hear a lot of soul musicin Switzerland."Spot the deliberate error, folks.
Is it true, then, that you hurled an
ashtray at the altar when Mick andBianca got married?
"Uh -well at one point I did 'eave
a rather 'efty piece of metal at apoliceman; they didn't know me from Adam.
I 'ad to get in somehow..."
And your involvement in the '65 Urination Bust(the Stones hit the headlines having been caught
one night taking a leak against a gas station wall.
They thought it was closed. It wasn't.)"No, that was Brian and Bill. I finished minefirst... The thing with Bill is -and this is one of
the best kept secrets in the Rolling Stones -that
he has probably got one of the biggest bladders
in human existence. When that guy gets out ofa car to take a pee you knowyou aren't going tomove for 15 minutes. I mean it's not the firsttime it's 'appened to 'im...
"In America one night we pull up in the limo this Cadillac limo. Bill wants a pee. Everyone's gonna have a cup of coffee.
Bill's used to it, he's way behind this tree or somethin. He has a fag, reads apaper or somethin'- and he sees this policeman coming. He's powerless,right?And this policeman comes up with his torch blazing on thismemberwhich is still gushing away like a fireman's hose... and, well,what could 'e do?All 'e can say is, 'Well, put it away and wipe it when
you've finished.' I think even he was horrified... To my knowledge, Bill
has never done one in under five minutes."
A quickie -then dart for the shrubbery. Umm... Keith how about thisclaim that you are about to become The Next Pigpen?
"Well... I mean, I gave up drugs when the doctor told me I had six
months to live... I mean -if you're gonna get wasted, get wasted elegantly.
"Now the thing is," he says, fiddling with the shattered remains of a premolar so that a small piece comes away between his fingers (he looks at it
querulously), "I'm terrified of dentists. You've only got to 'ave one broken
tooth for everyone to think you're a villain -but I'll surprise you all next
year. I promise you. I'm just waiting for this new technique to come out there was a point where I could groove on it but- ah- last month anotherchunk fell off and since then it's fallen outta favourwith me." PeteErskine-

Extracts from Mick Jagger byAnthony Scaduto reprinted by kindpermission ofWH Allen
and Co Ltd.

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1974
"

JULY -sEMIVIER"Very strange
happenings"
The lesser -spotted
discusses his career
to date: art school, studio sessions, even his magickal
enthusiasms.
, however, remain his
all -consuming occupation. "When you've written
a number," he says, "it's the beginning, not the end."

JimmyPage:"I'mterrible,sloppy...anilliterate guitarist.
But every now andthensomethinggooc
willcome through"

1974
JULY

IIBER

MELODY MAKER SEPTEMBER 7-

jIMMY PAGE SAYS he'd sooner listen to Moroccan music
than the Top 20, but the day that music stops sending
shivers down his spine is the time he'll know that music
isn't for him - "And I tell you, that day is a long way off."
He also says: "The musical situation is infinite. It doesn't
matter if someone likes the New York Dolls and thinks Joni
I itchell's rubbish, it doesn't matter at all; it's just one personal opinion,
Providing one doesn't start ramming it down somebody else's throat
and becoming a pundit." Pause, adding to his interviewer, "the ball's inyour court."
This makes Mr Page seem a very fair-minded and tolerant person, which
he probably is although his reputation suggests someone with a skin as
thin and sensitive as membranes. I recall, for instance, the time when heand other members of Led Zeppelin poured beer over the editor of anewspaper whose critic had in turn poured scorn over their latest album.
And in truth he has not been happy with some of the critiques offered bythis paper in the past, to the point that his aversion to journalists has
everywhere been marked. "It's harder to interview Jimmy Page than Elvis
Presley," a PR man confided several weeks ago.

r
102

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

But here we are, sitting in his manager's old office off Oxford Street,
London, eating kebabs off a coffee table -celebrating, so to speak, thedownfall of the Greek regime. And Mr Page, who had not beeninterviewed by MMfor more than three years, was being as nice as pie the face almost cherubic, the voice boyish and somewhat gleeful, thoughwith an edge of petulance to it when he felt suspicious of the questions.
He still remembers, for example, Nik Cohn's Sunday Times colour
supplement story on him of a decade ago, when he was a session guitarist:"We don't call him Cohn," he says deadpan, "we call him Con, 'cos I didn't
say any of that. He just interpreted what he wanted to say; he's anopportunist." A vaguely disgusted look. "That was my first encounter
with journalism."
Undaunted, however, by this reminiscence, over to me with the ball
resting in my court and looking for an opening, I admitted to him that
I wasn't too fond of the group's lyrics.
"I see. Which ones?" he demanded. Those on Houses OfThe Holy for one.
So didn't I like any of them, he asked? Not particularly. Well, he muses
tentatively, that was Plant's department on the fifth; from the fourth LP
he didn't write lyrics. On the fourth LP he'd thought the lyrics were fine,because they were objective. On Houses OfThe Holy it had become
more... subjective.
We left it at that. Fifteen love. But thenI tried a passing shot down his backhand
side: how did it feel being one of the
February14,t974:Pagefounding fathers, with Jeff Beck, of heavy
at Roy Harper 8 Friends'
Valentine'sDayConcert
metal and/or punk rock?
attheRainbowTheatre,"Is that punk rock or spunk rock?" he
Finsbury Park. London
asked uncertainly. Pause. "Well, I dunno."
Sounding mystified and vaguely upset.
'Father' -what's that mean? Me and Beck?
Well... I wasn't it. No one's ever come up
with that one before. I dunno what you callpunk rock; actually I mean, there was arecord that came out in the States just after'Whole Lotta Love' called 'American
Woman,' which was a direct steal. Tell me
what it is exactly."
I attempted to explain. Something
about an emphasis on volume and rifting,manic fuzz -tone and inarticulate lyrics:
a reaction against rock music as art. Mr
Page considered carefully. "Let me say one
thing first: you're saying making music is
an art form."
Well... "You're thinking of groups likeYes there, aren't you?" As a matter of fact,
I wasn't. "Well," he pressed on. "I don't
particularly hate them. I think Yes must get
excited during their rehearsals, but thatonce the thing's recorded it must be reallypainful, because they've got to play it notefor note. They have a relevance because
they're bridging a particular gap, for it's
not one that I especially like, although
I know I can do it- I had to when I was
playing session work, to live within theconfines of something. But I couldn't do
the same thing every night.
"Now punk rock" - he sat back,contemplatively -"I've never heard theterm before, quite honestly. I've heard of'heavy', and I remember the days gone bywhen we were equated with Black Sabbath,Grand Funk and Deep Purple, but we're
nowhere near any of those.
"We're totally different. I mean, 'Stairway
To Heaven' isn't a number that Grand Funkwould come up with. Still, I've only ever
heard one Grand Funk number, on theradio, so I dunno. I dunno." He looked
genuinely puzzled. What about thecriticism that Zeppelin tookwhat Cream
had and coarsened it?

LED ZEPPELIN"No, I've never read that, either. But whatever Cream had, it destroyed
them; it hasn't destroyed us." A touch defiant, bordering on annoyed.
"What are you saying, anyway? That they extended numbers andjammed on thi ngs? The Yardbirds were doing that before the Creamwere even formed!"That element of the riff, mind you. "Yeah, we play on riffs, but they're notalways as straightforward as they might appear. For instance, 'Black Dog'
-I'd like to see another band play the riff to that, accurately. There's riffs
and riffs." Quite so.
Jimmy Page becomes positively protective on the subject of his band.
Because, he says, he's always been totally committed to Led Zeppelin "as I always will be, I should think" - he's turned down lots of offers to
produce other artists, Freddie King among them. Also, he's inordinately
proud that the group is still together, touring consistently, after six years,
when a zillion others have folded in the meantime -an attitude thatpermeates the Zeppelin camp but seems to breed as well a mild paranoia
about outside reactions to them.
He can't forget that two years ago all the press- so he says -wanted toknowwhen the band was going to split up. They had nothing else to print,
he suggests. Furthermore, unlike a great many other musicians within
a band, who simply go out and make solo albums, there is apparently no
conflict between the public's expectations of him and his own desire asa musician to develop. He never, everwrites material that isn't Zeppelin,
he says, although increasingly these days he's thinking harmonically, ie
harmonies with the very odd chords, which seems some way away from"Communication Breakdown".
Still, remembering the old days of twin guitardom with Beck, he thinks
sometimes he's missing a second guitar on stage. There's a number on the
new album called "Ten Years Gone" which he's worked all out at homeand has eight guitars going at one point. How do they do that on stage, heasks himself. Then reflects aloud: "We've always managed to get overthese things. The most exciting aspect of the band is that when you've
written a number and it's been recorded, it's only the beginning, not theend; the number is in the bud, and it's going to blossom onstage. Whether
one likes the band or not, that's definitely a fact about us."
He has another theory about Zeppelin: that its personal chemistrymustn't be tampered with, and if you interrupt the teamwork it changes
the whole concept. For this reason he won't, as ! suggested to him, be
producing his good friend Roy Harper, who will probably be joining Zep'slabel, Swansong, but retaining his manager,
Peter Jenner, and John Leckie as producers.
Zeppelin once wrote a song about Harper,"Hats OffTo Harper", and Page appeared with
Harper at the latter's solo concert at the
Rainbow on February 14 ("We maybe playeda fewwrong notes here and there, but what the
hell! The spirit of the thingwas great"). He got
into Harper, he says, from the first LP,
Sophisticated Beggar -which he received froma friend who was a representative for Strike
Records, Harper's label then -and he liked theway Harper spat out his lyrics.
So when he saw him at the Bath Festival
in 1969, he immediately asked him to play
"Blackpool" and the friendship sprang up fromthere. It was another of those tragedies that an album like
Stormcock should be released and received "no real pushwhatsoever from EMI", and on and on and on with the LPs
that came out after that and were equally as good. But he's
always been "pro -Roy".
I wondered about Page's own beginnings. Of course, it
was virtually folklore now that for three years in the early'60s he'd been a top session guitarist; there was only he and
Big Jim Sullivan among the sessioners, we're led tounderstand, who could come up with the required rocklicks. And he did a few jazz sessions too, with such as Tubby
Hayes and Mark Murphy.
He used to be paid seven quid for a three-hour session.
Then it went up to nine. In the end he couldn't wait to packit in. The discipline had been very good, but it ultimately
became very restrictive, and he didn't want to end up likea lot of those blokes appeared to be. Maybe they weren't,
he adds unconvincingly, quite what he thought theywere,

but all the same, he could see himself becoming a nine -till -ten man, or
whatever the hours were.
Then again, it was mid -'60s and the Stax sound was moving in. Guitar
solos weren't in vogue any more. It was Steve Copper riffs and the saxes
were taking over. He just got fed up. He wasn't playing properly any more.
So in 1965 he joined The Yardbirds.
Nobody had asked him; he'd volunteered, although there'd been offers
in the past. Bassist Paul Samwell-Smith had left, and he "knew Geoffrey
well", so he's just upped and joined, out of boredom, chiefly. It lasted until
the summer of '68 and then he began to think about Zeppelin.
But the sessions had had their productive, or at least historicallyinteresting, moments. It was during the session period, for instance, that
he'd picked up on applying a violin bow to the guitar st ring. A violinist had
suggested it: "I told him, 'You're out of your mind.' But I had a go, and it
worked, so I started to develop it. I didn't really get a chance to get into it
until I was in The Yardbirds." He tried to recall: "I did do it on one session
record, but I don't remember what it was now."
Who could he recall playing for? Well, there'd certainly been the early
Kinks records, despite what Ray Davies had said about him only playing
tambourine. "That's bollocks! I played on a whole LP and on some of thesingles, too. I played second guitar mostly, but I did do certain licks thatappeared as well. It was no big deal, though. They made the big deal out of
it. I wasn't shouting over it."For some reason he could also recollect sessions with Carter -Lewis &the Southerners -who went on to become The Ivy League -with Viv
Prince on drums. And a radio broadcast with them (but no live gigs).
But in the beginning, before the sessions, it was Neil Christian & the
Crusaders, and him not yet 16 and still at school. Imagine it: Neil andyoung Jimmy and the rest had once actually played at some Jewish
festival -they'd booked Christian & the Crusaders! Mr Page laughs
gleefully, as if it were some Just William prank.
Anyhow, he was with them until one day he collapsed and gave it up.
Only 15, and the nights on the road took their toll -he kept getting
glandular fever- and when he was about 18 it finally hit him. Plus a nonmedical factor: the Berry and Diddley stuff they were doing was not being
unanimously received. So he blew it out and went to art school. Most of it
spent at Sutton -which was near his home town of Epsom- togetherwith ashort spell at Croydon. Thus he joined the long line of art school guitarists:
Richard, Clapton, Townshend, Beck, Davies, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
Only thingwas he hit the guitar and stuck toharmonica, so his fellow students wouldn't
expect him to play in the lunch hour. Could he,
I interrupted, remember his first guitar?
Yes, he could. It was a Spanish, probably a real
one, but steel -strung, which someone had given
his parents for him; and then after that he'd hada Hofner. In fact, he supposed the reason he'd
become a guitarist was that it was the only thing
not taught at school, where he'd studiously
learned how to be a rebel. Art school, whichlasted for 18 months, was much better; a perfecteducation for learningwhy he was rebelling.
No, actually, that wasn't quite true. At Sutton
he'd developed a real interest, he says, in the x.

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1974
JOEY

SE?1EMBER

Pre-Raphaelites, and from thenon, art nouveau, of which he hasa collection in his house down in
Sussex. But he finally discovered
he was going to be a bettermusician than artist, and here
lay the rub. He quit, and went
jamming around on the early
London scene, often at theMarquee, where Cyril Davies
was an eminence.
Even now he rates thatparticular London era above theMerseyside explosion, andcertainly believes early Stones
eclipsed early Beatles. He
remembers the first London gig
of The Beatles, at Leyton Baths,
and they died a death; he'semphatic. He was with the
Crusaders at that time, but
preparing to jack it in, so it'squite clear in his mind.
"Theyweren't any better thanany of the London -based bands
at all. It was their songwritingthat came through, when they
stopped doing 'Hey, Mr
Postman' and things like that.
But it even happened in London,
not up in the north.
"The blues came through,and it's the blues you relate to
the later stuff, the Hendrixes
and the Creams and all that,
more than The Beatles' stuff.
But you can relate The Beatles
to the psychedelic era. That's
why I don't think The Beatles

really became important
until Revolver."Notwithstanding all thisexcitement in the capital, young
Page opted for session work,
because, he says, blues and thesort of rock he liked had no"There'sriffsandriffs":
I
Led Zeppelin-(c/wise
chance then of getting in thefromtop)JohnBonham
charts. It was a very crafty
Jimmy Page,John Paul;
JonesandRobertPlant
number. Big Jim Sullivan had
three times as much work as hecould handle, so Page nipped in. One assumes he was feeling theinsecurity of the times. Since that Marquee period, at any rate, he's neverbeen one for just jammingaround, even during the heyday of the British
blues when musicians were going to clubs with their guitars. OK, but how
did he define himself as a guitarist?
He permits himself a modest smile. "Terrible. Really sloppy. I'm justtotally u neducated. An illiterate guitarist, really. But it doesn't make any
difference, because every now and then something good will comethrough. I'm not a schooled guitarist, by anymeans. And I don't read -except for the musical4

equivalent of a seven -year -old. But that's how it
was on the sessions: if there was any bit I wasn't
quite sure about, by the time they were ready tocount in I'd got it off."I said that to me he had a good sense ofthe

dynamics of rhythm... "Dynamics, yeah, but
that's something else. I would put that more onan emotional plane"... but that Beck had a morearg

fluid style. He shook his head slowly.
"When you see Beck and he's good- and I
know he's an erratic player- then he's the best.
But there's no guarantee you're gonna see him
at his best, that's the trouble. I just know that you
104 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

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can see Beck and there wouldn't be anyone else to touch him. Maybe I'm
attempting to be more consistent."
Duane Allman? "Well, the tragedy of Duane Allman was that he died at
the point he was really starting to lift off. I wasn't too knocked out withhim at the beginning, but he was getting better and better as he went on."Page, of course, cut Eric Clapton for Immediate with "Telephone Blues"and "Witch Doctor", though the recordings, he says, weren't compiled
under his jurisdiction; but Clapton, he thinks, was definitely the first one
to "really get the essence".
Or maybe it was Geoff Bradford, the blues
guitarist who used to play at the London
blues/folk club the Roundhouse, in the late
'50s and early '60s. He's not so sure, but it waspossibly Clapton-the first one anyway tosuccessfully take from the Americans the artof finger tremelo, while all around him
guitarists were concentrating on bottleneck
slide. He was an innovator.
And Hendrix?
Page actually beams: "Oh- he was out of thisgalaxy, he really was. I put his stuff on still andit's just so advanced of anything else, in myestimat ion. Absolutely brilliant.""I don't think
The Beatles
really became
importantuntil Revolver"LED ZEPPELIN

And to think that he never ever played with him, only met him once andsaw him play just on film -Pennebaker's Monterey Pop Festival -and thatin German! It -the film, that is- reduced him to tears all the same. He
adds suddenly: "But funnily enough I did happen to see a section from
Rainbow Bridge, and the contrast between that and the enthusiasm of theother -oh boy, what a change! He just looks so fed up, as if he's been
hustled into something he just doesn't want to do."Pause. "You know, I think Chris Welch's concept of Hendrix is a bit off
the beam, People always wanted to see him cavorting about the stage
doing his black Elvis Presley bit, and couldn't take him when he didn't.
I don't see that at all. He's wrong there.
"It's a shame he got such a hammering fromthe press. That time, during the economics ofrock, I remember it so clearly! It was the time
when we more or less began, doing our early
tour dates, and he'd done a date for $100,000 or
something very large, and there was all this big
thing about it. From that point on, he went
through that thing of not being sure of his
identity and going through the all -black group,and then chopping and changing. He didn't
quite know where he was." He stopped,thoughtfully. "But I've a feeling that just at theend there, he'd sorted it all out within himself."
I mentioned Robin Trower.
"Yeah." He was noncommittal. "It's nice. But,y'know, that's just one little aspect of Hendrix's style."
He went on to say that he hadn't had any particular guitar hero, he'd
liked so many different styles. Perhaps Paco Pefta for flamenco, Otis Rushfor blues, and James Burton in the rock'n'roll area- he did so hate to makecategories, though.

"Superstitions, yeah. Still there. Unbelievable." He drew the word out.
"But it's not an unfriendly place when you walk into it. It just seems tohave this thing...
"You see, people aren't used to total quiet, and that's what it is there.
There was this guywho shot himself- described in the local scandal
paper as a 'two -bottle -a -day man. A retired colonel, used to institutional
life and barracks background, people marching up and down -andsuddenly he's sitting there in peace and quiet, with his sister... it probably
just got on his nerves.
"But I won't get into all that. All I'm saying is that it's a really interestinghouse, and a perfect place to go when one starts
gettingwound up by the clock."
And Crowley, wasn't he a charlatan, as
most considered?
A swift rejoinder. "No, I think he wasundiscovered genius of the 20th century." Page
began to look rather forbidding.
"I'm saying no more about him. Y'know, Pete
Townshend always mentions Meher Baba, but
I just don't want to go about telling everybody
anything about Crowley. That's all I'm saying."
Why, I persisted?
"From what I've read," he replied shortly,"and I haven't just read one or two books, I've
done a lot of research - and as far as the paper's
sensationalism goes it doesn't bear any
relevance to the man whatsoever. No, don't do any spouting."
End of that conversation. But not wholly divorced from the subject is thefact that he's been working, at home, on a score for Kenneth Anger's film,
Lucifer Rising, a lot of which, he says, has been shot in Cairo.
"In twilight," he adds. "Dawning of the NewAge, you know; Lucifer
being the Light -Bearer and not Satan, as in Christian terms."
He became interested in distinction. "Let's face it, when the Church
started it was out to eliminate any sort of... not just pagan gods, butanything that was standing in its way. You know the atrocities of the
Church. The power of the Church today, as well. I mean, even though
it's crumbling, thank God, they're still knocking down Chelsea andbuggering things up." He was referring to church -owned land in thatparticular borough. What else had he been working on?
Well, there was a film of the band, shot mostly in the States during theirlast tour, and the new album, a double- "There's quite a lot of longnumbers on it." They'd hoped the album was going to be out in
September, but no way now; it and the film kept cutting across each other.
The film was a documentary?
"Oh no, only in that it documents a moment in time. It's a musical.
Fantasy sections are included as well -some tongue-in-cheek, others
more serious."
The bit on Bonzo, apparently, was all action -dynamite stuff, withrolling drums, dragsters - that kind of thing. But that section had been
done by a director whom they'd since replaced - "He'd go the priorities
a bit mixed up, and he missed a lot of stuff as well." So they'd brought inan Australian, Peter Clifton, who'd worked with the Stones, Floyd andHendrix, he believed.
The film, he said, would define the characters of each member of theband: "You know, actually present the more human side of Zeppeli n,
because nobody really seems to know that much about us as far as
offstage goes."I said that to me Zeppelin always appeared as four Dervishes, looning
through the American continent raping women and plundering hotels.
The whirling Dervish! He screamed with laughter. Actually, he musedafter the laughter had subsided, their last tour had been really tame. But
their reputations far exceeded them, to the point where they were banned
from the Speakeasy for others' actions.
But living out of a suitcase, you know, inevitably brought on road fever,and that's when the damage was done. Everybody had been through thatmadness, from rock musicians to the Rugby Lions.
And the present?
Well, his personal plans were to get every energy going into Swansong;
he'd given us a run for our money. And the album and the film track, ofcourse. "And then ! think I'll start my search for an angel with a broken
wing." He smiled his cherubic smile.
What did that mean?
"What it says," he answered mysteriously. Michael Watts"Crowley

was theundiscovered
genius of the20th century"

AT THIS POINT Mr Page was beginning to look a little
disgruntled about all these references to his past, a fact borneout at the end of our last conversation when he commented
that the less of the past the better. Perhaps it made him feel old.
So I started in, therefore, on the subject of Aleister Crowley, thesex -magician, that "dreadful young man" who purported to be thereincarnated spirit of Eliphas Levi. Page has a wide collection of Crowley's
porn -magic books, and occupies as well the Beast's one-time home on the
shores of Loch Ness, Boleskine House, where during Crowley's time there
the lodgekeeper is said to have gone mad from witnessing "semi materialised demons" (read Confessions OfAleister Crowley).
Page exclaimed: "Oh, you've been reading the Sunday Express" (which
was untrue). "Listen, they only put that nonsense in because theywere incompetition with M ick Jagger's revelations in the News OfThe World."
In fact the place, which he'd had four years now, was being restored, and"some absurd little man" had told him he could help identify a certain
staircase and had gone up there; the next thing he was aware ofwas
this... article. Yes, Crowley had lived there. He'd called himself the Laird
Of Boleskine and used to wait in the bushes and attack people with all his
friends dressed up in Highland regalia.
He'd been full of theatre. As for the lodgekeeper, that was nothing.
The house was built on the site of a kirk, dating possibly from the 10th
century, that had been burned down with all its congregation. From thatpoint on there'd always been "very, very strange happenings there".
Crowley's presence had just been a small part of it.
There had been suicides there, bankruptcies, all kinds of unfortunate
occurrences. A huge swindle had occurred there in the 1960s involving
George Sanders, the actor, the theme of which was that one spent a poundand invested in a piglet, which was in turn fattened up and sold at amarket for a large return.
What happened was that one of the directors took off to France with all
the money- and close to a million pounds had apparently been invested.
They'd built some of the piggery at Boleskine already, but the wholeenterprise was suddenly discovered to be a swindle.
Page broke off. Sanders' dying words, he reminded me, had been that"the whole world is a cesspit". He seemed to think it was relevant.
Anyhow, so now he'd had a preservation order put on the building
because the pig people had destroyed a part. Nobody else had wanted it; it
was in such a state of decay when he found it, and he hadn't originallyintended to buy, only it was so fascinating. I supposed there were all kindsof local traditions and superstitions.

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

105

1974

Jay - OMER

"I've got
perspectiveow"

A new album. UFO

sightings. Hanging
with Elton and Harry
Nilsson. How does
JOHN ' rkimn* havetime to record, muchless contemplate a
Beatles reunion?
"I'm going to be an

ex-Beatle for the
rest of my life," hesays. "I might aswell enjoy it."108 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

MELODY MAKER

N THE RECORD Plant studios in New
York, John Lennon is putting thefinishing touches to his next album.
Reaching a track called "Scared", hesuddenly decides there's something
missing. "Sound effects! Let's get acreaking door! Ora dog barking. No- wolves
howling. It'd sound great if we could kick it off
with a lonely sort of cry from a wolf..."

1

A messenger leaves and within 15 minutes isback with two albums. From The Chilling
ThrillingSounds OfThe Haunted House, John
listens to the eerie creaking door, and decides
that both this and the sound of thunder andlightning crashes are overstated. He moves on
impatiently to the second album, The Music
And Language Of The Wolves.
"Great, that's it. Put that at the start of 'Scared',then," he tells an engineer.
Three hours later, and we are listening to
the playback of the track with the howling
wolf thrown in at the start of "Scared." It's
the first time John had heard the new album
played right through. He's apprehensive, but
the wolf gimmick has clearly knocked him out,
and placed as it is at the start of the track, it'sa winning move.
He smiles, for he seems to realise that here
is an album that will please even the cynics
who bashed Mind Games. It's a beautiful

October 24.1974:
John Lennon

photographed in
HeIrsKitchen,
New York City

"41IVISTORY OF ROCK 1974

107

1974
JUEV

- SEPTEMBER

March 23.1974:Lennon and his

YokoOno-approved partner May
Pang at the Century Plaxa Hotel,
LA. They're at a benef it concert for
the actor Jim Stacey, who lost an
arm and a leg when his motorbike

was hit by drunk driverproduction, completed in six weeks' studiowork- "That's fast. I've been working at the
speed of light" - and it's due out in America
and Britain on September 16. The album iscalled WallsAnd Bridges. Why?
"Walls you walk into and bridges you cancross over. Deep stuff, huh?"
Three years after his self-imposed exile in
the US, John Lennon is as unblemished acharacter as you'd expect to find in a man who

has been through more personal changes
than a mad chameleon. He's been througha severe de-Beatling process, to the point
where now he can reflect on the past and heenjoys talking about the old days. Yet for all the mellowing of this erratic
genius, there are still flashes of wry or scathing wit that will forever
make him unmistakeable. Lennon has never been known to provide
questioners with a stock response.
He's 34 next month and rather aware of his age. Older, wiser, but withno real change of stance. His ideals are the same as theywere, but hehas learned more tolerance of people, if not of the system. And as it has
been evident through the years, whatever it is that's needed to be a fully
qualified rock'n'roller, then John Lennon has it. A tortured life anda brain like a waterfall, two rocky marriages,
grit, a loud mouth, remorse after his drunken
behaviour- it's surely all the very stuff rock stars
are made of.
This had been a hard day for John. "Notice
I've got me suit on? I've been to court thismorning for another round in the ritual"(his long fight to get a green card which willallow him free access to the States, for residenceor visits). "It's crazy, y'know, if theyweren't
making it so hard for me to stay here, I'd be off.
They're just MAKING me dig in and win. That's
what I'm like, a young kid. If someone says you
can't do something, I just want to do it. Probably
as soon as they say I can stay, I'll go."Lennon is being refused a green card by the
US government because he was convicted ofpossessing drugs in Britain. But the great
groundswell of American opinion is in favourof grant ing him permission to stay. The
turbulence of a life like this, living in a country
which officially says, "Get out," has naturally
worked well on Lennon's artistic sense. We
walked outside Studio C while the engineers
sorted out his tapes, and John sat down tocontemplate the day's courtroom show, andthe press and TV cameras that met him on his
exit from the court.
"Funny thing, I almost enjoyed it. Just likethe old days, cameras and questions andthings. It's quite good for me -the more
unsettled I am, the better I like it. When ! feelsettled down, there's nothing to say, can't write
a word. I need to be on edge to work."
He's impressed with how well he's put his
new album together.
"I got the musicians down here two days
before recording for some run-throughs, and it
made a colossal difference. Who's on it? Well,
Elton John came in and sangon one and played piano on
another. There's Jim Keltner,
Klaus Voormann, Nicky
Hopkins, Ken Asherwho
produced Paul Williams, andJesse Ed Davis, on guitar. The
percussion guy is Arthur
Jenkin, and there's the horn
section: Bobby Keys, Steve
Madaio, Howard Johnson
and Frankie and Ronnie andthe string section, and Harry
Nilsson. He sings with me on'Old Dirt Road'.
"Elton was great. I like him
and what he does. He came inhere on his way to Caribou
and said he was going to do'Lucy In The Sky With
Diamonds' for his next single.
Christ, he pours the stuff out.
He's working now on his
album that's coming out next
May!! went down to LA andthen to Caribou and sang on his song called 'One DayAt A Time'. It turnedout so good that he said he might put that and 'Lucy...' out as a double
A -side, but I can't see our track beating 'Lucy...."
John is wearing a neat brown suit and his lapel bears a badge given tohim by ace shopper Elton. It's a motif of an open sandwich with half anapple between bread slices, and Lennon is amused at the people who
keep asking him for the hidden meaning.
"It's just Elton who found it and gave it to me. It's just nothing, but you
knowwhat they're like -people keep saying daft things like they always
did, like: 'Do you own half of Apple, then? We talked of the imminent Beatles fans'convention in New York, for which hundredsof people are going from all over the world toa two-day festival of talks and films and sellingof Beatle bits and pieces at the Commodore
Hotel. Do you regret being a Beatle and having
to live with it forever, John?
"No, no, no," he answered and he meant it.
"I'm going to be an ex-Beatle for the rest of mylife, so I might as well enjoy it, and I'm justgetting round to being able to stand back andsee what happened.A couple of years ago I
might have given everybody the impression
I hate it all, but that was then. I was talking"If they

weren'tmaking it so
hard to stay

here, I'd be off"

108 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

JOHN LENNON

when I was straight out of therapy and I'd been mentally strippedbare and I just wanted to shoot my mouth off to clear it all away. Now
it's different.
"When I slagged off the Beatle thing in the papers, it was like divorce
pangs, and me being me it was blast this and fuck that, and it was just likethe old days in the MM, you know, 'Lennon Blasts Hollies' on the back
page. You know, I've always had a bit of a mouth and I've got to live up to
it. DailyMirror.' Lennon beats up local DJ at Paul's 21st birthday party'.
Then we had that fight that Paul and me had through the MM, but it was
all a period I had to go through.
"Now, we've all got it out and it's cool. I can see The Beatles from a new
point of view. Can't remember much of what happened, little bits here
and there, but I've started taking an interest in what went on while I wasin that fish tank. It must have been incredible! I'm into collecting
memorabilia as well. Elton came in with these gifts, like stills from the
Yellow Submarine drawings and they're great. He gave me these four
dolls. I thought, 'Christ, what's this, an ex-Beatle collecting Beatle dolls?'
But why not? It's history, man, history!
"I went through a phase of hating all those
years and having to smile when I didn't want tosmile, but that was the life I chose, and now I'mout of it, it's great to look back on it, man. Great!
"I was thinking only recently -why haven't
I ever considered the good times instead of
moaning about what we had to go through? AndPaul was here and we spent two or three nights
together talking about the old days and it wascool, seeing what each other remembered from
Hamburg and Liverpool.
"So y'see, all that happened when I blew mymouth off was that it was an abscess bursting,
except that mine as usual burst in public.
"When we did a tour as The Beatles, we hated it
and loved it. There were great nights and lousy nights. One of the things
about the therapy I went
forcing you to get rid of the negatives in your head. It wasn't all that pie
and cookies being a Beatle, there were highs and lows, but the trouble ispeople just wanted bigmouth Lennon to shout about the lows. So I made aquick trip to uncover the hidden stones of my mind, and a lot of the batsflew and some of them are going to have to stay. I've got perspective now,
that's a fact."

11 -year -old son Julian on drums. Julian was visiting his father in NewYorkand dropped by to lend a hand, and they chose this old Lee Dorsey track.
There's a beautiful, singing guitar break by Jesse Ed Davis on "Nobody
Loves You When You're Down And Out", and as the standout track it willclose the album. Lennon listened intently to all the songs and we totalled
the playing time to 42 minutes, 32 seconds.
"Great -I've only got just over two minutes to cut. No trouble. I wasreally worried that it would be too long, and I just like albums, not triples
or double albums. One album's long enough for me to do what I can."The engineers said the record was a beauty, John collected the tapes togo home and place them in order, and we were out into the hot New Yorknight air at 9.30.

TAXII WE'RE OFF to John's flat, and it strikes me as a bizarre

contrast with the police -protected limousine rides we shared
10 years ago in various parts of the world, when Beatlemania
ruled. Do you get cabs often in NewYork, John?
"Yeah, all the time. I used to get paranoid
about going out, but then I found out all theparanoia was in my own head - nobody caresmuch. There's no hassles here in NewYork; I get'em all the time. Not in California so much they're still looking for stars there."
One cabbie said to John: "Hey, aren't you
John Lennon?" and Lennon replied: "I wish
I had his money."
He looks around at the flickering city lights
as our cab drives off, and tells me what it isabout aggressive New York that he finds socompelling: "It's all here. It's just alive. There's
a buzz here, and I like the wayyou can doanything or get anything you want at any time.
It'sALIVE, y'know. It's where the world's at justnow and I want to be here. I mean, years ago it was Rome, and if I'd beenaround then I'd have wanted to be there when it was falling.
"NewYork may well be falling right now -it sometimes feels like it -but
I know it's the right place at this time. I think if I couldn't live here I'd haveto make it Paris. I love the French; they're so bloody rude. But New York's
right -we'll get home now and have the TVon and cable TV films for hours
and hours. Better than the BBC Light Orchestra, eh?
"Oh, and Christ, then there was Watergate! Any country that produces
that has got to be number one. I sat watching every bit of it on TV andcouldn't believe it. When they kept asking questions and the guy kept
replying, 'That is inoperative.' Everything they were asked that was meant
to make 'em tell the truth, they said, 'That is inoperative.' I'm gonna try it
when they start asking me hard questions. 'Sorry, but that's inoperative.'"John cherished the fact that he had remembered this crucial line.
"Yeah," he whispered, "I've gotta remember that! Inoperative!"
Just before we arrived at John's flat, he told of his split with Yoko. "Yoko
and I, we had this little... thing. She's still living in our house, but I've *"When I
slagged off theBeatle thing,
it was likedivorce pangs"

rr0 SOME OF us who have enjoyed the irrational madness ofa less balanced Lennon, the new one might come as anunnerving experience. But out re-entry to Studio C proved that,above all, his music is intact and even richer from the years of turmoil.
"This is an unconcept album. I'll never make a concept album. I justlike records," said John, and the engineer played back a raunchy
instrumental track called "Beefy Jerky" (sic) which John named as a spoof
on Booker T's "Green Onions". Half an hour passes and at last the record isready for a complete play -through, ready for John to decideon the order of tracks.
"This is always one of the hardest parts of it for me," John
November 28,1974
backstage with Eltonsays. "Getting them in sequence for correct contrast is vital.
JohnatMadison"Like with you and the MM- if you don't put this article on
SquansGarden,NYC
the right page, like the front page, then it's all lost. Well, withthese songs, they've got to be in the right order."The album has on it "Number Nine Dream"/ "BeefJerky"/ "Scared" -with a great tune and the sounds of crying
wolves before these immortal words: "You don't have towortyl In heaven or hell /Just dance to the music I You do it sowell..." -"Bless You"/ "Surprise Surprise (Sweet Bird Of
Paradox)" with Elton on vocal/ "Nobody Loves You When
You're DownAnd Out" (no relation to the Bessie Smith
classic but equally spinechilling, a majestic track)/ "Going
Down On Love"/"Whatever Gets You Through The Night"(with Elton on piano)/ "Steel And Glass"/ "What You
Got"/ "Old Dirt Road" (with Harry Nilsson on vocal
and co -writer).
Topping it off
is a short burstof "Ya Ya",

featuring Joh n's

IltlflOrl
Tea mars attar tM

g Wader! Ammica-

ci nigh1974
SEPTEMBER

moved into this flat.1 still love her, but we're two artists and we found it
hard living together. We'll see what happens. I still speak to her on thephone most days. She phoned me from London the other day and said,'Hey, it's nice here. Remember the autumn with all the leaves? It's nice.'
I said, 'What are you trying to say, Yoko?! know it's nice, but are you trying
to unsettle me in New York? It's nice here- remember this noise? -ARRIVALAT JOHN'S penthouse flat, to be greeted by white andblack kittens, named Major and Minor. John's friend May Pangis there, and in yet another time -warp, the record playing is
The Beatles singing "How Do You Do It?". They made it before "LoveMe Do," John explains, but decided on "Love Me Do" as their first EMI
single and gave "How Do You Do" as a song to Gerry & The Pacemakers.
Sounds oddly primitive.
On the way up in the elevator, Lennon had warned me that he had astrange experience to relate. Being of sound mind and judgement, hehad, the other day, seen a flying saucer while standing naked on his roof.
"Yes, I know what you're thinking. I'm as crazy as my publicity always
said I was? But no. Listen. This is true."He then described how he was standing, starkers, by the window
leading on to the roof when the oval -shaped object started flying from left
to right. He had called May, who confirmed that he was not seeing things,
and they saw a red light on top of the flying saucer. They rushed inside,
phoned the cops, and police said others had reported a sighting, too.
John and May got their telescope out, took pictures, and after about 20
minutes the object disappeared over the East River and behind theUnited Nations building, over which it might be supposed the "visitors"
were carrying out some sort of research.
I didn't say much and Lennon threw his hands up in despair. "They all
think I'm potty. It was there. I didn't believe it, either. It was THERE." Maynodded. And you'd not been smoking or drinking, I asked?
"No, God's honest truth. I only do that at weekends or when I see
Harry Nilsson."John was tired and hungry after a non -eating day in which he had beenin court, held a press conference, and then completed his album. But hewas still visibly "up" in mood and wanted to do things, talk, play records,
watch TV, eat. He changed out of his "court suit" into casuals and lay on
the bed of the spartan, one -roomed flat.
Well, here comes the million -dollar question the world keeps asking.
Are The Beatles ever going to reform, John?
"No," he said quickly. "What for? We did it all. Christ, we can't even get
the four of us together for a meeting, let alone play! The other month,
Paul and Ringo and me met in LA, and we wanted George there but theywouldn't let him in at that time. He still had some trouble getting in andout of the States because of his bust years ago.
"So there were three of us and everybody says, 'Beatles getting back, hey
hey!' We can't even MEET, man!"
Why had they wanted to meet?
"To settle all the money thing. We all agreed how to do it; now it's up to
the lawyers to sort it out and tell us whet her what
we agreed is practical. That's all. We just want tomake sure we all get paid. What a fucking mess."
All four ex -Beatles, he said, were destined fora life of ups and downs in battles with authority.
"We're in, then we're out. It's my turn while I
fight NewYork to be out. George will be OK soon
-he's doing a tour ofAmerica I the one with Ravi
Shankar in the autumn! and he'll be OK for awhile. You know, people'll want his autographand they'll smile at him and so it'll be OK.
"It goes like that for all of us. In waves. Y'know
when some critics panned Mind Games they
were really knocking Some Time In New York
City, reviewing me and Yoko, who they've
always hated. Well, Mind Gameswasn't the best
album in the world, but it went gold! And it wasn't
all bad. Hey, I'm hungry. Let's get some food in."Photographer Bob Gruen has arrived now, anda Chinese dinner is agreed upon. Bob phones a
restaurant called Jade East, and within about half
an hour the splendid meal has arrived. Lennon, atrue media freak, has applied himself to watching
TV, and whizzes through the channels quickly all
110 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

the time with the handcontrols while he's lying on the bed
and eating.
It's easy to see what it is about New York TV that John loves.

It's all there: umpteen channels all pouring out goodmaterial, musically and otherwise. During the night, we
flicked from channel to channel and saw act after act,
including The Hues Corporation, The Temptations, °lays,
Flash Cadillac, whose old-fashioned rock theatrics madeJohn laugh out loud (rare), and the act John kept wanting tosee, Chris Jagger.

"It must be awful," said John when Jagger junior eventually
hit the screen. "Living with being a Jagger for the rest of yourlife and trying to make it as an act. He's OK, though." Chris'band and his playing were indeed good, though the mouth
shape and postures demanded comparison with Mick.
"Must be awful," John kept repeating.
But he has the choice of changing his name if he didn't wantto cash in on who he was, I said. Like Mike McGear did.
"Ah," John countered, "but if he did that he probably
wouldn't get a booking in the first place."
Lennon is very anxious to see his TV appearance outside thecourtroom, filmed earlier that day. Watching Lennon watch
himself on TVwas weird. As he lay on the bed munching
Chinese beef and mixed veg, watching himself on TV coming
out of court, he said: "Now that seems a sane young man tome. Should definitely be allowed in to stay in NewYork."
His TV news clip was really quite amusing and his
performance rated five stars. Journalists asked him lots ofquestions:"What the odds are of you winning the fight to stay in New
York, John?""Ninety-nine to one in favour.""Why?""Because I'm overconfident, as usual.""Why do you want to stay in NewYork?""Because it's NICE here, I LIKE it here. Don't you?""What's wrongwith Britain, then?" asked a British reporter.
"Nothing's wrong with Britain -typically British question! Ifthey gave me a green card, I can go and see it again, visit my family." (Earlier
in the evening there were signs that John had become an enthusiastic

father, showing me with affection a picture of his son Julian and recounting
how he had taken him round New York showing him the billboards.)
When the TV clip is over, John amplifies on his need to get that green
card from the US government.
"It's not the tax -you pay only a little less here then you do in Britain. If it
was the money I'd move to Switzerland. I want to be able to move around.
LA, Paris, London, NewYork- I like change. I'd like to go to South America,
that's somewhere I've never been to. New York is now, that's because it's in
the air. I've got nothing against England -no, make that Britain. I've
heard it's in a bit of a mess now, but it was still
pretty healthywhen I left it, so don't let themcome all that 'leaving the sinking ship' stuff. It
was afloat when I left! Anyway, there's still greatmusic coming out of Britain."
TheTV newscast ended with John giving thetwo- fingered peace sign and saying: "Amnesty.
Amnesty!" He came over well, and he seemed
quite happy about his performance. "First time
I've seen myself on TV for three years."
His lawyer, incidentally, believes that Lennon
can stay in New York for two years fighting thedeportation order.

"Mind Games

wasn't thebest album inthe world, but
it went gold!"
TEVER

ETS VOU
THRU'
THE NIGHT

N
NNON
THE

ONO

UCLEARWE TALK OF the Beatles fans' festival

planned for New York, and thepossibility of his attendance, orabout sending a life-size dummy of himself. He
intends to send a few things along as mementoes,
and he wants May to go and buy him a few things,
too, as his collection of Beatles paraphernalia isn't
as strong as he would like. Bootlegs, for example.
Lennon has a few Beatle bootlegs, and though hesees them as a rough deal for the record business,

Nov28,1974:Lennonperforms
livef or thef inaltirne ever after
agreeing toappear at EltonJohn's
Thanksgiving Day concert if theirdoet"WhateverGetsYou Thru The
Night" reached US Number One

he loves them as a fan. "Keeps the industry on its toes, I think. The oneof The Beatles in Sweden, I think it was - it's better than some of theBeatles records, in parts."
The two-day Beatle fans' convention, held to mark the 10th anniversaryof their invasion of America, really fascinates John. Apple is sending two
films never before seen in America-MagicalMysteryTourandTheBeatles
AtShea Stadium -that The Beatles made for TV.
But as for all four Beatles going to the Beatlefest- no. "Sometimes," said
John, "I think it would be nice for us to do something like that, but when
you can't even get all four of us together, fora meeting, what chance isthere? It's like a hangover from the '60s: the Blue Meanies are still trying
to beat up Sergeant Pepper. They don't seem to want us to be happy or
together. The other draggy thing is that as soon as one or two of us meets,
people say it's a Beatles reunion and they're all broke or something andthey need the money and they say we hate each other!"
Lennon has been living in NewYork for three years, occasionally driving
to Los Angeles and seeing, as he puts it, a hundred different countries enroute. "America is so different from state to state, I can't get bored," hecontinued. "I'd like to see China- all over the world, in fact, but all that's
out and I can't leave here until I win the court case. So much to DO here.
I still haven't seen Elvis. I had tickets once, but I was on the wrong coast.
Crazy. I'd like to see the Stones, Bowie and Elton -but I get nervous ofgoing to these shows when I think of standing around backstages
sprinkled with groupies and all the terrible hangers-on. The only time
I'd willingly do a backstage number is if somebody I liked said he wanted
me to be seen there to help him. I'd go through it fora friend."That admission seemed to typify the new-found softness of Lennon.
During his wilder years, he'd hardly admit to having a friend, still lessown up to caring for one. John has more heart now.
On to his flickering TVthen came one David Peel, with whose group,
The Lower East Side, Lennon had been linked on record and in person
three years ago. Peel is an old-fashioned champion of the underground,and he was in blisteringly articulate mood as he spouted to a TV
interviewer about how the underground should carryon in its campaign
to overthrow the rock establishment and the music industry.

"The Beatles were and are pigs," Peel snorted. "They took our money..."John muttered: "Well gimme mine." Peel's speech, full of hyperbole andsweeping, wild generalisations about the baddies of music's big business,
was entertaining to Lennon, who said he'd heard it all before and wasn't ita shame that the personalities of the underground had always been theirown biggest enemies?
On TV next came a group called Television, and Lennon sat fairly
transfixed. Television are so bad they're good. They can barely play theirinstruments and they are very short of money; they're young and dressedin rags. But they have a spirit that's irresistible, and John immediately
identified them as a parallel with The Beatles in their Hamburg days.
"Yeah, I can relate to them, they're exactly as we were. Skint and loving
every minute. They sound terrible but they're OK!"
And then, obviously their tatty dress: "Hey, they've outdone Bowie!
Bowie went crazy and they've gone the otherway."
Er, no, John. It's just that they haven't any loot and they can't afford
anything better! "Oh." He liked their name, too.
Photographer Bob Gruen, who takes the MM's NewYork pictures, andseems an ardent Lennonologist, shows John some colour snaps for John
to choose for his new album sleeve. Lennon, whom we should recall as anart college enthusiast, is obsessive about pictures and TV and drawing,
and he inspected the dozens of colour shots of his face carefully. "Christ,
is that what I look like? No wonderAmerica's trying to get rid of me!"
May gets ginger beer from the kitchen, and it transpires that they had
found a store which sold it, but only after a very long search. "It's not sogood as English, but it'll do," says John.
And afteryears of having British friends flying into New York with a few
black puddings, John has now found that these rare delicacies, too, can bebought in NewYork. "Any country outside England -sorry, Britain- thatlets you buy black puddings has got to be a winner, right?""You shouldn't eat them," said May. "They make you fat.""Hey, yeah, I've gotta watch that," said John.
"Yes," I said.
"Do you mind? That's all we need -a headline like 'Former Beatle
Growing Far." Ray Coleman
HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 1111

4.4'
itthu) NIIIII
I

DI I

1974

OCTOBER...

ROBERT WYATT, QUEEN,PINK FLOYD, THE FACES,
!.

KINKS

ONION
IINCERTS

SPRINGSTEEN & MORE

Blue-eyed soul
MM OCT 12. Awie taku

tour dates and stops
off in Philadelphia - to change soundand record a new album.
...E -EYED SOUL! THIS is David Bowie in

I 'h iladelphia's Sigma Sound Studios- homeof the hottest soul producers in the world,
Gamble & Huff.
Bowie booked the studio for two weeks justbefore he started the West Coast part of his

Diamond Dogs tour ofAmerica.
And the result is Bowie's first soul album,
provisionally called "Somebody Up There Likes
Me", out in the New Year. Later this month,
however, Bowie is releasing another album,
simply called David Live, which was recorded
during the early part of his US tour.
The Philadelphia album, produced by Tony
Visconti, features a vocal back-up chorus, led by
Ava Cherry (pictured herewith Bowie).
The album includes a new version of "John, I'm
Only Dancing", together with "It's Gonna Be Me",
"The You ngAmerican", "Right!" and the possible
title track, "Somebody Up There Likes Me" -all ofthem new.
Bowie originally wanted to use MFSB, theGamble & Huff house band, for the album. But
they had other commitments at that time, so
Bowie settled fora band which included Carlos
Alomar (guitar), Willie Weeks (bass guitar), Andy
Newmark (drums), Larry Washington (congas),David Sanborn (saxophone), Mike Garson(piano) and a back-up chorus with Ava Cherry,
Robin Alomar and Luther Vandross.
The sessions were produced byTonyVisconti who is also responsible for Bowie's David Livealbum, due for release at the end of this month.
OF ROCK 1974

August 11-23,1974:

Bowie with Ava Cherry,his bac king singer andgirlfriend, a t Sigma Sound

Studios, Philadelphia

1111111111Plibilittl

1974
OCTOBER -DECEMBER.

"We areOctober 31.1974:
George Melly comesto the sabbat at
Chislehurst Caves

most sorry

he is going"ck Taylor announces
his Oenartoro from the Stones.
NME DEC 21

MICK TAYLOR HAS left the
Rolling Stones, the band hejoined in 1969 as replacement
for Brian Jones, and has joined a newti

No one escaped unmarked
NME NOV 9....k.oieilli liUlit d ,I'VE BEEN AROUND. And believe me,
I thought I'd seen it all. I mean, after you've
watched Stacia disrobe on stage at a
Hawkwind gig you have seen it all.
So perhaps you'll appreciate that in myprofession, I'm not easily shocked. Lord
knows, it takes a lot- a helluva lot-to sickenme, but the apparition of George Melly
gleefully crooning, "Empty Bed Blues" while
dressed as a nun was something I just couldn't
handle. Or so I thought.
That was until I became transfixed by theunholy sight of an innocent Bob Harris defiled
into drinking the Devil's own brew from abottle being held to his lips by a young, fresh faced novice who, beneathher vestments, later
revealed that she was
wearing absolutely nothing
but sheer black nylons held
up by an equally black lacesuspender -belt.
This was to be one

rise to roam among us. All Souls Night (as it
is also called) was the time when the Devil's

advocates -arriving in two privately
hired coaches-cameto disturb the sleepy
Do what thou will
hamlet that surroundsf.

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the verge of madness, I tell you.
As wild-eyed revellers gathered around acandle -lit altar- upon which blonde, naked
virgins reclined-the fact that this orgy was
being laid on to inaugurate Swan Song
Records was forgotten -as "honoured guests"
Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, The Pretty
Things, Maggie Bell and Roy Harper were
jostled in an attempt to gaze upon many of theyoung nuns frantically displaying their dirty
habits. One didn't dare to even begin to hazard
a guess as to what order they belonged to as"Aren't you goingto give me a clap?"
asked a statuesquenun, stood nakedof the many horrificmanifestations that were tochill me to the marrow on this evil night in
Chislehurst Caves. Hallowe'en-one of thefour Witches' Sabbaths- stems from a pagan
belief that on this specific night the Dead

' tit know ho this summonsprimitive devil rhythms. It was sin -drenchedmusic that was to fire the blood of many a lionhearted English squire and drive sane men to

Chislehurst Caves.
Menacing, cigar -chewing
monks dispensed food anddrink, professional
entertainers ate fire,
swallowed swords, jumped
barefoot on broken glass,decapitated unsuspecting
onlookers or behaved in aremarkably silly manner
while Bob Kerr's WhoopeeBand and John Chilton's
Feetwarmers provided

they flung their garments
aside in gay abandon. It
was disgusting, I tell you.
"You don't look like
Audrey Hepburn," shouted
an excited onlooker. "Well,aren't you going to give mea clap?" asked a statuesquenun as she stood before us

naked. "Darling," replieda wag, "if I had it, I'd gladly give it to you."

As the bewitching hour approached (and mysenses reeled), the soiree became even morebizarre. During George Melly's recital, a naked
lady covered in jelly, grapes and fruit was
carried on stage in an open coffin.
As the macabre Melly leered into a version of"It Must Be Jelly 'Cause Jam Don't Shake LikeThat", the divested damsel began throwing
handfuls of grapes and jelly at the audiencethen, to her horror, the revolting spectators
retaliated and a disgusting jelly and fruit fightensued. Virtually no one escaped unmarked.
Just when 1 thought things couldn't get any
worse, I was confronted by a dewy-eyed young
nun who, after asking me to light her cigarette,inquired if I would like to buy a ticket for theMonks Ball. I told her I didn't go dancing.
She replied, "It's not a dance, it's a raffle."
I made my excuses and left. Actually,
the music
wasn't bad.
Roy Carr

outfit currently being formed by Jack Bruce.
The Stones, at present recording as a fourpiece in Munich, will engage a new guitarist
in time fora major tour of America in May.
News of Taylor's departure broke when it
became apparent that he was not working
with the band in Munich. Reports from
Germany last week suggested that he had
been sacked, but Jagger quickly squashedthese rumours in a statement saying: "After
five years, Mick wishes a change of scene
and wants the opportunity to try out new
ventures, new endeavours. While we are all
most sorry that he is going. we wish him
great success and much happiness."
It was widely believed that Taylor had
become restless due to the Stones' lengthy
periods of inactivity, but on Monday of thisweek Taylor put out a statement saying:"The last five years with the Stones havebeen very exciting, and proved to be a mostinspiring period. [...] I have nothing but
admiration for the group, but I feel now is
the time to move on and do something new."The "something new" to which hereferred proved to be membership of the
new Jack Bruce band. Also in the lineup arenoted US composer and keyboard player
Carla Bley, who has worked with Bruce on
many occasions, notably on the Escalator
Over The Hill album - and pianist Max
Middleton, who was most recently in Jeff
Beck's group. A drummer has still to besigned, but in the meantime the four
confirmed members are working out ideas
in a London recording studio.
The Rolling Stones are to undertake anextensive US concert tour in May, and NME
understands that selected concerts in
Europe are also in the pipeline for next year.
The Stones'1975 tour will be a "new concept show", said Mick Jagger this week.
"We shall be playing very few old numbers
and the act will mainly be a showcase fornew material."
Meanwhile, the Stones continue theirrecording sessions in Munich as a four piece. No stand-in musician has beenbrought in to replace Mick Taylor, andJagger and Keith Richards are playing all
the guitar parts between them.
An attempt was made to secure theservices of Ron Wood, but he was involvedin the Faces' British tour.

TAYLOR QUITS STONES,JOINS JACK BRUCE BANI"Some guy gave me the third degree..."iember.

NME DEC 7 low McCort,
TOOK HIS TIME, McCartney, announcing
the fact, but last month Geoff Britton andJimmy McCulloch were both officiallyconfirmed as new members of Wings.
Strange, really. McCulloch had been
rumoured to have been with the band formonths, and, though there was evidence that
he had worked with Macca, no one in the
McCartney organisation could be drawn
into corroborating the story. Britton also, it
had been suggested, was a part of the newWings set-up.
Still, it's fact rather than speculation now.
And though McCulloch is still contracted to
the Robert Stigwood Organisation (because ofearlier associations with Blue), he's now
confirmed as a working member of the band.
McCulloch's led a somewhat chequered
career: at 13 he was main feature in a band
named One In A Million; later he worked withThunderclap Newman, John Mayall, Stone
The Crows and Blue.
Britton, on the other hand, is comparatively
unknown, despite having worked with East Of
Eden and Wild Angels. He's also quite agoldmine, a natural in the best possible way delighted he's working with Wings and a dab

hand at this media communications business.
How did he come to be picked forWings?

Few days passed -anotherphone call. Scene is: come for theday, practise with them all, go for dinner. Now
we're down to two people.
So I'm on trial, right? Theyare going to suss meout. So I go alongon the Monday, everybody ischarming to me but nobody gives away a thing.
I go awayon the Monday night and Thesday
goes by, and I knowtheotherguy is seeing themon theTuesday. Couple of days go by and thenPaul phones and tells me I've got the gig."
Even now, theway Britton tells it, he's still
kept on his toes. "Well, this group has got a good

"Well, sweetheart, it was a fluke that I
happened to ask someone there if they knew if
McCartney had got a new drummer..."Britton is a keep -fit fanatic -when he's not
drumming he's running round the block orteaching karate. In fact, last weekend he turned
out as part of the English team who met Japan
drummer in him (he points to McCulloch),in a karate championship in North London.
Denny's not a bad drummer, Paul's a good
"So anyway, I phoned up the McCartney
drummer and even Linda can have a bash at
office and this guy gives me the third degree
the drums. So they all knowwhat I'm doing andand puts me on a list. Get another phone call,
how I'm doing it, and if I'm doing it well."a date and time, and I go along. Well, they'veContractually, McCulloch is still tied to
got a big roll call, names, credits, and my spot
Stigwood. But, he says, "I hope within the next
was after the lunch break. Got there and there
couple of weeks to be free.
were five session guys on
I've really been with Wings
the stage and it was reallyfor about nine months but it"There were fiveprogrammed, like sorting
wasn't announced before,out the boys from the men,session guys on
probably because they
because the music they
anticipated hassles. But now
were playingwasn't justWings have decided to drop
rock- it covered the whole
all that contract business."
spectrum.
Drop all the contract business?
A few days later, Britton received another call
Britton: "There was talk of contracts in the
telling him he was on a short list of five andbeginning, butwe decided it was better if
would he like to go back and this time get tonothingwas contracted. If you're a real pro
play with Wings.
and you've got a tour booked, you don't phone g"So, suddenly, I'd gone from no chance to 25
up and say, 'I'm not going', that's just not on."per cent chance. Anyway, had this audition,
Julie Webb
met the boys for the first time.

the stage""I couldn't face it"
ELTON JOHN HAS decided not to quit Britain
after all! It had been widely expected that, due toexcessive taxation in this country, that he would
become a US resident in1975. But Elton arrived back in
Britain, following his extensive American tour, with thenews that he is "staying put" here. He said:"I thought
seriously about staying in the States, but I soon had toaccept the reality - that I simply couldn't face it. Anyway,
I've now made enough money to live happily in Britain,
whatever the taxman may take from me. -NME DEC 14

Try, USA. Eltoniain in the UK.

It is now expected that, as a result of his decision,
Elton will undertake a British tour fairly early next year
- although nothing has yet been set up. A tour had been
pencilled in for him in January, to follow his five days at
London Hammersmith Odeon (December 20-24), but
this was scrapped when it appeared that he would be
spending most of his time in America.
A spokesman for Rocket Records said thisweek: "We are now hopeful that something
will soon be set up for Elton around Britain."`I stay put
in Britain'
CIAVQ VT WI'ROBERT WYATT"I'm notconcerned

withwhining"
Post -accident,
HOBERT WYAT

unveils his album
Rock Bottom, and achart hit, "Daydream
Believer". "The
accident didn't infact haunt me or have
half the effect on me
that people might
suppose," he says.
"You've got to thinkof something to sing."

NME IcTOBER 26-

THERE'S SOMETHING EXTRA special about
green suede boots. A certain devil-may-care
attitude, a touch of fearless dandyism
combined with a sense of the earthy and an
instinct for style that just don't quit.
Robert Wyatt weareth green boots. They govery nicelywith the blue plastic stopwatch around his neck.
Nick Mason, very famous drummer and producer deluxe,
peers eloquently through the plate -glass barrier between thezhop floor and ground control at CBS studios. On the otherside, Gary Windo (fetchingly ceilinged by a little white cap)and Mongezi Feza are adding the horn lines to Mr Wyatt's
Next Teenage Smasheroonie.
"Great," opines Wyatt from his mobile command post at the
doorward end of the console.
"It does a bit, doesn't it?" replies Mason.
Wyatt groans elaborately. "You and your Pink Floyd
in-jokes."
The song is another golden great from the sizzlin"60s,
Chris Andrews' "Yesterday Man". Where Andrews' original
was aggressively
petulant, Wyatt's iswistfully surreal. He
performs on assorted
bits of percussion(including a bass -drum
whomped by hand)
and what sounds likea harmonium, but *I played Robert
Wyatt at 78rpm
and saw God,aremvveLl 10. J I 610 ere
tarn-(04P Of W"IC" 0vow. etip.1
root" and TIlt,
L0.10s borini NA wre.

Ri )6(11 Wyai

1974

R( )( 'K

"11

DECEMBEROCTOBERplays around the beat while the mainrhythmic push comes from Windoand Feza.

A modestly clad young man with an
air of amiable vagueness that instantly
pegs him as a member of Henry Cow
wanders in, identifies himself by thehighly improbable name of John Greaves,
overdubs a positive humdinger ofa bassline, inquires how long it takes
to get from here to Liverpool Street, andwanders out again.
"Yeah, but could Pan's People dance toit?" inquires Windo.
It looks as if they may have to, because

after a minor fracas with Top OfThe Pops'
resident plenipotentiary Robin Nash,
Wyatt will probably not be gracing their studios
for some little time to come.
It seems that Nash considered Wyatt's
appearing in his wheelchair to be somewhat"distasteful", both to the audience and to the
production team. Wyatt retorted, with ample
justification, that if being in a wheelchair didn't
hang him up, he saw no reason why it should
offend anybody else. Exeunt fuming in opposite

directions.
Meanwhile, there's a groovy little ditty entitled"Sonia" to go on the B-side, and for this one
Wyatt whips it out on a specially prepared" verybody's
got an equally
good voice. It's

just a question

he never listens to the radio because he likes toprogramme his own listening sparks Wyatt off
on one of his ready-made topics.
"But the logical extension of that is why not
get a piano so that then you can programme
your own notes. It's like singing- everybody

thinks that it's a case of some people have avoice and some people haven't. Everybody's
got an equally good voice. Just like everybody's
got two arms and two legs. It's just a matter ofusing it.
"People who get praised for doing it are the people who actually bot her.

of using it"

Mellotron programmed with sound effects,
tuned percussion, voices, xylophones and a whole circus of otherfoolishnesses. As he gets to work on the track (which already features him
on piano and percussion), jaws sag and people run serious risks of falling
off their chairs.
"He could do a show by himself with two or three of those," murmurs hiswife Alfie.
"Can we hear the other one again?" asks Windo.
Mason spins around in his chair, face frozen in well -simulated disgust.
"What do you think this is?" he asks icily. "A bleedin' discotheque orsomething?"
As the studio disintegrates once more into cackles of brain -damaged
hilarity, we fade out into a different time phase: two weeks previously in
Twickenham, playground of the Elder Deities. We'll give Wyatt one
paragraph's start to make it back to his residence in time to admit thewriter.
OK, Robert -go!
WI I ILE WE'RE WAITING, let's sling in a few thoughts on

Mr Wyatt's album Rock Bottom, which is being received
in the nation's record stores with the proverbial storm ofindifference. First of all it's an easy album to listen to and a hard one tocome to terms with. (Jeez, two clauses ending in prepositions. If my
English teacher could see me now.)As Ian MacDonald pointed out in his original review of the album, rockstar -as -paraplegic is a whole different ball game to the flood of spiritual
hypochondriacs currently layi ng their bummers on paying customers,
especially when Wyatt has triumphed over his particular slice ofadversity, leaving others (like John Lennon, Lou Reed and pre -Beach
Neil Young) staggering under comparatively featherweight burdens.
I don't want to pull any sanctimonious Oxfam there's -a -lesson -to -belearned -by -all -of -us routines, but nevertheless, the point does have to be
made. Not to dwell overlong, either, on the fact that the music and lyrics
area pri me vindication of the theory oflateral thinki ng as applied to rockmusic (ie, ma ny of the conventional criteria of what constitutes a "goodrock lyric" or a "good rock melody" are effortlessly short-circuited).
There, now. I've gone on for five paragraphs when I only meant to write
one, and poor old Robert's waiting for me two weeks ago in Twickenham- so into the conveniently located time/space reducer (cleverly disguised
as an ordinary London taxi) and...
Lo and behold, here we are at the Wyatt residence, a large, airy house- reputedly donated by admirer Julie Christie -and here's M r Wyatthimself to open the door.

118 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

The I ivi ng-room window isadorned with a Communist
sticker (you just knew that he
was a dirty Red, didn't you? Now
he'll definitely never get backon Top Of The Pops). Beaming
and kaftan -draped, he skids
around the kitchen organisingcoffee ("We don't have any
sugar, so is condensed milk
all right? You don't look like ahippy, otherwise I'd offer you
honey"), before transferring thediscussion to the Principal Living
Area, which, he claims, "has atotally spurious and extremely
temporary a ir of tidiness".
He produces a reminder list for himself ofthings that he specifically wanted to talk about.
remark made by the author to the effect that

It's incredible cheek, actually. There's nothing easier than putting onlayer after layer of any instrument that you find lying arou nd."
Take that, Mike Oldfield. Still, that does presuppose that you canactually play the goddamn things in the first place.
"No, not assuming that you can play it. In fact, Dave MacRae had a muchharder time putt i ng down Mellotron than I did, because he knows much
more about possibilities. I'm so delighted if I can get a note which sounds
nice that I don't get too flash with it. Dave can do so much that it's almosta drawback. The people who make the best rock records are the people
who can't really play that well at all.""It must be very tantalising for someone like Keith Jarrett, because hecan do so much. It's like an athlete: there's such a real joy in doing it. His
fingers are so fast that his brain can't keep up half the time.
"People with a fantastic amount of facility have a hard time controlling
it for a specific musical event. In fact, amazing soloists tend to playdifferent versions ofTheir Solo in everything they play. Jazz guitarists
have a much harder time playing solos that are relevant to a particulartune than, say, George Harrison would, who can't move that fast. This is
my theory, which is my theory and which belongs to me.
"Now what else is on my list... there's a few things that I'd kick myself for
if I didn't mention. One of which is the growing antipathy amongNME
readers- and writers- towards boring old snobs left over from flower power, such as myself bei ng given precedence over... No, not precedence,but... taking music away from the people or something... If I'm wrong I'll
apologise... actually, I think I am wrong.
"Anyway, I'd just like to say that I heard Noddy Holder this morning, andI think he's one ofthe best singers I've ever heard. He's one ofthe only
singers I've ever heard who's consistently done amazing vocals on
everything since the first record his group did. I think he's an absolutely...
fantastic singer.
"Now, what else do I think?"
What else does he think?
Heavens to albatross, gentle reader, the foregoing represents aboutfour minutes of a four-hour conversation. The ideas-per-mi nute quotientof a Wyatt conversation rivals that of Groucho Marx in his prime. You'dneed a "Wyatt Remembers" -type paperback to do justice to it all.
Anyway, let me just sling in a few random excerpts from our
ext ravarappera ma:"Oh, another thing that 1 think is... see,Alfie liked the Sparks single
straight off an' I didn't and she suggested that a lot of blokes miss the pointthat rock's based on. All us blokes claim Mick Jagger, orwhoever it might

ROBERT WYATT"Opportunity knocks!"be, as our sort of male hero, but in fact the basic reason that a lot of thesegeezers get famous is because they're sex symbols for girls.
"The male rock fan takes over in terms of who's supposed to be good and

NME SEPT 14

who isn't -and I was wondering about this tendency towards sourness on
the part of all blokes when they talk about rock'n'roll and the disillusionthat they feel about rock'n'roll.
"It's because they don't like to admit that a large number of the heroes
actually became heroes not as earthy rock -music -for -the -people people,
but simply because an incredible number of girls fancied them.
"I reckon you ought to have Elkie Brooks and Lyndsey De Paul andpeople doing singles reviews, because as far as I can remember it's been
all blokes doing 'em. A lot of singles are to do with male sex objects, so it's
very odd that it's largely men writing about it."Two more minutes and counting...

ANOTHER BIT, MAINLY about that Drury Lane gig of a mont hor so back. Gonna do any more?
"No. I knew it was gonna be quite good, because Laurie Allan,
I I ugh I topper and Dave Stewart are basically my d ream rhythm section.
I felt that no matter how bad it was, those people and Fred Frith and so on
would be able to pull something out of the hat.
"There's some misleading things put out about me, actually, about mydislike of live performances. All I'm talking about is me and what suits me.
"I get things together in live performances that I wouldn't get together
normally and there's certainty a certain magic to it if it's working right,
but the sheer cost and the whole organisation of getting a live group
working and the solid responsibilities of getting other people paid there's just so many things that can go wrong that the percentages are
all against you.
"But people like me aren't basically quick thinkers and we work best
without people... staring at us.
"I've got a sort of composer mentality- not that I actually do muchcomposing. If I wasn't watching telly I'd be composing most of the time,
and this is how my brain operates.
"Performance is something else altogether. Performance is taking on
people who've come out fora lift after their day, so that they feel goodfor a couple of hours, and there's therefore a temptation to get
into the exciting bits. Whereas most of the music I like is...
pretty boring, actually! Performing live gives you a cheap thrills consciousness."
On to the album, and its graphic depiction of Wyatt's life
before, during and after the accident.
"The accident didn't in fact haunt me or in fact have half
the effect on me that people might suppose. It was a usefulbunch of symbols of what I think life's like anyway, buteven then I'm not really concerned with whining.
"You've got to think ofsomething to sing, andsometh ing that comes off
1111EVYALDRO
the tongue quite easily,
so obviouslyyou draw on
what's around you, justJ.

like a person who's goingout to sketch. The sketch
is just the sketch.

"What they areinterested in is theircontrol of their fingers.
The subject that they use
is really quite incidental.
It's just one of the tools,
part of the stimulating
stuff that sets things off.
Nothing to do with thequality of what comesout. It doesn't matter if at
the end you know
nothing more abouthouses or trees. The
words are just tools forme to make pleasant sou nd ing songs out of."CharlesShaarMarray

EVEN THOUGH THE gig wasdue to start at 8.30. Drury
Lane had started to clog up
with earnest -looking hippies
nearly two hours before theevent. It all adds to the sense ofoccasion, but the regrettably
prosaic explanation was thatsomeone had neglected to
inscribe the precise time ofshowing on either the tickets
or the ads. So it goes.
Things kicked off with a briefmonologue by the newlywed
John Peel, clad in his most glamrock outfit. He intoned for a
few moments and then vacatedthe stage to Ivor Cutler andPhyllis April King, whoprovided a highly amusing
interlude of deadpan poesies
and brief songs, which werereceived with great merrimentby the assembled company.
So it goes. After a discreet
intermission, Peel cartwheeled
dynamically back onto thestage to enunciate, "ForRobert Wyatt of Twickenham,

Opportunity Knocks!"
Mr Wyatt perambulated
rapidly to a strategicarea between a small
mixer ("Theseknobs don't
actually doanything -they

mr.

.1

AIM! D. - flr

111.410s--,-A
NICK M ASON
MIKE OLDFIELD
FRED FRITH
MONGEZ1 FEZAALLAN

I GARY WINDOJULIE T IPPETDAVE STE WARTHUGH H OPPER

OR CUTLERROBERT WYATT

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just give mesomething to dowith my hands") anda keyboard set-up ("Atrehearsals I couldn't
find a position from
where I could playthese, so I probably
won't play them. Still,they look good").
He ran through a
good-naturedly
rickety version ofHugh Hopper's"Dedicated To You,
But You Weren't
Listening", backed up
by Hopper himself on
bass, Laurie Allan on
drums, Fred Frith on
violin and Dave
Stewart on keyboards,
the first trickles of themighty wave of superstars that was soon to
swamp the stage.
Most of the material
from Wyatt's Rock
Bottom found its way
into the front half ofthe set (and in case you need
to be re -told, it's a wondrous
album indeed). Towards the endof "A Last Straw", a diffident
young man wandered on,
played a bit of synthesizer andwandered off. It wasn't until hereappeared half an hour later,
with a Gibson SG strappedaround him, that the audiencesussed that this dynamic figure
was in fact none other than Mike
Oldfield, the man with Britain's
two best-selling albums to his
name, one of which had been
blasted through the PA during
the intermissions. However, it
was undoubtedly Wyatt's show,
despite the superstars who
wandered on and off - y'know,
yer Nick Masons, Gary Windos,that bunch.
Swaying in his wheelchairplaying ghost drums, fiddlingwith the dials of his mixer with
one hand, clutching a mic withthe other and his eyessqueezed tight shut, he wasunquestionably the focal pointof the proceedings, and folks,
he's singin' better than ever.

Unfortunately Julie Tippett's
contribution to the festivities
rather derailed things. After
joining Wyatt and co in one
song, she was left alone tootling
merrily on a recorder andhumming into it occasionally.
This was followed by twosongs at de piano, performed
extremely nervously, and anumber with Wyatt, Windo andtrumpeter Mongezi Feza,
which could well have beencalled "Dedicated To You But
You Ran Out Of The Room
Screaming for Aspirin". Ms
Tippett's voice is still ascompelling as ever, but her

stiff, uncertain piano playing
and the lugubriousness of her
songs provided a rather deadarea in the middle of the set,
which eventually climaxed witha thoroughly berserk version of"I'm A Believer- with somesingularly dirty rhythm guitar
from Oldfield.
Generally, the show veered
from the sublime to theridiculous, with the sublime
firmly in the lead. Eighty percent of it was very fine indeed,
and the more gigs Robert
Wyatt feels like undertaking
the better. Wheel meet again.
Charles Shaer Murray

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 1 119

1974

OCTOBER -DECEMBER

November 1974: Pink

It

Floydat the Empire
Pool, Wembley (I-r)David Gilmour,
Nick Mason,Roger
Waters, Rick Wright

120 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

PINK FLOYD
low A 01.4

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their co,.

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1974

OCTOBER DECEMBERMELODY MAKER ,OVEMBER 16-

N THE CURRENT era, when groups and artists comeand go with alarming regularity, the continuing
success of the Pink Floyd is a peculiar state of affairs.
For the Floyd are rock's hermits, and rare indeed is it
for them to emerge from their caves to tour or makerecords. It's well over a year since they last played inthis country and their only bow to a live audience during thattime was a short French outing in lune. They didn't even tour
the States to reap the rewards obviously in the offing following

1

iciiretirekeio

the success of Dark Side Of The Moon.
It's a good 18 months since that album was released, and by
the way Floydian matters are shaping up, it'll be another six

months before their next record reaches the shops. Throughout
this period of lengthy inactivity no word is heard from the
Floyd. There are no solo albums forthcoming.
They keep their private lives very much to themselves, andlittle is even forthcoming about the musical thoughts of Messrs
Waters, Wright, Mason and Gilmour, other than the fact thatthey disli ke being probed.
Roger Waters' love of football is well known. He is also pretty
US AND THEM
,Wators Wr.ght,
fanatical about golf and thoroughly enjoys a game of(from M. LP -THE OAR
OF THE MOON.' SMAS*
squash. Nick Mason spends many a happy hour messing
about in boats and was recently seen on Top OfThe Pops
playing his drums behind Robert Wyatt on "I'm A
NOTFOR SALE
Believer". Dave Gilmour likes riding motorbikes andMONO
enjoys a life in the country, very occasionally turningntro
07
up to play with a local band when the mood takes him.
P -3832
Toth -3:16(PRO.6829
But Rick Wright, the keyboard virtuoso, remains
IRO.
Harnoanor
pink F i ,yd
a complete mystery, a face guaranteed to warrant
Poollsning
Coro..ASCAP
not a spark of recognition should he choose to board
PINK FLOYD
a London bus or creep silently into the stalls of the1174 EM
Retoraild In England
Rai nbowTheatre in the unlikely event that he wants to"We have a deal with the record company that makes
catch an up-and-coming act. His efforts with the Floyd(7,1)'
us do about seven albums in five years, which is one
earned him tenth place in the keyboards section of this year's
album a year and maybe a couple of film scores. It's very easy
MMpoll, a position hardly worthy of the talent he displays on stage
to make that deal."
with the group.
The immense success of Dark Sidehastaken the band by surprise,
According to the excellent programme available on the current
although they all felt it would do well at the time it was released.
Pink Floyd UK tour, Wright is pictured as a glamou r -seeking playboy,"It's been in the English charts ever since it was released, which is quite
surrounded by Hugh Hefner, Charlton Heston and a bevy of naked girls.
amazing," said Rick. "We all felt it would do at least as well as the otherIn effect, though, nothing could be further from the truth. Wright is aalbums, but not quite as well as it did.
happily married man who lives in Cambridge and spends most of his"All our albums have done well in this country, but Dark Sidewas
un-Floydian time pottering about in his home studio.
Number One in the US and we never dreamed it would do that. It was
It was, then, with some reluctance that he agreed to be interviewed inprobably the easiest album to sell in that it was the easiest to listen to, but
the Caledonian Hotel in Glasgow following the opening of the band's tour
it's success has obviously put some kind of pressure onus, and that islast week. Settling down with a packet of Piccadilly tipped cigarettes andwhat to do next.
strong coffee, he nevertheless proved a fine spokesman for the Floyd.
"We have always tried to bring out something different with our next
We began by talking about the three new pieces the group are
release, and it would be very easy now to carryon with the same formula
performing on the tour. "RavingAnd Drooling", it turns out, was written
as Dark Side, which a lot of people would do. It's changed me in manyways
by Waters about two months ago; "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" wasbecause it's brought in a lot of money and one feels very secure when you
written about the same time and worked on during rehearsals at Elstree;
can sell an album for two years. But it hasn't changed my attitude to music.
and "Gotta Be Crazy" began as a Gilmour riff. Roger Waters wrote all the"Even though it was so successful, it was made in the same way as all
lyrics, and none of the songs have been recorded yet.
our other albums, and the only criteria we have about releasing music"We always like to write numbers, go on the road with them and record
is whether we like it or not. It was not a deliberate attempt to make athem later," said Rick. "We did this with Dark Side OfThe Moon and wecommercial album, it just happened that way. Lots of people probably
think it's easily the best way to go about it. A number changes so muchthought we all sat down and discussed it like that, but it wasn't the case atwhen we do it live over a long period; 'Shine On' has changed a lot sinceall. We knew it had a lot more melody than previous Floyd albums, andwe started already.
there was a concept that ran all through it. The music was easier to"I can't think of any other bands that work this way. Usually bands
absorb, and having girls singing away added a commercial touch thatrecord songs and then play them, but we feel that if you do a few tours
none of our other records had."with a number, then that number improves immensely.
Rick has no idea how many copies Dark Side has actually sold, but it's
"We willprobably record them after the tour. There's enough material inwell into the millions. Around 700,000 copies have been bought in thisthe three songs for an album, but ! don't know yet. We may do something
country, and at least three times that amount have been sold in the US.
else as well which we haven't actually played yet. There are things I am
"I never know about things like sales," said Rick. "I know that it was theworking on in my studio that I would like to put on the next album."first gold record we had in America and since it's release our other albums
A new Floyd album can be expected in March. The time between
have picked up in sales over there. We have made a lot of new fans as a
Christmas and then will be spent in the studio and next year the groupresult, because it was the first time we ever had an AM airplay in America.
will embark on two US tours, their first for two years.
'Money' was played on AM radio, and fora lot of people it was the first"It'll be a two-year gap between Dark Side and the next one, and that'stime they'd heard us.
too long in my opinion," said Rick. "We have never been a prolific group"I like to think this hasn't put a pressure on us in terms of what we writein terms of records. We average about one a year over ourwhole career.
next, but fora whole yearwe never did anything. We all sat around and got
It's not a policy to work like that- it's just the way it happens.
heavily into our reasons for being and our group. We got into a bad period
122 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

PINK FLOYD

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December1974

when we didn't do anything at all creatively. We all still enjoy playing
DarkSide and any time one of us didn't enjoy it, we wouldn't do it again,
ever. The first time we played it at the Rainbow, it was totally different
from today, but it's remained virtually the same since we recorded it.
"There's a solo in 'Money' which varies according to how Dave feels, and'Any Colou rYou Like' is just improvisations, but various parts are very
arranged and it's almost like a score."
The accompanying film isn't Rick's territory, but he feels there's stillroom for improvement in the visual aspects of their show. "It was hard
work for Roger, Nick and Arthur Max, the sound engineer, but it's still not
right. I think we are still at the experimental stage in finding out what
visuals work and which don't- even after all these years.
"It's so easy to have a film that is distracting, and of course, I've never
any idea what the effect of the film is- I'm always on stage playing. People
always expect the Floyd to come up with something different, new andbetter when it comes to visuals, and it's very
difficult to keep thinking of new ideas.
"The projector for the film was incredibly
expensive and we got a new mixing desk too,
which was also expensive. Buying those willprobably mean we lose money on this tour, butthat doesn't matter because we'll recoup it on
later tours. We can never make money inEngland with 25 in the crew.
"We have got a new guy mixing the sound andhe is used to working in a studio. Last night was
the first time he's worked with a live band andthat's why the first half of the concert wasn't
right. The second half was easier because he'd
got to know us and the board by then.
"We spent two weeks rehearsing at Elstree
before this tour, but in the end we couldn't spend one whole day playing
because of problems fitting the new system together. Also it demanded
a lot of attention getting the notes for the first half of the show, which we
hadn't played much before this tour. Dave had to have the words of thesongs stuck on to the top of his guitar."
I commented that I thought the three new songs were harsher, heavier
numbers than the Floyd usually played and Rick agreed.
"Yes, it's the way the numbers have been written and it's the waywe
played them. We always play heavier when we don't know songs so well.

When we first performed Dark Side it was heavier and harsher
than it is now. As we get to know a song better, we tend to playit quieter.
"Did you realise that 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' is about
Syd [Barrett)? We don't see much of him now since he left and
we're definitely a different band since his day. Thank God we're
not the same. I know that it's very fashionable to like Syd thesedays, but I think we have improved immensely since he left,
especially live. He was a brilliant songwriter and he was fantastic
on Piper, but he was in the wrong state to play any music.
"I am all for people trying to keep his name going, but... hehasn't written anything for years. His two solo albums show the
way he was going. The first album was better than the second,and since then no one has been able to get him into a studio."
Rick seemed anxious to change the subject from his former
colleague, so I inquired why it was the Floyd played live so
infrequently.
"We all differ in opinions about how much we should play live.
Dave and I would like to do more live work, but Roger and Nickare happywith the way it is.
"It's such a headache going on the road, and all of us except
Dave are married with kids. I believe it's very important that I ama good father and I am around with my children.
"We limit ourselves to three-week tours and this has saved us
from going mad. I feel that if we worked for weeks and weeks on
the road all the time we wouldn't be producing such good music.
"Bands who work live all the time do it purely for the money,
I think. No band can really enjoy playing one-nighters week
after week, so it must be a financial rather than a musical motive.
"Last year, apart from a French tour, we didn't go out on theroad at all, and we had a Number One album in the States. We
could have gone over then and made a fortune, but we would
have made ourselves mad at the same time. We will probably do
two three-week tours of the US next year and take a two -month breakin-between. But even so, I don't think we have played enough recently.
You get to the point where you don't play and then you lose the whole
reason for being in a band in the first place -and that, after all, is to go out
and make music for people.
"I would like to reach a situation where we devote six months in a year to
the Floyd and six months to whatever we likelf for one of us this meant
going on the road, then he could play with another band, and I think wemight be reaching that stage now.
"There are many things !would like to do which would not involve the
Floyd, and this attitude could well save the Floyd in the long run.
Everyone of us wants to do other things, but at the moment we don't havethe time.
"I feel this would be a good idea. Any band is a compromise between
four individuals, but a compromise fora whole year isn't a good thing.
It's only time that has prevented us doing solo
projects, and if I had six months away from thegroup I would certainty make an album of myown. The others feel the same way.
"I couldn't visualise going out with my own
band on the road, but !would probably do a film
score or maybe produce another artist. I know
I would like to try playing with other musicians
fora change."
Conversation switched to the low-key
approach the group has towards the media, andRick agreed that this was a deliberate policy.
"We are not trying to sell ourselves, just themusic. Right from the start we adopted thispolicy. We have never had a publicity agent andwe've never found one necessary. We don't go to
all the in parties and we don't go to the 'in' clubs in London.
"People don't recognise us on the streets, and even if they did it wouldn't
be a problem. That kind of thing has changed since I moved out of London
to Cambridge where people don't know anything about the Floyd.
"Sometimes I get people tramping through my garden and asking for an
autograph because they've heard I'm in a pop group, but they don't knowwhat the Floyd do. They probably think we're like Gary Glitter.
"It's a very nice situation to be in. Rod Stewart has the kind of
personality that encourages all the fan worship, but we don't. We're just *"Dave had tohave thewords stuckon the top of

his guitar"

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 I 123

1974

OCTOBER -DECEMBER

Footage of Edward
Heath, who resigned
as prime minister
in March1974,isprojected benind
thebandduringDark
Side's"BrainDamago-out every concert hall and your album goes to Number One.
No, the Pink Floyd can't claim to be underground any
more." ChrisCharlesworth- NME NOVEMBER 23 DAVID GILMOUR IS almost by accident probably
the most proficient musician in the Floyd without, in terms of his guitar work, everimposing any kind of "personality" on the group. Past
history reveals his style and approach as being, to say theleast, malleable.
Gilmour joined the band in '67 as replacement for Syd
Barrett. They'd all known each other from the band's
embryonic Cambridge days. Prior to this Gilmour had been
gigging in France and was, on his own admission, a fairly
stock rock guitarist whose roots extended no further than
Hank Marvin.
"At the time," reports the Floyd's then co -manager, Pete
Jenner, "Dave was doing very effective take -offs of Hendrixstyle guitar playing. So the band said, 'Play like Syd Barrett. The familiar slide and echo -boxes were purely of Syd's
invention. Subsequently, in an interview conducted lastyear, Gilmour stated that his joining such an apparently
disparate unit as the Floyd was in no way anything morethan a minor wrench for him. Which is possibly why hefinds it so easy to fit in with such other apparently disparate
elements as Unicorn, Sutherland Brothers, Quiver and
Roy Harper. Hence the term "malleability" may also imply(a) a lack of personality in musical style and therefore (b)a suspicion of an "it's only a gig" philosophy.
In a way, you could say that Gilmour was a geezer who
struck lucky -which is why, I've always felt,
he's regarded the band -and his role within

it -with a certain tinge of cynicism.

not that kind of band.Incidentall,
I think Rod Stewart makes greatmusic too.
"I like all sorts of music myself.
I listen to my old favourites and I
listen to records that people bring tome if I respect their taste. I ignore theway pop is going. I have completely lost touch with the singles charts.
I don't listen to what is being played on the radio, I don't watch Top OfThePops and I don't watch The Old Grey Whistle Test.
"I don't even know how the rock business is going, except that I think
the bubble will burst fairly soon. It's already burst in the States, where Joe
Public has decided he's not going to pay such enormous ticket prices any
more. I don't agree with these huge shows in front of tens of thousands ofpeople. Wembley Empire Pool is the biggest place you can play before you
lose the effect."And how long could Pink Floyd last as a band?
"It could last forever," he said. "There's no reason why it shouldn't, butthen we could have a fight tonight and split up tomorrow. I f we carryoutthat idea of being a group for six months and individuals for the next six
months, then there's no reason why we can't carry on fora longtime.
"As a group we still have much to do and much to do together. We
probably do things much better with each other than we ever could withanyone else.
"We are basically happy with the situation at this time. Roger is very
keen on sports, which suits his competitive spirit, and Nick is keen on
sailing, and that's another thing that helps us survive.
"We're not underground any more, despite what people say. At the
UFO it was underground, but you can't be underground when you sell
124 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

It's almost as if the Floyd, having loafed
about half -seriously in the beginning as"The Architectural Abdabs", garnered theirpersona from Barrett and when he dropped
out, for want of anything better to do, clungon to the momentum he provided. Until in a manner of speaking- success crept up
from behind and goosed them.
Sometime in-between, of course, theymust have realised, that they were On To
A Good Thing. The Floyd are nothing if
not shrewd. More, even, than Brian Eno,they're well aware of the benefits ofconcocting a low -profile Emperor's New
Clothes' syndrome -which is why, I'dguess, Roger Waters makes no little show
onstage of his apparent disdain for their audiences. And why too (you'll
have noticed) that the band do few interviews, and when they do, try andavoid discussing the intrinsic grits of their music too much...
They like, you see, for you to make your own deductions -and withintellectual paranoia in the ascendant (possibly as a result of The Rise Of
The Reefer) how can they fail?Thus confronted, Gilmour's attitude
remains uniformly laissez-faire.
"Cynical?" he says querulously. "So, I mean, last night onstage I was justso hung up. Because it wasn't very good."
At one point -the night before the Thursday gig- the first of theirWembley gigs -he'd raised his eyebrows as if to say, "Let's pack it in andpiss off home." But now it's Friday morning and we're camped down inthe bedroom of his recently renovated Notting Hill townhouse.
Concert licks first, please Dave. How about the gaps between numbers- Roger stalling over lighting a cigarette with his "well, we can do this,
we're artists" attitude?
"Oh yeah. But I don't really think that's what it's down to. It's just... ah...
I du n no... Roger likes smoking cigarettes. He can't get through a gig
without a few straights." He is, however, more than willing to admit thatThursday night's gig was "probably the worst we've done on the wholetour. The first half..." he continues languidly "...when that wasn't very
good it didn't particularly worry me because they're all new things andu. r

PINK FLOYD

we're not doing them very well yet. But we have done them better thanthat. I thought the second half would click into place because it has doneon a couple of other nights when the first half wasn't good."
The standard of musicianship was very low -for example, Rick Wright's
solo on the end of "UsAnd Them", which didn't approximate to therecorded version in any way. Yes?
"In the first half... the sound wasn't very good and the vocal mics werepretty terrible -which makes it that much harder to sing and that muchharder to work. And also it didn't sound as if there was any bass anddrums. Unless there's a bit of that '000mph', you can't really get off... It
was just one of those nights where you bumble around and don't really getanything together. It sounded ragged all the way through. It doesn't worry
me particularly; it just happens sometimes. Just chemistry really, innit?"
Mm mm. Well, OK, was the audience's response an accurate one, then?
"I think they enjoyed it reasonably -but I think a lot of people didn't
really think it was very good. There's a difference between going home andthinking it was pretty good and going home and thinking 'wow'. And I
know we do get that pretty often. More nights than not I know that most of
the people there are going to go home and say, 'What a groove!' I think they
probablywant to convince themselves that they did have a groove just sothat they don't think they hit on a bad one... and wasted their money."
Right. On to the Big Picture. The band has reached a level now -with
Moon -where, inevitably, when you're at a party, someone will put it on
and everyone will say, leepers, THE FLOYD!' - almost as a conditioned
reflex, ie, whatever -the -Floyd -do -is -hallowed. How do you feel about it?
"It's a drag."
It's almost as if the band could put out a double album of Roger tuning
his bass and it'd sell.
"I'm sure there would be people who'd react that way -but I'm sure sales
figures would reflect a bad album in the end. But I don't mean that 100 per
cent. I'm sure that if we put out an album of pure tripe it would sell vastly
more than lots and lots of other bands' records. But in relation to oursales, a bad record would sell badly. It has done in the past."
With what?
"Well, Atom Heart Mother. I'd say that was the worst record we've made.
I didn't like it and I don't like it much now. I'm not very keen on
Ummagumma either."Well, how about Moon? Did its musical content really merit its universal
popularity- orwas it the Floyd album that coincided with the peak ofinterest in the band?
"Quite possibly. You maybe right. But it certainlywas a very good
all-round... uh... package. Everything about it was very well done. It was
one continuous idea. It was recorded well, it was pretty well mixed, hada good cover and all that sort of stuff.
"But I've always felt, right from the word Go, that the musical side of it
wasn't that hot in some parts. And I still feel that. Some parts are a bit
weak. We'd have a lyrical idea but no real idea of a musical piece to put toit, so we'd just make something up and take the first thing that came rather than being critical about the musical side as it was being done. But
then some of those bits got knocked out during the months we wereplaying it on stage before we recorded it. The original travel section we
played for months on stage and even recorded it
before deciding to scrap it and start again."Yes. But getting back to this bland acceptancething... surely the band is to blame? On stage
the music is almost moving towards a kind of
Automation Rock, towards a kind of non participatory, non -thinking music -where all
the audience has to do is walk in, sit down andwatch it all exploding in front of them. In terms
of presentation you could be getting to the point
where you walk on stage, throw a few switches
and walkout. Will it come to that?
"Oh, I don't think so, no. I don't think that theaudience have a very great participation in what
we do but I don't think that's a bad thingnecessarily."
Don't you think it promotes Bland
Acceptance?
"No. Listen," he says (perhaps beginningto get a little riled), "we still have to get off.
I mean, you know what the difference isbetween a good gig and a bad gig. And it's

not mechanical. We're quite capable of blowing a gig and we're also
capable of doing a great gig."
But in the main it tends to glut the listener's faculties, promoting aglazed "OK, feed it to me" attitude (which, taken to its fullest extent,
I might add, is positively somnambulist. I personally noted four people
sound asleep in my row.)"You think so?" he replies (perhaps stalling a little). "I think it's up tothem. I think they're free to take it anyway they want. A lot of people don't,
though. We had someone the other night who must've known that we'refootball fans who was shouting, 'Cyyyomon you Floyd!!!' just like they doon the North Bank."
The new material sounded a bit recycled- like some of the moretangible stuff on Moon. Does that mean you're having trouble sorting out
new ideas?
"Umm, yeah. I don't know... uh... 'RavingAnd Drooling' - the middle
one of the three - sounds a bit recycled tome, but they're not there yet.
I'm not very keen on that one at the moment... but, I dunno, these things
get worked into shape. I know that one or two of them are gonna soundgreat recorded. I think the last one, 'Gotta Be Crazy', is very different toa lot of stuff we've done, but I don't think the words go right at the
moment. I mean, the singing thing's been worked out a bit too quickly.
Rogerwrote the words to fit over a certain part and I'm not sure that we
did it quite the right way."
But how can you equate doing something like "Gotta Be Crazy" -or"Money", even -from the relatively secure position you're in as a band?
"Well, 'Money' is obviously a satire on... money. And it is a self -satire.
Obviously. It's easy to tell that, because a lot of the lyrics relate specificallyto things that various of us have done, but I mean, I don't think we're ascapitalist as... I think it mocks us, the song says that we're more than weare, in fact. It just keeps us aware of it all.
"'You Gotta Be Crazy' is about business pressure really. It does relate
to us- I'm sure -you'll have to ask Roger really, he wrote it. The way I
understand the words is that ! guess you have to harden yourself up touh-you know, Make It in this world... if that's what you call Making It..."The other thing about the new material is that it sounds "safe". It's
years since the band has taken any musical risks, which fora group thatclaims its main appeal is that it "sounds different" from any other, isa little incongruous.
"Ah well," replies Mr G. "I think that's all down to what you want to do. I
mean, I certainly don't want to do a lot of things we did earlier on. I'm justinterested in actuallywriting music and getting the music done that we do."
Ahem.
"...You know, I think that everyone's interests have gone more towards
that sort of thing rather than some of the old rubbish that we used to do.
Like we used to do an encore where we'd just go on and not decide what
we were going to do until we'd started..."How long ago was that?
"Oh, four years ago, at least. But I don't really want to go through thatthing of doing five loads of rubbish and just once getting something that's

pretty good and new. Or getting a half-hour number with about threeminutes of worthwhile music on it."But don't you think that if you'd have kept on
progressing from the original improvisingbasis that by nowyou could've achieved apersonal empathy that would alleviate most of
those duff patches?
"I don't know. I really don't know... I've just got
memories of standing on stage farting about,plonking away on stuff and feeling terribly
embarrassed for long periods of time- andlooking across at everyone else realising thattheywere all obviously feeling the same way.
"Maybe guaranteeing that what you play issomething that you'll enjoy is 'playing safe'. But
I don't think we've got an intentional play -safe
policy." PeterErskine"The musicalside of Dark
Side... someparts are a
bit weak"Floyd juggernaut...the road to 1984?

they wandcr on rather Like four
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1974

Tight trousers.

that people were taking the mickey out of Queen. Of
course, there were some who reckoned they had agenuine talent which would come to the fore, but for

FU N NY HOW TIM ES change. Seems like only yesterday- NM f NOVEMBER 2 ___"We're as
ponceyas ever"

Better lights (indeed,"better everything").

Champagne and silver
discs. QUEEN end theyear well on the way tostardom, a situation

Freddie Mercury on

stageint974asQueen
broadentheirsoundwith third album
SheerHeartAttock

OP

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 I 127

1974

DECEMBEROCTOBERAnd you? "Oh no, dear, just a nice black number."
It is apparent that success (in any shape or form) has not alteredMercury, who still insists on using the suffix "dear" at the end of his
sentences. He is also still very much hung up on maintaining the "star"
image. For a start he never carries much money around with him. It's notthat he's poverty-stricken or even mean- just that it's difficult to keep
cash in your shoes. A star to the last, he wears pocketless trousers andkeeps his finances close to his feet.
"I hate pockets in trousers," he stresses.
the"By,way, I do not wear ahose. My hose is my own. No Coke bottle, nothing stuffed down there."
Of course, Freddie. However, sticking rigidly to the star image has its
drawbacks. Satin trousers aren't that durable ("I split a pair last week")
and velvet and sequins have a nasty habit of dulling in the rain. Still, theycreate the desired effect of getting people to stare. Mercury still adores
the stares, of course -he's insisted all along he's a star and thinks heshould dress accordingly. But for all the high camp, he's got some grey
matter in that head of his. It was, after all, Mercurywho wrote six of the 13
cuts on the new album, and being artistically inclined, it was he who
provided the idea for the album sleeve.
"God, the agonywe went through to have the pictures taken, dear. Can
you imagine trying to convince the others to cover themselves in Vaseline
and then have a hose of water turned on them?"
Sheer agony, Freddie. The end result is four members of the band
looking decidedly un-regal, tanned and healthy, and as drenched as if
they've been sweating for a week.
"Everyone was expecting some sort of cover. A Queen ///cover, really,
but this is completely new. It's not that we're changing altogether -it's justa phase we are going through."
But won't Queen devotees be a trifle worried by this new image?
"Theywill love it. We're still as poncey as ever. We're still the dandies westarted out to be. We're just showing people we're not merely a load ofpoofs, that we are capable of other things."
The album, as detailed above, boasts 13 tracks- most of them a mere three minutes in length.
"Not a collection of singles, dear- although wemight draw another one off later for a single. I'm
not absolutely sure about that, though. No, not
all the numbers last for ages. There were just so
many songs we wanted to do. And it makes achange to have short numbers. It's so varied that
we were able to go to extremes. I only had about
two weeks to write my songs, so we've beenworking [expletive deleted] hard."
It should be noted that the BBC seem to havetaken "Killer Queen" to their collective bosom,
since they've been flogging it to death.
I wonder if they would be so keen if theyrealised the true story behind the single.
Mercury elucidates: "It's about a highclass call girl. I'm trying to say thatclassy people can be whores as well.
That's what the song is about, though I'd

support to Mott The Hoople and returned early after guitarist Brian May
contracted hepatitis. As if that wasn't bad enough, May was later
informed that he had an ulcer. Currently he still has a certain air of frailty
surrounding him, but claims to be feeling "better than ever".
Mercury advises: "Brian has got to look after himself in future. We allwant to make sure something like that never happens again. So he'll haveto eat the right things and steer clear of hamburgers."
Most inopportune, one would have thought, quitting their first US tour
halfway through. Mercury, however, is confident as ever of the band's
chances in America.
"We did what we had to do, anyway. Sure, a whole tour would havehelped us a bit more, but there's no such thing as 'we lost our chance. I
still believe that the time is right for us there and we're going back pretty
soon. We really did it -'cos when we came backyou should have seen thewrite-ups. They were beautiful and they just want us to come back assoon as we can. They are just waiting on new product."
One particular review from the US sticks out in Mercury's mind since it
was, in a sense, on a personal level.
"We played a theatre in New York with Mott and this particular chick- well, they notice everything down to the pimple on your arse, dear wrote that she noticed that when I did a costume change I changed evenmy shoes and socks. She also added she was so close she could tell whatreligion I was, and that I wasn't wearing any knickers. She also pointed
out that Ian Hunter had knickers on. Ian's going to die..."Indeed. Since the American market is taking such an interest in
Queen, it appears Japan is not very far behind. Queen //was recently
voted album of the year and all members of the band came up highly inthe musicians' awards.
"Quite a change for a country which has of late been apparently
obsessed with the likes of ELP and Yes. We're planning to go to Japan in
the new year," states Mercury. "Can't wait, actually. All those geisha
girls..." he laughs, "and boys."
Seems the Japanese market have twigged
quite early -even now they send presents to theband. At EMI, Mercury received a Japanese
wooden comb: "For your birthday. Please comeover soon".
Before the British tour, the main priority has
been rehearsing. This time round, the soundshould substantially improve, since theywill beplaying larger venues than before, which are
more suited to their vast sound system.
"We're just hoping to have a whale of time. We
are going to have to put across all three albums.
The repertoire will be built around them. But
the main thing is to put across the energy of theband and hopefully the versatility. I'dhate to just do hard rock all the time,dear. It should be good because we've
got better lights, better everything."
Part of this interview was
conducted in a local hostelrywhichsold liquor. Beforehand, Mercury
seemed a bit nervous, about whatkind of establishment it was.
"Is it working-class?" he asked, inwhat sounded like an elitist manner.
No, it wasn't particularly rough.
Even so, people did tend to starewhen he entered.
"I love it, really," he commented,
looking distinctly uncomfortable
trying to avoid the stares of an old
man nearby, whose eyes wereattempting to leave their sockets.
on tour Spring 1974
"I just wanted to know what kind%%am, l:.91/nt.
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when we walked in, that man's eyes
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hissed, 'You
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think we're
really nasty"

prefer people to put their interpretation
upon it- to read into it what they like."
The British tour is their first live
manifestation since their ill-fated
American bonanza, when they played

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Queen on Top Of The Pops
in1974 - possibly before avisit to a restaurant whereted
Mercury willbep r
with a bottle of champagne
after removing histrousers"No, not really. I've had people try to pick me up once or twice, but
I'm not intending to change into jeans because of it. I tried that a few
weeks ago and people! knew remarked on that far more than my satin
or velvet."Somehow! have enough confidence in Mercury to feel that he could
carry off any occasion with typical aplomb. Just a short time ago he foundhimself in a somewhat embarrassing situation and miraculously
escaped. But let him explain that:"We'd had a hectic day at Top OfThe Pops and our promotion man
Eric Hall invited us out fora meal. Unfortunately the others in the band
couldn't come as they had to go back to the studio. Anyway, I had rather
a lot to drink and I seem to remember at some point in the evening thatsomeone removed my shoes and socks and hung them on a lampshade.
Then ! said something along the lines of, 'Well, if you're going to takeeverything off I shall remove my trousers...'"
Picture this. Our hero, half under his table at a rather trendy
nightspot with trousers akimbo, when the bigwhite chief of theestablishment approaches.
"I thought he was going to throw me out, but instead he said, 'I hear
you've got a gold disc.' He meant to say silver. And then he presented mewith a bottle of champagne."
Now if Mercury can handle a situation like that with such style, think
how easy it is for him to get everyone else convinced he is a true star.
Julie Webb

- MELODY MAKER NOVEMBER
EOPLE THINK I'M an ogre at times. Some girls hissed at mein the street... 'You devil.' They think we're really nasty. But
that's only on stage. Offstage, well I'm certainly not an ogre."Freddie Mercury is a star, nevertheless. The first real rock supremo
since Robert Plant or Rod Stewart.
Exuding elan, arrogance and stagecraft, he has emerged at the head ofQueen to claim his crown. And step aside all ye who scoff or mock, forQueen are trundling ahead with inexorable momentum.
Freddie was shouting at me in the deserted bar of a Liverpool hotel
at 1 lam on Saturday. No-he wasn't expressing anger at recent MM
criticisms of the band. He was just trying to make himself heard above
the noise of a woman sucking at a carpet full of cigarette ash with her
Holiday Inn vacuum cleaner.
"Oh my dear, she's coming this way," Freddie sighed as the din grew
louder. Fastidious, elegant, he maintained an even temper, despite theravages of last night's celebrations. Many bottles of champagne had been
consumed in the aftermath of a riotous reception for the boys at
Liverpool's stately, if somewhat battered, Empire.
Inevitably, thoughts had turned to another group of long ago, whocaused similar scenes as they trod those hallowed boards. Oddly enough,Brian May, Queen's fleet -fingered lead guitarist, uses AC30 amplifiers,
just like The Beatles. x.
C.

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 1129

\t9 SEVEN
SEAS

1974

OF RHYE

OCTOBER DECEMBER

But Queen's music is from the '70s- not the '60s.
Cleverly arranged, carefully timed, delivered withmaximum effort to create the greatest impact, itworks on a young and receptive audience like abombshell. Forget eight -year -olds screaming at
The Osmonds. Their big brothers and sisters arelearning how to yell again.
"Yes, I like an audience to respond like that,"
Freddie was saying. "Maybe we'd like them to sit
down and listen to some of the songs, but I geta lot more from them when they're going wild,
and it brings more out of me."Queen are a strange, refreshing bunch. They
are in that happy position in a band's history,
when the first wave of excitement and success isbreaking over them. Events are moving rapidly.

that the concert had been exhausting, even before
the champagne took its toll.
Sheer Heart Attack, their third album, just released,
had already received a dose of press abuse. How did
Mercury react?
"The album is veryvaried, we took it toextremes, I suppose, but we are very interested
in studio techniques and wanted to use what
was available. We learnt a lot about techniquewhile we were making the first two albums. Of
course there has been some criticism, and theconstruct ive criticism has been very good for us.
"But, to be frank, I'm not that keen on the
British music press, and they've been pretty
unfair to us. I feel that up-and-coming
journalists, by and large, put themselves above
the artists. They've certainly been under amisconception about us. We've been calleda supermarket hype. But ifyou see us up on a stage, that's what we're allabout. We are basically a rock band. All the lights and all theparaphernalia are only there to enhance what we do.
"I t hi nk we are good writers -and we want to play good music, no matter
how much of a slagging we get. The music is the most important factor.
This is our first headline tour, and the buzz has got around, without any
support from the media. I suppose they I ike to find their own bands, andwe've been too quick for them.
"You see, when we started out, we wanted to try for the best -the best
management, the best record deal, we didn't want any compromise, andwe didn't want to get ripped off. So far, it has paid off. In America, we've
broken the ice already. As you know, we started a tour there last year,
supporting Mott The Hoople, but Brian was taken ill and we had to comeback. But we had a Top 30 album hit there, we've undertaken a huge
project, but it's all good fun."
How long did Queen spend in planning their project of world
domination? "You make it sound so preconceived!" Freddie protested.
Mercifully the cleaning device wailed to a halt, and helped dampen
a threatened Mercurial outburst.
"Believe it or not- it was spontaneous! It grew and grew, and remember,
we had all been in various bands before, so we had plenty of experience ofwhat not to do, and not be flabbergasted by the first rosy offer. That's how
much planning went into it. This isn't overnight success, you know; we'vebeen going for four years! We just got the right people to work for us, andthe right company, and it's taken a long time.
"And yet we've been accused of being a hype, compared to bands
we've never even heard of, and then finally told that we didn't evenwrite our own songs. That hurt. Right from the start we have been writing
our own songs, and that was the whole point -to come up with some"To be frank,

I'm not thatkeen on themusic press"

Singles and album hits in Britain. America iswithin their grasp and beckoning seductively.
Yet their image may have served to confuse and sow seeds of suspicion.
Like any band achieving success too quickly for the media's liking, they
are under fire, although they seem more disappointed with the critics
than hostile. The whole situation is an exact replica of Led Zeppelin backin 1969, when they were first deluged with self-righteous cries of abuse.
Perhaps Queen have gone about the business of forming a successful
group with too much skill and intelligence. And yet they cannot be
blamed for wanting to avoid the mistakes of their forebears. They havethe example of the past 10 years of triumph and failure in the world of rockmusic to study, and they have profited from the examination.
Like many of Britain's most significant rock talents, Queen are collegians
who have abandoned their degree courses for the lu re of showbiz. Freddie
Mercury in fact has a degree in graphic art. Roger Meddows-Taylor, their
drummer, studied dentistry and has a degree in biology. Brian May,
incredibly, is an infra -red astronomer, and could become a doctor if hecompleted his studies. When Concorde raced the sun to study an eclipse,
he was in line to join the team of scientists on board.
John Deacon, their bass guitarist, has a degree in electronics. if
theband's stage equipment presents a problem, then the roadies are tempted
to call on him for expert advice.
Their amiable, efficient American manager, Jack Nelson, is somewhat
in awe of them. "Freddie designed the group's logo, y'know, and he nevereven told me. I fyou look, you'll see it encompasses the four astrologicalsigns of the group. Freddie's a Virgo."
Jack has managed the band since they first emerged from London's
Trident Studios. "They go to Japan after they've been to the States in April.
It's funny, they are the number -one group in Japan, above Jethro Tull, Yes
and ELP, and even Deep Purple, and they used to own Japan. But they've
never seen Queen yet -it's all through the Queen //album."Meanwhile the vacuum cleaner roared in ever -decreasing circles. "I'mfeeling less than sparkling this morning," said Freddie, who admit ted

original songs.
"I n this country, to gain respect in a short while seems very difficult,and the papers like to feel they have you in theirgrasp. Well -we slipped out of their grasp."
However, Freddie is the first to admit that
there can be dissent within the group, as wellas without.
"We tend to work well under pressure. But do
we row? Oh my dear, we're the bitchiest band on
earth. You'll have to spend a couple of days withus. We're at each other's throats. But if we didn't
disagree we'd just be yes men, and we do get thecream in the end." Chris Welch

wen: aQM`, n in 1974:0-0[f odd,nr yohn Deacon. RogerffaykwandBrianMay

eventiesA curious mix
MM NOV 9

THE GIG: AN atmosphere approaching
bedlam is prevalent inside the Empire,
long before Queen emit a hint of activity
behind the sombre barrier of the safetycurtain. Hustler have come and gone. and now
the audience are hungry for action. Bad
reviews? Supermarket rock? Thousands ofQueen's Liverpool supporters looksuspiciously as if they couldn't care neither jot
nor tittle. They whistle and chant and clap
with all the precision of the football terraces.
The ancient cry of "Wally!" still heard innorthern territories echoes around the faded
gilt decor. Jack Nelson is intrigued by the cry,wonders if Wally are a local group and wants tosign them, until informed Bob Harris alreadyhas a stake in the real thing. Mersey accentsboom over the PA: -We do apologise forthe technical hitch - it's to do with the PA
system and we are assured the show will
start in two, three or four minutes."More whistles, as tough -looking lads
in white trousers and combat jackets
with ELP and Jethro Tull emblazoned on
the back pass beer bottles and conduct
the audience with cheeky gestures. It's all in
fun and the only mild aggro comes when the
Queen's entourage from London try to claim
their seats near the front. "Fuck off!" directs
one youth as PR Tony Brainsby pleads for his

LIVERPOOLEMPIRE -'I,
1.

that the mob were welldisposed to the idea.
It was difficult to assess the early part of the
band's performance because the fans, withthat wonderful selfishness of clamorous
seat. "All these seats are taken. up to thatyouth, decided to stand on their seats, theirgentleman there," says Tony, pointing at me.
bodies screening both sight and sound. As
Ribald laughter from the watching stalls,
a guest. I was not too worried
and repeated cries of, "Ooh - gentleman!"on my account. but felt sorry
Grousing, the seat pirates eventuallyfor the kids at the back who
relinquish their hold, with dark mutterings of,had paid their cash.
"Alright, but we'll see you outside. Retiring to the back of the
The battle was in vain, for as the party tooktheatre, and giving up thetheir seats, the safely curtain went up, and thehard-won seats, we watchedaudience rushed forward. Instantly the housethe scenes of tumult,lights went up again and the curtain jerked
including a boy on crutches.
uncertainly down. A nervous man with faceperhaps unable to see, butashen of hue appeared at the side of the stage
desperately waving his steel
clad in incongruous evening dress. as if hesupports in supplication. The
were the master of ceremonies and this was
band's strategy and appeal began to takeold-tyme music hall.
shape as they tore through such dramatic"There is no way we are going to start..." hepieces as "Now I'm Here". "Ogre Battle".
began. "All you have to do is enjoy the show...""Father To Son" and "White Queen" from the
But there was a way. Somebody turned asecond album.
blinding spotlight on the managerial figure,
Roger's drums are the band's workhorse,and he retired defeated, as the curtain halted
punching home the arrangements, andin mid -descent and began a jerky upwardmixing a sophisticated technique with violent
movement. Within seconds most of theattack. Roger says his favourite drummer isaudience were standing up to gaze
John Bonham. Brian is a fervent, emotional
desperately at the darkened empty stage,
guitarist, who is like a Ronno figure toand there they were - shadowy figures
Freddie. and is obviously abounding towards the waiting
gifted musician. The onstage
instruments. The lights blazed.
attention is judiciously divided
and there was evil Fred, clad all
LIVERPOOL
between them, and when May
in white, the archetypal demon
takes a solo on his homemaderock singer, pouting and
EVENING 7-30
guitar. Mercury leaves thesnarling: "Queen is back.
FR IDAstage. only to return in a
What do you think of that?"
NOVFMBEr
stunning new costume.
A tumultuous roar indicatedDecember/3,1974:

Queenat theCongresgebouw in
The Hague, Holland

Into a medley now, and apart from theirslickness and Freddie's dynamic presence.
the extra power of almost choral vocal
harmonies is appreciated, something that few
bands with a central lead singer can achieve.
The camper aspects of Queen are displayedin "Leroy Brown", a gay. Dixieland tune that
Freddie insists is inspired by
The Pointer Sisters. Then
their first hit, "Seven Seas
Of Rhye-, and a lunatic
tempo on "Stone Cold
Crazy-, "Liar- and the finalefrom "Lap Of The Gods".
Dry ice began to envelop
the stage, and as red lightglowed through the fog.
group and audience took on
an eerie aspect. like a scenefrom some Wagnerian forest, as arms waved
like young saplings in a night breeze. Then an
explosion of white light, and two red flares
burn over a deserted stage. Queen havegone, signalling a desperate roar of "MORE!"
After some three minutes, the band
responded to the insistent demand "We want
Queen", Wally having been long forgotten.
Into "Big Spender-, with its slow. measured
pace, and finally "Modern Times Rock'n'Roll",
an apt anthem for a group of our times.
The band are still developing, and their
mixture of heavy rock and glamorous display
might seem curious. But as Queen makes its
royal tour of the land, the effect on theirsubject is to inspire unmitigated loyalty. And
amidst predictions of gloom for the Britishrock scene, it is a healthy and encouraging
spectacle. Ch., Welch

There was evil
Fred, pouting andsnarling: "Queen
is back. What do

you think of that?"

EMPIRE

ORCH. STALLS

tI60

U26

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

131

1974

Robert Fripp:"Insteadof King C rim son, you're
now getting me -a small,independent, mobile
and intelligent unit"

ALBUMS-REVIEW- 1974
MM OCT 5 King Crimson's seventh album, Red, will be their last. The band's prime mover, Robert Fripp
but ho hoc rfitrhnfl "riennentir rivilic2tifIrt" to nronInp fnr q "nnitirol riprlOn" to nnmp
WHY HAVE YOU decided to call it aday? Is the experiment over?
Yes, and for three reasons. The
first is that it represents a change in the world.
Second, where I once considered being part ofa band like Crimson to be the best liberal
education a young man could receive, I now
know that isn't so. And third, the energies
involved in the particular lifestyle of the bandand in the music are no longer of value to theway I live.

But to go back to the first point, the change
in the world. At the moment, we're going
through a transition from the, if you like,
old world to the new. The old world ischaracterised by what one contemporary
philosopher has termed "the dinosaur
civilisation-, large and unwieldy, without
much intelligence -just like the dinosaur.
An example of this would be, say, America or
any huge, worldwide power. Another would be
any large band with lots and lots of roadmanagers... All these units originally start out
to service a need, but you now have a situation
where, being creative, they have to createneeds in order that they may continue to exist.
In other words, they've become vampiric.
The interesting point is that a numberof groups are still going when the musicians
involved are no longer in charge of thesituation. With King Crimson, althoughthat situation hadn't yet been reached, it
could have developed that way within thenext six months...

132 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

It was becoming a dinosaur, then? No, It
would never have become a dinosaur. But itwould have become a smaller version of adinosaur. A mechanical situation would havedeveloped which would have been unwieldy.
And the band wouldn't have been sufficiently
small, independent and intelligent enough toexist in the new world.
And those, of course, are the attributes of
the new world: small, mobile, independentand intelligent units, whether it's, ah... Insteadof a city, you'll get small, self-sufficient
communities, modern villages. And instead ofKing Crimson, you're now getting me -a small,independent, mobile and intelligent unit.
But the transition between the old and the
new has already begun. The old world is, infact, dead and what we're seeing now is, if you
like, the death throes. The large units haveimmense resources and a lot of power, albeit
power of a not very nice kind or quality, which
they will use to maintain their existence.
The transition will reach its most marked
point in the years1990 to1999. Within that
period there will be the greatest friction,and unless there are people with a certain
education, we could see the complete collapseof civilisation as we know it and a period ofdevastation which could last, maybe, 300
years. It will be comparable, perhaps, to thecollapse of the Minoan civilisation.

But you seem to be conjuring facts and figureout of thin air. How do you substantiate yourclaims? I base all this, firstly, on a period ofliving in and experiencing, first hand, thematerialistic civilisation - I'm thinking ofAmerica and working in an organisation which
was, although not a dinosaur, neverthelesslarge. I saw in America enough evidence of the
breakdown of social and economic order toknow that something's fundamentally wrong
and it can't be reversed. You don't have to bevery bright or perceptive to realise that,frankly, the system is breaking down. Life ismuch too complex and involved to becontinued in the present way.
I have contacts in New York who are into avery heavy economic and political situationand they put the year 1990 as the date of thecrunch. Besides, it feels right to me.

Can we go on to your second reason forbringing Crimso to an end? You were talking
about a "liberal education"... Yes, in order toprepare myself for this critical decade I needto acquire certain skills and abilities. The
education of King Crimson has taken me to thisparticular point, but it can no longer educate
me in the fashion I need to be educated.
Instead of King Crimson, I now need, well...
that brings us to my third point, about theenergies involved in working with a band.
King Crimson was a democratic band, weeach had the power of veto, and would
accommodate each other. But we'd got to thepoint where we discovered we were working
together simply because we wouldn't be able

ROBERT FRIPP

also independent. In other words,
I want to develop practical skills and,in addition to this, there is a mental
approach involved in all these things.

to finc musicians of that calibre
outsic e of the band. In other words,
if I wanted a rock drummer I could
find a -lumber of people to workwith. But if I wanted a drummer, andnot ju it a rock drummer, I'm stuck.
There's Bill and, maybe, Mike Giles[a member of the original Crimso]
and piarhaps two others in England.
And vi here would I find a better bass
playe - than John?
A Earopean tour was suggested,but I'd already decided the band wascoming to an end. The tour would
have meant that the band was on theroad ior another six months, but I'm
not prepared to keep secrets frommen I m working with and life is too
valua Dle for me to commit six
months to a situation in which I'm notwholeheartedly involved. Hence the decision
to end the band rapidly. The whole thing
wasn't discussed, as such, although I thinkboth Bill and John were aware of my feelings.
The energies involved weren't right. Getting
on stage and having to fight the aggression of
5,000 people, to beat them down to the pointthat they're listening... The band became very
adept at going on stage and smacking straight
through, but at the expense of creating
something of a higher nature, if you like.
To give you an idea of the work we've done
this year: from January to February we madean album, thenwent to Europe for a tour, then
immediately o=f to America, back to Britain forrehearsals and straight back to America foranother tour. After that, I had one full day off
in the country before we started recording
Red. With that kind of life there's a lot ofthings I'd like to do, but can't. There are my
responsibilities to the land, for instance, which
can only be discharged by going out there andworking [Fripp owns a cottage in Dorset].
Consequently you can now see me up a verylarge tree clasping two large
saws and a pair of secateurs.
I am also spending moretime learning, both in a verybroad sense - for example,
I am practically inept atanything more exciting
than changing a three -pin
plug -and in the field ofmusical electronics. I
would like to become selfsufficient so that, notonly am I mobile. but I'meup and offer me work. But I get no offers at all
as a guitarist, and this is another thing I'd liketo see happen. I'm looking forward to people
asking me to play on records or on their gigs.

But what are your musical plans?
They involve the creation of anothersmall, independent, mobile andintelligent unit, which is, of course, theFripp & Eno situation. We'll be goingon the road in November. Fripp & Enois, for me, the perfect example of all
the things we were talking about
earlier. It won't reach the mass ofpeople in the way King Crimson did - I
hoped. you see. that Crimso would
reach everyone.
In terms of most bands, of course, it was
remarkably successful. But in terms of thehigher echelon of bands like Yes and ELP, it
didn't make it. My approach, therefore, has
now changed and what Eno and I will try to do
is influence a small number of people who will,in turn, influence a great number.
I've always known that I will not be a
rock'n'roll star, the guitar idol that millionsof young guitarists learn their licks from. I'm
not prepared to get involved with that star
syndrome, if you like... Eno and I will becreating energies different to King Crimson.
They'll be far more subtle and indirect, but
they'll eventually be far more potent, they
will create more.

Will you be playing live with Robin Trower? I'dlove to do some gigs with Robin. But he has his
own trio and it would be, ah, presumptuous...
but if Robin asked me to do a tour I'd say,'Yeah.
you bet.' No way could you keep me away.
But there is a fourth thing I want to see
develop: I'm going to give guitar lessons. I havebeen pondering for some time the creation ofa new guitar technique which brings about achange in the personality of the person who's
going through the discipline.
I was tone deaf and had no sense of time
when I became a guitarist. And, looking backover the years, I've wondered what on earth
an unmusical. tone-deaf, timeless dummy
was doing becoming a professional musician.
And I've found the answer: I needed music,
and music needed me. If you accept that
I needed music, then this also involves
responsibilities. Because of what I received,
I have responsibilities. and I can discharge

Why? Because I know they will. What can I
say? One doesn't always have the choice, but
one is sometimes fortunate to have the chance
to do certain things. Side One of the Fripp &Eno album is the finest thing I have ever done;
it ranks with the first King Crimson album.
It won't appeal to so many people, but over
the years it will come to be regarded as aclassic, and in five years' time, people will
come to wonder how they could have missed
something of that quality. Eno and I will besetting off, primarily in England and Europe...
We'll be working in England at the end of
November and December.
It will be of a far smaller and personal
nature, smaller halls and justthe two of us. We'll be able
to work without a great deal

Isn't this the essence of most musical forms?
Well, if you're talking about all harmonised andbalanced music. yes. If you wish to take the
rock'n'roll musician, for example, he plays verylargely from the hips. It doesn't involve any
higher energies. Rock'n'roll is not aparticularly intellectual music, nor is it,
essentially, very spiritual.
What I'm interested in doing is providing
the rock'n'roll musician with a technique thatwill enable him to develop a vocabulary that
goes beyond all that. But in order to explain
this a little more we really have to go into theelements of music.
If you were to take rock, jazz andof organisation or
preparation; it will bepersonal; it will create theright kind of energies and it
will enable our lifestyles tothese as a player.

My tuition involves the creation of atechnique which enables the player to havethe facility to move his hands to perform an
idea which has come from a feeling inside him.
In other words, it's a technique which works on
the level of the head, the hands and the heart...

classical music, you have,"Rock'n'roll is nota particularly
intellectual music,
nor very spiritual"

be civilised. It will give us alot of time to ourselves and,of course, it will enable us to do other things.

Such as? Another of my ventures is an album
with Robin Trower. Robin and I got on very
well in America and he's one of the very few

guitarists with spirit, an unerring ability to pickwhat's right. His field is what many people
would consider to be narrow, but that's totallyirrelevant. Within that field he's immaculate his feel and control are both superb.
And in addition to this, I have been offeredsome production work. I'd also like to say that
I'm now open to offers of production work;
this is another thing about being mobile andindependent. People can actually phone me

fundamental to rock'n'rolla physical expression.
this very raunchy feel, butwith jazz you have a muchlooser approach to things
something which tends tobe very emotional. And
classical music demands
a discipline which mostrock'n'roll musicians would find frightening.
Each of these kinds of music exist on
different levels. There's the particular kind o:feeling associated with each of them, andthere's the separate vocabularies needed toexpress those feelings.
What my guitar technique will do is enable
musicians to move more freely from one formof music to another since, in learning thetechnique, his personality will be put undersufficient stress that he will not only develop
emotionally and mentally, but the feelings
involved will change his personality. In otherwords, it's not so much a guitar technique asa way of life. Robert Partridge

HISTORY OF ROCK 1914 1133

1974

OCTOBER -DECEMBER

November 30,1974:
Bruce Springsteen

andhisrecentlynamed
EStreet Bandat the
WarMemorialTheatre,
Trenton, New Jersey

134 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

"I would
Bowie and The Ho!lies

are covering hissongs. On his own

time, meanwhile,
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN's

live show is winningover the USA, one

dancehall at a time.
"There are never too
many encores,"he says. "If you
can't let me doan encore, let mesmash a chair."

never
cheat
myself"- "AELOPv MAKER NOVEMBER 30 IT RAINED TORRENTS that week in Texas, but theoutlook never seemed less fine. We were down there fora christening, anyway, albeit a little late in the day.
The baby, you see, has long been bawling for ou r
attentions, and most of us have been a little slow to notice.
And then, it's a very H UNGRY baby we have here.

So Texas it was, though it could have been anywhere, because
Bruce Springsteen is some baby, all of 25 years old and pretty
seasoned as far as these things go; you figure he'll have the crowds
on top of their seats anyplace he turns up.
He wants a shot at the big title, as they say, and in turn a growing
number of peoplewould like to see him take that crown which has
been bobbing from head to head of every rock'n'roll champ in thepast two decades.
In their minds he's the logical contender, the new golden boy of
rock'n'roll, who's finally emerged from the fastnesses of New Jersey
bars and campus halls to bid for the public's heart. x.
HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 1135

1974

DECEMBER

OCJORERYou talk to almost anybody in New York now and what do they say?
"Bruce Springsteen! Oh, sure, he's great, But, sugar, you've seen
NUTHIN'. You shoulda been there two years ago when he was playing at
the Student Prince in Asbury Park. THAT was really somethin'."And soon, blah, blah, blah, New Yorkers always being like that after
the event.
But in Texas that big, Lone Star State brooding south-west on the map,
where the news takes awhile to filter down, it's hard to be blasé.
Especially when the rain is falling in gut -buckets.
"Springstein, you say? Jewish fella?" We -ell, no. Of Dutch origin,actually; a Catholic, but we'll let it pass.
It's not their fault. Bruce Springsteen has only just begun to break big
anywhere, to touch that vital psychic nerve of a mass audience which sets
the ball rolling, and no one can be absolutely sure why it's happening
now, though those who've seen him lately instinctively feel his rapport
with the goddess of fortune.
Two years, however, when that benign spirit John Hammond signed
him to Columbia Records, the press mostly
snickered up their sleeves about the "new Bob
Dylan". Springsteen replied with his manic euphoric grin, and then they wrote him off assome kind of Dr Demento.
"Madman drummers, bummers and Indiansin thesummer with a teenage diplomat" -theyalways picked up on that first, and wildly off,line from his first album, Greetings From Asbury
Park, NI, and dismissed the rest as junk in some
sort of summary tribunal.
After all, surely you had to be a nut, or gobblingon the rock gossip circuit, but had to be fed for analysis into thecritical computer.
A top-notch American rock critic had already come out with his own
strip of tickertape proclaiming Springsteen as "the future of rock'n'roll".
In NewYork, at least nobody laughed after that, nobody said it was"Bellevue rock" any more. At concerts, girls threw red roses to him ina Spanish love tryst, stages buckled from too many vociferous feet.
And a lot of people began remarking, "Do you remember that time wewent out to New Jersey, and there was that band...?"TO BE FAIR, it was certainly true that Springsteen's performance
had developed in a year since he was Upstairs at Max's.
At New York's Avery Fisher Hall in October, what once weremannerisms had flowered into a perfect synchromesh of rock'n'roll
ballet -theatrics without the tricks, movements and dances assimilated
from old '60s soul revues, bits of stage business with the drummer andthe black tenorist, a gift for mimicry, and this big, dramatic whisperthat Springsteen employed as one weapon in
his vocal armoury- a whisper roughed out
hoarse and attractive, played off against an
acoustic piano and a violin at certain sections
in his performance.
More than ever, too, it was apparent that
his musical roots were embedded in thethundering symphonies of Spectorland,
secured especially in the styles of Spector's
girlie groups: in the Crystals and Ronnie and
The Ronettes, several of the girls themselvesfrom New Jersey, of course. One of his proudest
possessions, it later emerged, was a signed
colour photograph of Ronnie Spector.
Springsteen's heart, evidently, was back there
in the '50s and early '60s. His poetic intellect had
absorbed the songwriting advances of the '60s and '70s- those knotty
problems of metre and internal rhyme -but he intuitively anticipated in
his new audiences the response for that uncluttered, emotional freshness
embodied in a song like "Then He Kissed Me".
The number, in fact, with which he closed his Avery Hall show that night
was the old, joyful rabble-rouser, Gary Bonds' "Quarter To Three".
In those few months since the Bottom Line performances his album
sales have started to pick up i n America, especially those of his second
record, which has gone past the 80,000 mark. Still, that isn't too great; by
big -league standards it's even a failure.
So the people who know about these things are forever badgering him
to bring in a big-time producer instead of Mike Appel, someone like
Richard Perry, maybe, or Bob Johnston, or... or Spector.
Springsteen says no, summoning a rueful smile for his elders andbetters. He and Appel managed it OK together, as far as he's concerned.
All his records had been commercial, he thought, and no sounds hadgone down he disagreed with.
Though there's a smell of burning somewhere, he remains very loyal
to Appel, while Appel announces, in very precise tones, that his artist's"presence on stage dwarfs any musical attempt on vinyl. Any album isa disaster in comparison."His record company, meanwhile, bites its nails and waits for the releaseof the third album in the early part of next year.
Other artists, maybe, will break his songs first. David Bowie hasrecorded "Growing Up" and "It's Hard To BeA Saint In The City",
The Hollies have done "4th OfJulyAsbury" and Allan Clark "If I Were
The Priest".
But Springsteen doesn't want to be just a fat cat on some publisher's
shelf. He's looking for the main action.

He becomesa pool -hallhustler, a '50s

runaway,bennies, or some misdirected/informed Dylan
disciple to write like that, didn't you?
To his credit- or perhaps he was just oblivious-Springsteen hung on in, sustained by kindwords from worshippers who had seen him in his long-haired, bar -band

floating cool...

days back i n Asbury and thereabouts, plus new fans who were joltedback by the fierce, jumping current of his personality, with its foggy
mumblings and impenetrabilia, the feisty stance of the street punk andthose lyrics that leaped at the inner ear with their roll -call of weird,
vibrant characters -Wild Billy, Crazy Laney, Rosalita, Weak Knee Willie
and the whole steamy essence of Latin streetlife that wafted out from the
kitchen of his imagination.
He stuck to it the only way a musician can- he kept on playing eventhough other bands took fright at him and wouldn't, increasingly, use
him as a support in case they were blown away -and a double difficulty
here, because he was opposed anyway to gigs with heavy rock acts andtheir attendant zombie audiences.
Finally, he had a job getting booked anywhere outside New York and
New Jersey. But he didn't seem unduly bothered because, as he often
said, he'd as soon play to 15 people as 1,500 i f t he music was right.
Although the second album, The Wild, The Innocent And The E Street
Shuffle, sold more than the first, Springsteen had still not really registeredas the major artist Columbia and John Hammond had prophesied, andHammond -everybody always brought this up -had been the guy whobrought Dylan to the label a decade before.
The presence of the Minnesota Kid did seem in all truth to loom
uncomfortably over any young unfortunate who had aspirations, evencircumstantially, to the crown.
Just because he was new, and he had the beard and the hair... it was too
bad, it really was, and him not even Jewish. Springsteen, in fact, only
owned a few Dylan singles- being too shy to ask his record company forthe catalogue- and he'd never even seen Dylan perform, since Bobby
hadn't made it to Asbury before the motorcycle disaster.
They still said he'd been influenced by him- well, if you were healthy
at all, he reasoned, you'd better be influenced by him!
And then, in the middle of this year, the numbers appeared to click ina perfect combination. No longer playing to chick peas and shell steaks
at Max's Kansas City, that downtown pitch for wide-eyed tourists, heand his E Street Band were booked in July into the posh Bottom Line club,
Greenwich Village's finest and the kind of place where CBS president
Goddard Lieberson might feel more at home.
In the space of a couple of nights the boast of his producer/manager,
M ike Appel, that this scruffy kid with the perpetual grin was the "finest
actor/artist in the history of rock'n'roll" could no longer be laughed off
136 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

0

F THESE MUSICAL politics, however, the good people ofAustin, Texas, know nothing, though the name of Bruce
Springsteen is well remembered from a gig last year at the
Armadillo World Headquarters, a big, 2,000 -capacity club that likes
to think of itself as a Fillmore in a city with pretensions to the culturalcosiness of old-time San Francisco.
Austin, situated on the Colorado river in the Texan interior, if that's thephrase, plays home to Doug Sahm and the 40,000 -student University Of
Texas, and once, indeed, to Charles Whitman, who from the top of a tower
near the main drag rifled 18 people to death.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

Kinky Friedman, another Texan, and a Iew to boot, wrote a catchy
ballad about it; that's one way to achieve immortality. During the day
a travelling band in this city might occupy itselflooking through anumber of thrift shops for old 45s and 78s on Dial, Duke/Peacock, losie
and other, more arcane labels.
But at night after a cloudburst the visitor is greeted only with streets
dripping emptyand miserable, surfaces black and shiny, with the neon
strips of hamburger joints little more than cold comfort. We findSpringsteen late at night in the Fun Arcade on Main Street, which is where
one would have expected him arriving in a strange town.
He's literally running from game to game- from the pool tables, to thepin football -at which the Tex-Mex kids are so adept -to Pong (the officialname for "television tennis"), and on to Air Hockey, a two -player gamethat involves slamming a puck between goalmouths across an air cushioned tabletop.
He's a small guy, about five foot seven, with a deceptively rumpled,
sleepy face -deceptive because he's winning at all these games. Tufts ofcurly hair grow out from under a grey cloth "po' boy" cap, his skin issallow, and the beard is scraggy.
But with his rubbed jeans, beat -up leather jacket, and his hat tipped
raffishly over one eye, he becomes at second glance something quitecharismatic... a pool -hall hustler, a '50s runaway, floating cool with his
hard-earned savvy, the kind of character that Kerouac would
immediately have recognised and set down.
A peculiarly anachronistic air clings to Springsteen. After observing
him a few moments shooting pool and rattling up big scores with much"Let's go get some

hamburgers":
Springsteen
backstage in
Trenton, New Jersey.
November1974

intensity, I start to think he should've been a beat poet himself, hoppingon boxcars around America, sharing a bottle of wine with ol' Ti Jean andthe hobos out in the yards and then writing down his fleeting sensations,each rush of thought, on scraps of paper he stuffed about his clothes.
That was another age, when electric guitars weren't so common, but
Springsteen still gives off this headywhiff of pristine romance, of
nostalgia for a wide-open America that this rock generation has neverknown, some outlaw quality of adventuring that cuts right across all
this business of middle-class white boys leaving school to sing black
men's music.
And again, the well -thumbed line comes straight to mind, that nobody
ever taught him how to live out on the street. Because he already knew,
knew instinctively.
On the Thursday morning, when the New York Times calls the Sheraton
Inn i n Austin, Springsteen turns to the man from CBS and asks if he's
really got to do the interview.
"It's only 10 minutes ofyour life.""But why?""It can help you. They want to do a big story."

Springsteen brightens at a sudden thought. "You got the wheels, right?
OK, lets get out and play. Lets go get some hamburgers" - his favourite
food, since fancy cuisine makes him uncomfortable.
He treats the CBS man to a hoarse, compulsive chuckle. His voice has
a husk on it like a kernel.
"You really should talk to him. It is the New York Times."
There's a pause before he grumbles assent. "Aw, OK."
Springsteen avoids interviews if he can,apparently not out of bolshevism or any
attempt to envelop himself in mystique, but
because he finds it hard to adjust to the brittle
game of question and answer, of carefulprobing, smart deceptions and doubleguessings that are supposed to elicit someapproximation of the truth.
He is too real to put his faith in the glamourof headlines, too mindful of his privacy toundervalue his personal feelings at the sight ofa notebook or tape recorder.
This attitude is really a corollary of his dislikeof rock stardom, which he professes to find as
meaningless as most rock stars are unappealing
to him. They're jokes, hoaxes, gyps, he's fond ofsaying, because every other person can be one
if he's willing to surrender himself to a public relations man.
"They're just people who wanna crawl back in
the womb," he will say, "people who have built
their own reality and are afraid of reality itself."
Being a rock star was letting you rself becontrolled, and that way you cheated yourself.
So no, he doesn't everwant to be a big, hyped up rock star, playing Madison Square Garden,
where the kids need binoculars to see him.
"I hope somebody shoots me offstage," he says
" if they ever see me there, because then I'll
deserve it." *.F-1/1._*

tipmilaiTsj-m

The band, guys who've been out on the road for some years,
several of them spent with Springsteen, are less sure of what's
involved. The organist, for one, Danny Federici, a taciturn,sandy -haired man who also played with Bruce in a group called
Steel Mill back in the old Jersey days.
"I don't know what to think of the whole thing," he says. "1 don't
even know what to t hi n k of the way the audiences respond. I
know Bruce is good, I know that, but I don't really understandwhat it is, or how they let it all out the way some of the people dofor our concerts."
Still, it's essentially Springsteen's responsibility. He supervises
the music as totally as he orchestrates the audience's emotions,and the E Street Band is a group in which personal expression
has to be sublimated in the collective effort in which there's agroup sound and infrequent soloing, since one of Springsteen's
musical ideals is the sound -mesh that Dylan achieved on his

electric albums.
Only Danny, briefly, gets a large slice of the spotlight, just as it
was Al Kooper alone who was allowed to rise out of the m ix on
Highway 61. Springsteen has picked them all carefully. The
bassist, Garry WTallent, has been with him since '71 when Bruce
led another band of Jersey renown, Dr Zoom & The Sonic Boom.
The pianist, Roy Bittan, arrived in September after longt ime
keyboardsman Davey Sancious became too idiosyncraticwith his prepared piano pieces and iconoclastic Debussy style,while the present drummer, Max Weinberg, was auditioned
around the same time. He's a number -one pupil of Pretty Purdie,
and among other occupations, an ex -Broadway pit player (The
Magic Showand Godspell), showbiz experience that Springsteen
particularly utilises in his rapid number of time switches andoff-the-cuff routines.

November 9.1974:

withlsraeliviolinist
But the main man is Clarence Clemons, a big, imposing black
SukiLahav-a member
tenorist, who was a football player with the Cleveland Brownsof the EStreet Band
fromSepe74toMarch
until he got a leg injury, and who once held down a spot as one of'75 -at the Houston
James Brown's Famous Flames. Clarence also sings harmonies,
Music Hall, Texasand he's a kind of foil for Springsteen, this huge dude, standing
front left, setting off the diminutive singer -Clarence in his white
suit, black shirt and hat, with the shades, counterpointing thisskinny, hungry -looking kid who looks as if he's been leaning on fireconcentration, until on the last piano note, a single, delicate droplet, thehydrants all his life. The band is as tight as the fingers on a hand, all living
crowd bellows out its huge roar of rough approval.
within 10 miles of each other in New Jersey, near the beach and not far
And from that instant Springsteen has them, Austin and Texas, by thefrom Asbury Park, just so's rehearsals will be easier to arrange.
horns, all out to ride the emotions off 'em. He always performs this single

ON THURSDAYAT the Armadillo there are no visiting
dignitaries, but the audience is greater than the previous
evening's, a crowd of tall Texan gals and young longhairs indirty -cream cowboy hats cocked back on their heads, in their hands
huge pitchers of pale beer which they slop in the glasses of whoever isstanding near.
It's a crowd that wants to boogie and crack those empty cans of Lone
Star beer under their scuffed boot -heels in this large barn of a joint, warm
but still redolent of the rainy night outside.
So they're unprepared and somewhat off-bala nce when Springsteen
walks out in his battered duds with little, scholarly Roy, the pianist, andSu ki, who just happens to be the wife of his sound engineer, Louis Lehav,
and spent time in the Israeli Youth Ork- this slight, tiny blonde, a heartstealer in rolled -up denims and boots, a thumbnail sketch of charming,fragile femininity, who crooks a violin in her shoulder.
And Bruce, in his muscle T-shirt with his hair
haloed by the lighting, a tender Joh n Garfieldcharacterisation with one hand fingering theveins in his arm, eyes hooded in shades. Bruce
starts in on his uptown drama of a Spanish
Johnny, sad -eyed Romeo figure, looking fora sweet word from his girl, all the sounds of thecity in the song, with the violin like a breath ofnight wind across the West River.
And the cowpokes, even if they're all maths
students most likely at university, cease

their crunching and slurping. "And fromthe shadows came a younggirl's voice, said,

Johnny, don't cry'. . ." Springsteen whisperingover the mic in a long moment of total magnetic

138 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

song, "Incident On 57th Street", as his opening number, and then bringson the rest of his band: Clemons, clutching his gleaming horn; Garry
Ta !lent, vaguely Leon Russell with his flowing brown hair and beard;
Max's face virtually obscured by the hovering cymbals; and Danny on
last, the sandy moustache with its hint of truculence, sitting right acrossthe stage from Roy Bit tan.
They ease out with the familiar Crystals oldie, altered naturally to"Then She Kissed Me", and then Bruce's own "Spirit In The Night",
Clemons and Tallent on the harmonies, a rasping big -band sound,Weinberg driving and hopping them along, Bruce skinny -legging it
around the stage, and the audience fully twitching now, caught in thespill of the event.
The music is trulyoverwhelming, a wild, heady mixture of lyricalmosaics refracted through a warm glow of nostalgia, memories of nights
spent listening to the radio under the bed covers, when music wasundiluted and young, the same, almost forgotten stab of joy, but
undeniably '70s R&B, the music brought clean
and wailing into the present times andsuggesting at every ot her turn the influenceof jazz and Latin sounds
The measure of its exciting effect is its refusal
to be pinned down, but for me at least it touches
some sensitive chord, submerged deep in the
rubble of the subconscious, that's exhilarating
but also disturbing, because it's rarely exposedso completely.
I listen to Springsteen like I used to listen
to Dylan, John Lennon and Chuck Berry -as
though a life depended on it and no more canbe said than that. Just one impressive factor
about Bruce Springsteen is his encyclopaedic"I know Bruceis good, but
I don't really

understandwhat it is"BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

knowledge of rock'n'roll and the i n t win e use
to which he puts it.
Eddie Cochran brushes shoulders with The
Crickets and Bo Diddley, Phil Spector appears
all over the place, and in the live version of"Rosalita" he throws in a Four Tops riff.
On "Sandy" he even uses Federici onaccordion, possibly inspired by The Beach Boys'"God Only Knows". But the noise and smells ofstreet life crowd in on him. I shut my eyes andI can see those dirty New York yellow cabs,
nosing in wolfpacks down the hot asphalt on
Eighth Avenue, the charred stink of bagels in the
air. Manhattan or those tacky towns of New
Jersey, he hasn't wandered far from either.
"It's hard to be a saint in the city," he sings with an edge of pride, asentiment chock-full of New York attitudinising. Tough cops, bar fights,
jukeboxes, pimps, alleyways, Harleys, greasers, filthy denims, circuses,
boardwalks, Spanish razorboys, trains and tenements- this is his literary

He was in and out of various bands, evenmaking nightly trips to the Cafe Wha? inGreenwich Village, but his first importantgroup was Child. Danny Federici was anothermember, Bruce was 18, and the band went off
to San Francisco and cut a four-hour tape forBill Graham's Fillmore Records -so good,according to Federici, that Graham offered
their manager $2,000 to sign, which wasn't considered enough.
They came back and changed their name to Steel Mill, playing
heavy rock, and picked up a reputation in Jersey towns, where
they could play to two and three thousand people a time for$500 and 50 per cent of the gate, even without a record company.
He wrote a lot more those days. Every weekend the band had
a new repertoire. And he was into the image, sexy with hisshoulder -length hair and his guitar slung low, lowdown.
Until one night it wasn't enough any longer. Theywere a big
local act, and yet one evening Bruce walks on stage and hedoesn't feel it any more, it's almost as if he were parodying
himself, and there and then he decides to bust it up. It was hardon Federici. His wife had just left him and here was Bruce
saying it was all over. He still has this mental picture of himself
stuck in his hallway with his suitcase, trying to figure where to
go next. The next two years he never played with anyone unlessthey paid him upfront, he felt so hurt.
As for Springsteen, he set up another band, Dr Zoom & The
Sonic Boom, which included Garry Tallent and practicallyeveryone else he knew who could play an instrument. He wasstill searching for the right vehicle, and then hitched his nameto a 10 -piece band, loaded with horns and R&B riffs, thateventually whittled itself down to seven, and then to five.
They had been friendly fora time with Looking Glass,seen how they hit the jackpot with "Brandy", a Number One
American single, and wondered why they weren't hitting it,with Bruce writing these great, colourful songs- and wonderedespecially why Tinker, Springsteen's manager from way back,hadn't ever clinched that record deal.
A vote was taken, and one morning
Springsteen went sorrowfully back to thesurfboard factory where he and Tinker lived,and delivered the black spot. The guywas
fixing his truck, underneath it. He didn't say
a word. It was through him that Springsteen
met Mike Appel.
By the time we've all boarded the group busthat Friday morning, ready to leave rained -out
Austin, a rather unnerving change has swept
through the whole party.
Five or six of us are wearing hats like
Springsteen's, bought in town from the Texas
Hatter and pulled down low over one ear in thetrue style of the Depression era, so that we
resemble young Okies, or the Little Rascals,
depending on your imagination.
Springsteen looks amused at his groupies, but he never says a word.
From this point, leather jackets, jeans and caps, beat up and lived in,become a uniform. The
bus pulls out at midday
on its 200 -mile trek toCorpus Christi, a town
on the Gulf Of Mexico
which combines, one is
led to understand, thepalm -treed pleasuresof a resort with the

I shut my eyes
and I can see

those dirty-\.-ew Yorkyellow cabs

stomping ground.
Springsteen, born in Freehold, New Jersey, lives these days in an
outlying district of Asbury called West End. Asbury Park is a seaside town
in Eastern New Jersey, with a population about 50 per cent black, andcrammed in the summer with tourists who haven't got the money to go to
Atlantic City up the coast.
It was the usual story. His mother had bought him a guitar when he wasnine, but he hadn't taken it seriously until he was 13, around the tail -endof that golden age of rock'n'roll, and just before The Beatles arrived towhip up every white kid's latent fantasy of success in the adult world.
Elvis, The Chiffons, Sam Cooke, The Shirelles, Chuck Berry, The Isley
Brothers -every night he went home and put those babies on the record
player, seeking out that release promised in the black grooves. Rock'n'roll,he swore, was what kept him from going nuts, but it was the genuine,
horny old stuff he dug. The Beatles were pop, the Stones he stopped buying
after December's Children. Something to do with the fancy production.

financial income ofoil refineries.
Just above

Springsteen's bunk,where he's curled up ina blanket, a single redrose hangs from theroof, a tribute cast by
He laughed when critics
called him 'the new Dylan:
But he stuck to his guns

an admirer at t he Tower Theatre in
Philadelphia. But Bruce is suspended in his
own uneasy limbo, drained of sleep by theprevious two days' performances.
He dreams he's being driven across a roughlandscape and up a huge mountain, slowly andterrifyingly, because the incline is vertical. And
it stops, and he's poised, safety resting on a
clenched breath, his body almost upside down,
jagged edges below...
When he awakens, sweaty and anxious, tocars speeding by on the highway, he fishes
around for an explanation of the dream. "Andthe mountain was named Success, right?"
grins one of the party.
He explains that during a performance he has to fulfil two needs, thephysical and the emotional, and that sometimes you do one, sometimes
the other, but usually you fall short on both. Inside himself he envisions
these little gates, and throughout the performance he goes through each
one until BOOM! - the big release! But always there's another one there,
always just one, and the intensity of the feeling burns in his stomach,needing to be released, because performing is the only thing he ever doesin his life and he has to go all the way with it.
H is philosophy is, you have to drain yourself, your band, and youraudience, and in its place the performer leaves something else, an
indefinable something. But for all parties it's the sense of release that's
important. Music is simply the modus operandi.
"Because," he will elaborate, "a movie, music, a book -whatever everybody uses these things to satisfy a need. Creating is a release in
itself. Everything's a release.

"That's what it's about in society -you gotta
get released," laughing at his own intensity.
"That's what everybody wants; that's why
the audience come, man. They don't come tosay, 'Hey, you're great!' or to be jived with rockstars and stuff -they mightn't even know why
they come -but they come to get release, to be
set free.
"The think they're gonna get something theyneed, and it's gotta be more than just jump up
and down and 'boogie, boogie!'"What happens is that people cheatthemselves and they don't know it. I would
never cheat myself. I f you don't cheat yourself,
you don't cheat anybody. You can never play
too much, for example; there are never too many encores.
"If you can't let me do an encore, let me smash a chairor somethin'.
I don't know if there's ever enough of a release. Maybe it comes when you
die, the Ultimate Release..."In Corpus Christi that night, where he's topping the billover old Sir
Douglas Quintet organist Augie Meyers, the local cat from San Antonio,
he does four encores, even though there are only 300 people in the
1,700 -seater Ritz Theatre.
There's been no airplay on him, no announcements, no advertising.
As a word of mouth he's a whisper down here in darkest Texas... but theaudience is ecstatic, going totally bananas in this bare, white -bricked
theatre that was built back in the 1920s as a vaudeville hall.
And Springsteen gushes, coming off really high, saying, "No, man, it
doesn't matter how many are there. Sometimes it's even better when
there's not a lot there. You get off on yourself and the band.""A movie,

music, a book everybody uses
these things tosatisfy a need"ci?-

140 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

November 30,1974:
on stage at the Trenton
War Memorial Hallwith tenor san player
Clarence Clemons.
f ormerlyoneof James
Brown's Famous Flames

He knows that next time he played here it
would be full; but it's unlikely there will be anext time. For this is an altogether grey, creepy
town. Several years ago a hurricane blew infrom the Gulf and took Corpus awaywith it,
and though the physical scars have been
patched up, in spirit it's only one graduationfrom a ghost town.
So much for sun -kissed beaches. The resort
has shut down for winter, the air is clammywith cold. So no one was unhappy to leave thatalien town for Houston, a wide, expanding
sprawl of a city, not unlike Los Angeles in its
centreless architectural concept. Sitting, later,in his Houston hotel room, Springsteen canlook back on his Corpus performance and say,
"I had a good time, but right now it seems like akind of a void. It didn't seem complete enough."I f only he could have done a final encore, hebroods, the show at the Houston Music Hallmight have come close to the perfect emotional
dissolve that he's seeking. But the
management's fear of the unions prevented
them performing and he wanders off
dejectedly as the audience swarms out, upset
that he's not physically spent, that there's
energy left with no place to go...

\SO LATE THIS Saturday evening, in
Houston's downtown Holiday Inn,\
Bruce Springsteen is slowly shaking off
his post -performance blues and equalising
his emotions. He's saying that when he getsback to New Jersey he has to make a lot ofchanges in the band, to get more depth. Hefeels he's just on the perimeter of what heshould be doing.
But perhaps inside he's remembering thatnight years ago when he walked out on stage
and suddenly found he was only parodying
himself, that it had become a bore. He's only tooaware now of how he needs that shiny hit
record to sustain his momentum, that elusive
combustible which will break open another door for him, just as he once
stepped through a door that took him into rock'n'roll and off the streets.
And yet change is all around him. He spends long weeks on the roadnow. He will see less and less ofAsbury Park, which though now
millionaires' row, has been a big source of inspiration for his music.
He's rarely written on the road before, but he will have to adjust. His
consciousness is developing. He has to work it all out.
He's a guywho might have gone bad, or just become a bum, but foundthis little seed within himself and learned what makes it grow, till he's
filled up inside with lots of different goodies. Everybody has it but mostpeople never figure it out. Springsteen says his father was one of those.
"And there are guys still out there, guys my age, guys a lot older."So with this perspective he sees his function, his role, if he has any atall, as one of trying to show people some quality, some emotion, thatis real, and the way he tells it is less pompous than it sounds. He says,"You've got to be able to see yourself for what
you are, and not until then can you improve on
what you are and be what you want to be. But
people throw it away fora hoax, the Big
American Hoax. For me, I can't deal with life inreference to governments and politics; I have todeal with it on a personal level.
"If you look at Bob Dylan, that's what he was
doin'. "Blowin' In The Wind" was all right, but I
don't like it half as much as "I Want You", "LikeA
Rolling Stone" or anything on Blonde On Blonde.
"'I want you' -that's it, that's the ultimate

statement you can make to anybody. What else
can you say?And that's the greatest lyric in thesong, those three words, in the whole damn

song! I put that on, man, and I get blown away, I get blown down the street,'cos there's no hoax there- it was real, real as hell."In his own songs Springsteen tries for that same honesty, searching,
however wildly, for some clear picture of himself. "I don't knowwhat I'm
writing from," he says, "but the main thing I've always been worried
about was me. I had to write about me all the time, every song, 'cos in away you're trying to find out what that 'me' is. That's why I choose where
I grew up, and where I live, and I take situations I'm in, and people I know
and take 'em to the limits."
But in pursuing this self-discovery, away from the stage he's grown selfcontained, untouched by people in the final analysis. Although easy andfriendly, not a bit aloof, he's still alone star, moving on his own, independent
trajectory. He's into none of the musician's usual trips- doping up,
drinking and heavywomanising. The girls he meets on the road he neverturns into groupies, to be discussed with appropriate lip -smacking noises
in the bus next day. Dope was not even important to him as a teenager.
"People do it because their friends do it," he explains carefully, "and at
the time I didn't have any friends in Asbury...I had a guy I'd see once and awhile and a girl, but outside of that there was nobody, I wasn't in thatcircle. Consequently, I was oblivious to a lotta social pressures and stuff
within the scene, 'cos I was on the outside, on the outside looking in...
until I started to play, and then people come close to you. You don't go tothem, they come to you."
He pauses, his hands rumpling through his hair. "But by then it was toolate. I was totally involved in hat I was doin, and I had no need foranything else, or for anybody. I was there, and that was it, for me."He gets up and turns the television off and then he goes back to the bed,
where he sits cross-legged.
"Y'know, you have to be self-contained. That wayyou don't get pushed
around. It depends on what you need. I eat loneliness, man. I feed off it.
I live on a lotta' different levels, y'know, because I've learned to cope withpeople, which is -be cool all the time. I can do that, because... I've got too
much going on inside to be upset over things that are trivial to me.
"So I've learned to really flow with it on the surface. I can roll with thepunches. It's a way of getting along."
Still, he's in the ring now, moving up the rankings, with other managers
fastening their beady eyes upon him. Suddenly it's become a big deal, andhe needs all the help he can get. He and Appel battle it out together,
managing on a shoestring, until The Breakthrough arrives. One day hewants to have that big pile of money, wants to hold a million dollars in his
hand, just to see what it's like.
And come that day, he's promised himself he'll ride in a limousine andgo to some spiffy high society do, where they'll have to announce him.

Then -thinking dutifully - there's his motherwho's worked everyday
since she was 17, and she's old now. He'd like her to stop -his old man, too.
Oh - there's all kinds of dreams wrapped up in that million bucks. But
mostly he knows what he wants, and it's to do with an attitude. "I wanna
be able to spit on the floor when I like," he says with passion. "I just don't
wanna be controlled through the air, man. I wanna spit in the air..."In the early hours of Sunday morning, we confront ourselves at acelebration party held in Roberto's home, a large, wooden -frame building
set back from the road amidst thick, tall grass. The rain has stopped
momentarily, but the vegetation on the drive swishes heavily.
Inside it's a great melee, with people crushed drunkenly together. Ice
rattles in a big tub holding cans of beer. Over in one corner several people
play gin rummy on a big, battered old table. There are cigarettes stubbed
out in the potato salad. The party is on its last legs...
It's well after 3a m when Roberto, mad Chicano that he is, portentously
raises his hand and calls, in thunderous fashion,
for silence. As the hubbub cuts out, he draws
Bruce to him and makes a little speech about
how honoured he is to have such a rising star inhis home, he, Roberto. And while Springsteen
looks sheepish, the guests raise their cans ofbeer to him fora brief deep moment. Thensomeone coughs and the party limps to its close.
Later, in the car back to the hotel, Springsteen
says, "Do you know what he gave me?" And hepulls out of his pocket Roberto's absurd Lone
Ranger mask. We all have a good laugh at that,and then we head out for the nearest hamburger
joint, because Bruce is feeling very hungry by
now. Michael Watts"I can't deal
with life inreference togovernments
and politics"

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 1141

1974

DECEMBEBCCTOBFBMARTINI HALL

4.,

AB-- GRONINGEN

-

LIVE!

"Goodnig- OCTOBER 13 -NME OCTOBER 26 Finally embarking on their first full-scale European tour, the Faces are having themselvesr(31, (wind time. Riotous ^if stage, somewhat pissed on it thn hand retain some tn.rfir. Rut full*/ long
NE MIGHT HAVE thought the Faces
would have become a little tired of
disrupting the world's hotels by now- or. at least, that they would have developed
a certain dignity about the process.
Imagine yourself, therefore, in the foyer ofan establishment known as the Helvetia in an
obscure Dutch town called Groningen. At
about midnight, Rod Stewart is squatting atop
the receptionist's desk attempting to conduct
a face-to-face dialogue with the guy behind it,apparently working on the maxim that if you
shout loudly enough at foreigners they'll
understand you. Meanwhile, there's astaircase to the right which, for a spell, provesa rather hazardous passageway, since a chairor table is liable to come tumbling down fromthe first floor at various irregular intervals.
The Faces' European tour has been
underway for a couple of weeks now and any
prior decisions made by the band to curbsome of their more overt boisterousness
appear to have been kicked in the ass. "Each of
the boys is really all right on his own." remarks
one of the road crew, "but when they're
together this sort of hysteria develops."O

142 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

Quite how one personally reacts to these
sort of incidents basically depends onwhether you sympathise with the on -the -roadpartying in the cause of rock'n'roll or whether
you'd actually hoped to get a night's sleep.
On this occasion, the Faces after the gig(and a couple of hours at a local bar) set upona sort of party which consisted of playing atape of the concert at full blast. followed bysome Chuck Berry and then a session of
repeatedly slamming doors - complete withloud yells of "Goodnight!" to cheerily keep
awake any of the more bona fide guests.
Altogether, the tour hasn't been quiteorganised like the usual round -Europe trek.
On most occasions the band's private jet has
been at the ready to whisk them back to
London after the various concerts. As one of
the band's associates remarked:1 think theirideal is to have a private jet waiting outside thehall to take them home. One of'em said theother day, 'Won't it be great when Concordecomes into service? We can get home after
New York!' They're home-lovin' boys, y'know."
In fact, this is really the first time the Faces
have set out on a full-scale tour of Europe.

can it last?

having previously concentrated their efforts
on Britain and the States. Consequently,
they're drawing middle-sized rather thanhuge crowds.
As they somewhat forcefully indicate,playing (what in terms of the rock business is)a fairly insignificant town like Groningen
doesn't exactly show them to their best
advantage. "I'm looking forward to a
European tour, though," remarked Rod
Stewart a couple of weeks previously."It'sstrange, really, that in five years we haven't
really been over there."
It does have its drawbacks, though: "I had
an interview with a French journalist the otherday and I thought this'd be good. y'know...
new questions and all that, but the first thing
he said was, 'Give me your history...."
After battling with a BEA strike anda two -and -a -half-hour journey on Dutch rail.
the whole expedition took on an air ofpointlessness from quite early on. Originally it
had been partly prompted by Rod Stewart's
reported desire to conduct a series of threeinterviews for the NME, one with Ron Wood.
one with Charles Shaar Murray ("to see what

&NA litevriortiencry Lireliens. to Covet
\

FACES

evertor* - Ileopeovorrs

October 1974:Ronnie
Wood and Rod Stewartof the Faces on stage in
Copenhagen, Denmark

makes him tick") and the other, perhaps, with
Elton John. It had been hoped to witness the
Rod Stewart -Ron Wood confrontation but it
was squashed by Stewart with, "Not tonight,
James, I'm feeling a bit fed up."
The whole mood of the evening had been
set at dinner where, upon arrival, the party
appeared to De plunged into abject gloom,
mulling over steaks and Blue Nun. Groningen
did not appear to be to anybody's taste. On
such occasions the standard formula appears
to be to move from depression to almost
enforced hilarity, to ensure some level ofgood humour before they hit the stage.
Ian McLacan conducted a fight with somecoathangers. Rod Stewart fell off his chair,Ronnie Wood and Kenney Jones maintained
a certain repose - while Tetsu (as is usually thecase) was subject to everybody's humour...
"Stop talking, Tetsu," was occasionally thrustin his direction, after the somewhat sleepy
bass player had not been heard to utter asound for around 10 minutes.
Otherwise, amusement was mostly gainedby lobbing afew rolls at the head waiter,
naturally much to the amusement of the lower
echelons of female staff.
This particular evening was Sunday night,
and for Rod Stewart in particular, it was thestart of a fairly hectic week. He was scheduled

to appear in Covent Garden, totake part in some shots for his
forthcoming film, to record theRussell Harty show, to make acouple of appearances on thetour, and on Monday night. to beback in Scotland - "for a clan
meeting - but how can I get
there if BEA are on strike?"
But the fact that his album isselling acceptably is some cause
for celebration, since, perhaps
surprisingly, he felt worried
about how it would be received.
"It's difficult to know where
I stand, especially in America.
For the last couple of years, I've
rather sat back and watched everybody
else get on with it, observed from thetouchline so to speak. Like. it was strange
when I went over to the States a month
ago to do some press. I felt like a stranger,
starting all over again. I phoned up thepresident of the record company and said.
'What's it like breaking a new artist? He
said, y'know, tongue in cheek, 'We've
done it before - we can do it again.If Stewart had experienced any worries
about coming back strongly - they now
appear to be quite overcome.
"I think about it - I'm quite aware thateverybody is bound to find somebody
else in three years' time and I shall have tostart thinking about doing something
different," he comments before pausing
and grinning... "No, actually I'm just being
diplomatic. I'd really like to keep going as
long as possible. I'm gonna be the big
Three -0 this year. but there are plenty ofguys making records that I could give agood eight years to. from what I hear."Anyway, after a little persuasion theband complete are ferried into the twolimousines, which are pointed in the
direction of the Groningen concert hall. The
place itself turns out to have all the ambienceof a fall -out shelter, a fact that isn't totally loston the band. Kenney Jones arrives earlier,
however, and, as always appears the mostconcerned about the band.
"It's been really good so far up to now.
!don't know what it'll be like tonight, but on
previous dates I think we've
come together a lot. We
needed the break and we've
needed a few days on tour
to sort things out among
ourselves. I think we're
ready to play England now.
We should be really good."
After a fairly spirited set
from Strider, the Faces
eventually hit the stage
to the strains of "TheStripper" before falling into "It's all OverNow". As they continue. it turns out to be afairly standard Faces set. You almost know
what's to come next: "Memphis", "Too Bad","I'd Rather Go Blind", "Angel" and "Stay WithMe" are all included. But while it all may befamiliar, and while the playing ranges from theragged to the quite excellent, the band still
possess that certain raunch and style which isquite often underestimated. The Faces on abad night are still quite more entertaining
than the average band at their best.
Perhaps their main fault is that they seem
determined now to concentrate on theloudest, most upfront material without
exhibiting any of the more underhand, slinky
power of their earlier days.
Actually they did put in two new numbers "I Can Feel The Fire" from Ron Wood's album
and "Sweet Little Rock 'n'Roller" from Smiler.
Yet more innovations are promised for the
English tour. They are received affectionately
Knot rapturously, and back in the dressing
room nobody regards it as one of the greatest
gigs ever.
However, things appear sociable enough,although it's Tetsu who appears the mostdocile, carefully nursing a bottle of Teacher'swhisky. One attempts to enter into
conversation, but although he's amiable, hiscommand of the English language is not
great. Mostly he appears rather bemused by
the surrounding activities while confirming
he's cut down his drinking.
"Yeah... it used to be two bottles of this aday," he gently waves the bottle of Teacher's.
"Now I've got it down to one."
He nevertheless claims there were nodifficulties in slipping into the Faces routine:"It was easy. All I had to do was play - play thebass and play my part. Nobody said you must
do this or that... It wasn't like that at all.
"I've never know a group like this before.
y'know," he shakes his head a shade. "It's a

different sort of group. In everything...
everything is there when you want it. You don't
have to do anything. Sometimes I think too
much, y'know," he waves his hands around totry and grasp his exact meaning. "Sometimes
you want to do something and you can do it...
but you don't have to, you know what I mean?"
So it would appear there isn't muchsolemnity about the proceedings. And
nobody seems to want it any other way.
"I can't take rock that seriously," says Rod
Stewart. "A lot of critics do - and give goodviews on music. But look, take an artist like
Turner for instance... I mean, I love his
pictures, but he never took them seriously. By
that I don't mean I just want to walk on stage
any old how - the vibes I want to give off is tocheer everybody up and in doing so cheer
myself up. It doesn't takethat much anyway - I'mgenerally quite a happy
little soul."
Altogether one stillrecalls the offstage
incidents more than theconcert itself. Like it or not,the Faces on tour I suppose
are still a unique and rather
exhausting rock music
phenomenon, unequalledby any imitators. To contrive to keep a party
running through till around six in the morning
after hardly the most exhilarating of gigs must
be some sort of achievement.
By early next morning the hotelier on thedoor was wearing a somewhat strained
expression but still maintaining a certain good
humour. He also managed to comment inhalting English: "I think there will be a large"Take an artist like
Turner... I mean,
I love his pictures,but he never tookthem seriously"bill to pay." Jones Johnson

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974 1143

THE HISTORY OF

Missed any of our previous issues?
Get them at www.uncut.co.uk/store
THE HISTORY OF
A MONTHLY TRIP
THROUGH MUSIC'S
GOLDEN YEARS1972

PINK FLOYDSTARRING.

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AliReaders' letters
MM/NME JUN-DEC tones, Fabs, Floyd... and an impassioned fan of Sparks.
Stones;"Angie" in its role as a rock love

gathering moss
have recently
heard the Rolling
Stones' new single release, andit has finally convinced me thatthey are the paper tigers of the'70s. Gone are the days of"Jumping Jack Flash", "I Can't
Get No Satisfaction" and eventhe more recent "Angie"; themoss is gathering as the Stones
stop rolling.
Has the creative talent of the
Jagger -Richards combo dried up
at last, as seen from the last twosong. It is loose, spontaneous andwarm where "Angie" was cold,
calculated and colourless, and it
deserves to succeed.

offerings: "It's Only Rock 'n Roll
But I Like It" and the new "Ain't
Too Proud To Beg"?They seem tohave exhausted their Buddy Holly/
Chuck Berry repertoire which
contributed to part of theirsuccess in the '60s.
Are we to see the influences ofdifferent writers in an attempt tohalt their waning popularity, as
they are obviously no longer able
to produce the old magic?
Mick Jagger is now a spent force
as far as musical creativity isconcerned, as can be seen when
the recent records are comparedwith the earlier golden discs. Are
the Stones relying on their nameas former kings of rock'n'roll to try
and pull them through the void
into which they have sunk?The
Stone Age is gone.
DAVID JONES, Water Lane,
Cobham, Surrey (MM Dec 7)

Stones: in fact, still rolling
I am sorry Mr Jones thinks that
the Stones are a spent force (MM,Dec 7). It seems to me he has notreally said why he thinks this isso, but has made rather a harshjudgement on hearing the two
singles drawn from the album
It's Only Rock 'n Roll -the album
which in fact shows that the Stones
are once again the major force inrock'n'roll to be reckoned with.
Gone is the bland pop -song styleof "Angie" and the directionless,uninspired album Goats Head
Soup; instead we have the energy
and rawness that the Stones'
music has always contained
when at its best.
Tracks like "I fYou Can't RockMe" and "It's Only Rock 'n Roll"show that the arrogance andstrength of the Stones we used
to know is still there, both asmusicians and people. "Till The
Next Goodbye" far surpasses"Time Waits For No -One", with

its superbly balanced guitar work,shows an insight and maturity
that is surprising in its beauty could you imagine the Stones
writing this in 1966?
The Stones are progressing
and no amount of "waning
popularity" (their album at No 18
in the British charts, and No 2 in
the States) on the part of MrJones,
or anybody else for that matter,
will stop it.
A ROSLING, Newark Road, Lincoln(MM Dec 21)

put their egotistic brains together
again and produce somethingworth listening to. Having bought
Walls And Bridges and Band On
The Run, it's fairly obvious thatboth are lost without each other.
Let's face it, no one is ever goingto match Lennon's "ComeTogether" or McCartney's "HeyJude", but it's time these two guys
realised that they'd do better tostop slacking and start writing
something good.
Also I don't see why The Beatles
don't re-form. They owe it to their
public. They all seem to use thesame musicians, with the
exception of McCartney, in
Jim Keltner, Jim Horn, Jesse Ed
Davies and Klaus Voorman.

Another reason is that
Harrison's work has been about
as interesting as Leeds United
on a Saturday afternoon.
C TIPPLE, Crestfield Avenue,

Elland, Halifax (MM Dec 21)

Home, home again...
I object to Rick Wright's comment
in his interview last week in MM

For Steve's a sparky

young fellow
Today I bought the album of theyear. I feel I can say this without
expecting several letters saying
I'm rubbish. The album is Kimono
My House by Sparks. I bought it on
the strength of the single. Every

track is brilliant -although I must
name "Equator", "Complaints","Amateur Hour" and "Here In
Heaven" as the best tracks, andin that order.
STEVE MORRISSEY, 384 Kings

Road, Stretford, Manchester

M igawd. Conviction oozes fromevery sentence like the very ichor
of life itself from the metal lifesupport systems of the Bronze
Giant of Fangorak. The eyes of
Mr Morrissey gleam with a
missionary zeal that shames into
submission the cringi ng doubtsof those yet unconvinced. Me?
I dunno. I ain't heard the thingyet. S'pose it's all right, though.
CSI,4 (NMEJun15)

They should work it out
It's about time somebody told
Messrs Lennon and McCartney towhen he said: "...since I moved
out of London to Cambridge
where people don't know
anything about the Floyd...".
I live near Cambridge and go
to the school which Roger Waters
and Syd Barrett went to(Cambridge High School For
Boys, now Hills Road Sixth -Form
College) and in our school nearly
all the boys should know Pink
Floyd because their music is
played in our music lessons
sometimes. Many of my friends
in the sixth form are dedicated
Floyd fans, and Roger Waters and
Syd Barrett are even rememberedby some of the masters.
Pink Floyd have never played
a gig in Cambridge, to mymemory, certainly not in recent
years, so Rick Wright expects
recognition in the streets ofCambridge, even though among
10,000 university students there
must be a fair proportion of Pink
Floyd fans.
We are unfortunate in
Cambridge: we haven't a venue
big enough for Pink Floyd's
show, nor have we a goodfootball club "where potentially
exciting games" are played.
But we are still the town of"Grantchester Meadows".
M COW LEY, Twenty Pence Road,
Wilburton, Ely, Cambs (MM Dec 7)

MIRROR
OF LOWA NEW SINGLE FROMMEL MAN PRESENTS0.,,).,m,,'vvEmaiE
CROSBY STILLSNASII & YOUNG

JONIMITCHELL
1 EXPRESS31TON

A.

3113"MTI:11
IrieRMS111.....1.1N=OISOF

HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

145

1974
MONTH VI

"71111iRit'i

MONTH

14:0z_Myttyriyynowirso

Corning next...
in 1975!
SO THAT WAS 1974. Hope you freaked completely.
Certainly, that's not it from our reporters on the beat. The
staffers ofNMEand Melody Makerenjoyed unrivalled accessto the biggest stars of the time, and cultivated a feel for therhythms of a diversifying scene; as the times changed, so did

they. While in pursuit of the truth, they unearthed storiest hat have come to assume mythical status.

That's very much the territory of this monthly magazine. Each month,
The History Of Rockwill be bringing you verbatim reports from the pivotal
events in pop culture, one year a month, one year at a time. Next up, 1975!

LED ZEPPELIN

THE BAND COMMENCE another mammoth tour. Live shows are
witnessed in the USA and in England, while John Bonham (nowresembling a droog from A Clockwork Orange), and Robert Plant areinterviewed. The band also release their epic double album, PhysicalGraffiti. "It goes from one extreme to the other," says Plant.
PATTI SMITH
INTRODUCING A MAJOR new force to emerge from the New York
poetry scene, "who bears a striking resemblance to Keith Richards",
and who has just made a magnificent debut album: Horses,produced
by John Cale. "We went through hell," says Patti. "We had nothing but
friction, but it was a love -hate relationship and it worked."
PETER GABRIELTHE SINGER AND frontman quits Genesis. His plans? Stories, "video
projects" and the possibility ofjoining a commune- until it turns out tobe called Genesis, that is. What of his old costumes? "I'll go down to thevillage and frighten all the children," he grinned. "Or busk the queues
outside the next Genesis gig!"

PLUS...
GIL SCOTT -HERON!
101ERS!

BOB MARLEY!
ZZ TOP!

146 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1974

FROM THE MAKERS OF UNCUTTHE HISTORY OF

K

Every month, we revisit long -lost NME and Melody Maker interviews
and piece together The History OfRock. This month: 1974.
"There's a rose in a fisted glovelAnd the eagle flies with the dove"It

CSNY REFORMED, AND LOVED
THE ONES THEY WERE WITH
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN WOWED THE UNITED STATESQUEEN REGALLY ROSE TO GREATNESS...and KEITH RICHARDS, PINK FLOYD,
TIM BUCKLEY, LED ZEPPELIN and many moreshared everything with NME and MELODYMAKER

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