THE HISTORY OF

A MONTHLY TRIPHROUGH MUSIC'S
GOLDEN YEARSTHIS ISSUE:1968"I'm interested in therogression of pop"

THE BEATLESLED ZEPPELIN

CREAMTHE DOORBOB DYLAN
"qg

PLUS!

r

NK FLOYD HENDRIX JOHN PEEL GEORGE BEST TIM BUCKLEY

Welcometo 1968
AFTER 1967'S COLOURFUL revelations and occasionallygrandiose musical experimentation, 1968 has its feet more

firmly planted on the ground. The gurus and thehallucinogens of the past 12 months have imparted theirknowledge, and the music world is now for the most partslightly more suspicious of whim and fancy.
No-one precisely says this is their plan (although Paul McCartney has been
murmuring about "getting back" for awhile), but there is a palpable swing awayfrom the head trips of the studio and towards the heart: to early inspirations, live
music. Later in the year, the double album released by The Beatles will containstrong flavours of blues and rock'n'roll, the year's two principal revivals. Does

this now mean The Beatles are taking a step backwards? As Ringo Starr
philosophically remarks, "It's not forwards or backwards. It's just a step."
Bob Dylan also sets an anomalous tempo, established early in the year withthe bucolic minimalism of John Wesley Harding. Dylan's continued absencefrom the promotional scene allows him to move with a freedom not permitted
his British contemporaries, and his absence creates a vacuum that myth, andunder-the-counter recordings, step in to fill. British groups like our cover stars
The Who, meanwhile, grasp the opportunities ofAmerica. So effectively, in fact,that even The Beatles are thinkingabout playing live again.
The "undergrou nd", with its light shows and floweryclothing, has for the mostpart dispersed -but still, newscenes are springingup from a reinvigorated, more
informal live music circuit. With them comes a new generation of reporters, lessimmediatelyconcerned with proximity to established stars, but with these newmusical stirrings, and dedicated to seekingout the personalities behind them.
This is the world of The History Of Rock, a monthly magazine that reaps thebenefits of their reporting for the reader decades later, one year at a time. In thepages of this fourth issue, dedicated to 1968, you will find verbatim articles fromfrontline staffers, compiled into long and illuminating reads. Missed one? 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 have become the giants of

popular culture. Now, a combination of wealth, fear and lifestyle would
conspire to keep reporters at a rathergreater length from the lives of musicians.
At this stage, though, representatives from New Musical Express and Melody
Makerare where it matters. At a pub lock -in with Paul McCartney. On the set of

Performance, awaiting the arrival of Mick Jagger. Discussing laxatives withLouisArmstrong in Batley, West Yorkshire.
loin them there. And, like Louis says: "Leave it all behind ya."

HISTORY OF ROCK 19683

gContentsNews

The Beatles visit the Maharishi,
while we meet Captain Beefheart
and Status Quo. In the UK the blues
are booming and rock'n'roll is back.
Small Faces

12 Larks continue for theebullient, neighbour -offending
mods. Behind the scenes... an LP
masterwork is underway.

Hendrix... Magical Mystery Tourvs the general public... the year's
debates begin.
32NewsTim Buckley introduces
his inspirational process, andPink Floyd introduce a whole
new way of doing things.
Meanwhile, The Byrds havegone country.

50

Cream
A bleary Eric

Clapton greets thepress on his return
to England. Are theCream splitting up?
Can he even get
his hi-fi to work?

"Pete Townshend
would know..."

RA Louis
The Who

18 Pete Townshend phones
home to report on theAmerican
scene, and once back, grants a
couple of eccent ric audiences.
"Would you let your daughter
marrya Venusian?"leetwood Mac
Blues purists beware...
Peter Green is a man with a
mission. A new British band debuts
a bold take on a traditional form.

24

ingles/Albums

3aBob Dylan

urhe man himself

is still keepinga low profile, but
he has his representatives in
the wider world. The Bandshed some light on a mysterious
cache of tapes.
;each Boystters

31 Pete Townshend vsAustralia... Petula Clark vs Jimi

Lou is Armst rong plays a two-weekresidency in Batley, Yorkshire.
Tickets? Laxatives? Let's go!

The Beatles
What next for The

Meetings with anunassumingAmerican housewife-incidentally now hitting peakform as a major recordingartist
and performer.

TREMS
JULIE

DRISCOLL

1.0 A celebrity special. Johnnywith the Maharishi can't
completely dampen the band's
enthusiasm for meditation

48Aretha Franklin

Musical
FACES
Express SMALLNEW ALBUM

58
Cash reviews the singles.

40 An expensive encounter
and world peace. World Peace II
is planned!

UNION GAP INTERVIEW

Singles

Meanwhile "El Beatle", footballer
George Best, makes it two.

L1.1 Radio One DJ John Peelreviews the singles. "Have you got
any Tyrannosaurus Rex records?"

Armstrong

JAGGER, SCOTT S

New

60

Beatles after their return from
India?There's a newsingle
and "20 or more" new songs
to begetting on with. Are they
progressing?The band are notfussed. "It's just another recordby The Beatles..."Jumpin' Jack Flash
Rolling Stones

atiThe Rolling Stones
Mick Jagger and company
are found in buoyant form as they
release "Jumpin' Jack Flash" andrecord their new LP. A new trackcalled "The Devil Is My Name"
seems to cause a studio fire...

Meintawlistmeift fiweittmeka/

Sm

Face

90 Kenalnyi

stalks about his
cars, while the rest of the band
move out to the country.
94Sly 8L The

1J Marianne's charms on
I6NewsFamily Stone

Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Canned
Heat, the performers of a great

Drug busts. Equipment problems.
The former radio announcer ishappy to be here -but his band's

single, "On The Road Again".

first UK tour proves to befilm. We meet Marc Bolan from

unexpectedly problematic.

8n Jimi Hendrix
V Some strange journeys
wit h a musical explorer: to Spain,
to Switzerland, and sadly, towhat seems to be the end of
the Experience.

911Singles
Paul McCartney
explains how he discovered
Mary Hopkin, now a bigstar
herself. Keith Moon reviews the
singles. "Another record?"

86The Kinks

Raymond Douglas Davies

100Theexplains the thinking behindhis group's newalbum, The

entrepreneurial, their attitudes

KinksAre The Village Green
Preservation Society.

to business revealing a lot about
their prevailing musical ideas.

The former
BeatlesFabs turn

"V

1r!

1.

TheJimiHendrix
Experience pages 80 and128

PEAKS

E BEATLESTLANTIC
1.1546
COCA1.
Polo , Moe

MADONNA

2e4s.,14

LAW

414

THE

The Doors106
WU Bringing the Jefferson
Airplane with them, Jim Morrisonand band arrive in London. The
singer expresses a preference forbomb sites and waxworks.

lio Rolling Stones

IL. On the set of Mick

Jagger's first dramatic film,
Performance, and in anticipationof the delayed Beggar's Banquet.

people's choice
Julie Driscoll airs
her not uncontroversial
opinions.

21/44

I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER

INNER

N, A RE TH A FRANKLIN'LIGHTlong -discussed opera, Deaf
DumbAnd Blind Boy.

HolliesCabaret122'lleor excit ing

new directions? Can the twoleading Hollies resolve theirdifferences, or will this mean
theend of the band?

128lendrix

Chas Chandler explains his role inthe spectactular rise ofThe Jimi
Hendrix Experience-and why heis no longer involved.

138 Cream
All good things must come toend. A big finish for Ginger Baker,
Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton. "Thepotential is ridiculous..."

MIHS

News

118 Introducing Jimmy Page's" New Yardbirds". Pollwin ner and

126 Paul McCartneyexplains
his part in The Beatles, while otherwinter albums are reviewed.

he WhoLetters132 I n the studio as the

145 A Beatles clamour

band work on Pete Townshend's

dominates the correspondence.

Woe kTime Inc. (UK) Ltd, 8th Floor, Blue Fin Building, no Southwark St, London SE1 OSU I EDITOR John Mulvey, whose favourite song from 1968 is Panis Et Circensis
by Os Mutantes DEPUTY EDITOR John Robinson 1983... (A Merman I Should Turn To Be) by The Jimi Hendrix Experience ART EDITOR Lora Findlay Hung Up On
A Dream by The Zombies PRODUCTION EDITOR Mike Johnson Afterglow by the Small Faces ART DIRECTOR Marc Jones Pictures Of Matchstick Men by Status
Quo DESIGNER Stuart Jones Step Inside Love by Cilia Black PICTURE EDITOR Kimberly Kriete The Weight by The Band COVER PHOTO ©Art Kane Archive allrights reserved, photos available at Snap Galleries Ltd, London THANKS TO Helen Spivak. Anna Savva MARKETING Charlotte Treadaway SUBSCRIPTIONS
Sonja Zeven PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Ed Beak MANAGING DIRECTOR Paul Williams COVERS PRINTED BY
Polestar Wheatons TEXT PRINTED BY Polestar Chantry WWW.UNCUT.CO.UK

Time Inc.

3

2 41

STONES
0.1

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star

DON PARIRICKA

ilff1:111ktla
NOOSE PARTY

Ickliard'01,COMIX7THE BEHTLES

THY MADONNAAND

THE INNER LIGHTFEATURING THE WHO,FLEETWOOD MAC,

SMALL FACES & MORE

"They are expected to
study for three months"
MELODY MAKER FEBRUARY 24 The Beatles announce a new singlu,

iitii idve Rh all

retreat with the Maharishi.

THE BEATLES' NEW single "Lady Madonna", a Lennon -McCartney composition, will
be released on March 15. The B-side will be 'The Inner Light', written and sung by

George Harrison. George's song has Indian instrumental accompaniment recorded
under his supervision in Bombay last month when he was recording music for the film
Wonder Wall. John and Paul contribute vocal harmony but are not instrumentally
involved in this track. Both recordings were made within the last three weeks, but thegroup have not recorded any tracks for a new album.
The group have recorded two film clips for promotional TV spots. Paul McCartney andRingo Starr, with Maureen, Ringo's wife, and Jane Asher, flew from London to India on
Monday to join John Lennon and George Harrison and their wives at the Himalayan retreatof the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. John and George are expected to study with the Maharishi
for about three months, but Paul and Ringo will return before that. Former Beatles press
officer and independent publicist in America Derek Taylor is to take charge ofThe Beatles'
Apple Records, it was confirmed this week. But no date has been set for his takeover.

The fartharono travois..."The Boatlasat Maharishi
Habash Yogi's ashramnear Rishikash in India.
February1968: (on dais,from loft) Ringoand
Maureen Starkey, Jana
Asher. Paul McCartney,
George Harrison, Pattie
Boyd. Cynthia and John
Lannon. Beatles roadie
MalEvansand Beach Boy
Mike Love

January 27,1968:

Captain Beefheart
A The Magic. Band at

the second Midommusic festival, Cannes:(I -r) Jeff Cotton,
Jerry Handley, Don
Van Vliet, John Frenchand Alex St Claire

4;1"We got high in the desert"
itroducing... Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band. "I
d Wild," says Beefheart. "Now I'm happy and growing."

MM FEBRUARY 3

unihippv

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART WAS sitting in
the corner of his hotel room in London,
running through a new song, as I
entered. The Magic Band, Alex St Claire andJeff Cotton playing acoustic guitars, and Jerry
Handley plucking his bass guitar, were seatedon beds working through the backing. Whenthey finished, the Captain greeted me and told
me the group hadn't slept since their gig at the
Middle Earth the night before. The Magic
Band kept on playing and conversation with
the Captain was carried on between songs.
"Frank Zappa and I were making a movie anddecided to start a band," he explained to myquestions about the origins of the Magic Band.
"But we didn't. I went and started with Alex,and Frank started a band called the Mothers.
We recorded a song, 'Diddy Wah Diddy', which
was a turntable hit in the United States, then
the turntable stopped turning and we stopped
doing 'Diddy Wah Diddy' - and started
realising that everything was nothing. We hada year of isolation in the desert and got
ourselves together. We got high in the desert.""The numbers on the Safe As Milk album
were written about18 months ago and thealbum has been out in America for about nmonths. We found Bob Krasnow, who didn't
think our music was negative. He put out therecord and it did OK in the United States."
Conversation was broken by another songand then I asked the Captain about the blues
influence in his music. "I was unhappy as a child- now I'm happy and growing. I like to talk, too.
When I'm talking I'm practising my singing andwhen I'm singing I'm practising my talking. And
when I'm walking I'm practising my stalking..."The Captain and his Magic Band haveappeared at the Avalon Ballroom and the

8 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

RECORD'111:r1w

Fillmore Auditorium. San Francisco;"In fact,
anywhere there are cars, man."
He was impressed with London'sunderground centre, Middle Earth. "It was
one of the warmest audiences we've played torecently. When I came off the stage, I nearlybroke my leg. I put my foot though the stage
and I saw these two green eyes shining
through the floor. It might have been a rat, butman, it was really avant garde."
Pause for another song with words about"blue cheese lace, blue cheese lace" (he told me
he had written two songs about England, onewith Pete Anders of the Anders & Poncia duo,
fellow Kama Sutra recording artists, who went
travelling with the Magic
Band. "The love imagery isfantastic. The castles, thebricks, everything is positive
here -unless it's madenegative. But even after
we've gone, we'll still behere. I wrote a song withPete Anders. I also wrote
another one called 'Fifth
Dimensional Judy'. We
physically love England," added the Captain.
The Magic Band, meanwhile, were grooving
along nicely and John French, their tall,mysterious drummer had come in and was

lAkt1.7'e
7
A HIS MAGIC

Beefheart & The Magic Band with the wording"5,000 Microgrammey Tubular Planet
Estates, Glasdom".
The stamp on the envelope will bear theheads of the Magic Band, engraved andsuperimposed on to old Spanish stamps. It will
be a double album and the Captain would liketo get it mixed in England. He then asked me
was I going to ask him who he liked. "Alright,"
I replied, "who do you like?"
Said the Captain, "I like Zappa, Ornette
Coleman, Anders & Poncia and Penny Nicholls
and dimes and quarters and Billy." Before I
could find out who Billy was, the Captain wasaway into another song with Pete Anders ofAnders & Poncia, songs
unlimited, throwing lyric
suggestions to the Captain.
After that song, the Captainturned to me and said,"What I would like to say is,'Let the living live, and the
dying die.' That's from oneof our new songs,'You
Gotta Trust Us'.
"Ma, I'd like to have sungthat in front of the Immigration Bureau. Those
customs people who were so stately. Yeah, it'swith a hyphen." added the Captain leaningover my pad. It was at this point that Bob
Krasnow, Beefheart's record producer,
entered to break up the session and get the
Captain Beefheart Magic Band on the road for
the Speakeasy. The Captain was saying
something about sleep but went off instead to
do another interview. Anders & Poncia picked
up where the Magic Band left off and I walked
into the cold, Sunday night, slightly dazed,"What I would liketo say is, 'Let theliving live, and the
dying die"beating tattoos on a case with drumsticks.
"We're making a new album -it's really far
out," continued the Captain."I hope we don't
get in vogue." The new Beefheart album is still
being prepared but the cover has alreadybeen planned. The album itself will be titled "It
Comes To You In A Plain Brown Wrapper" andthe cover will appear to be a wrinkled brown
paper envelope addressed to CaptainN NEFFNEART
BAND

slightly amazed. Tony Wilson

(Week ending Wednesday. March 27, 1969)
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VALLEY OF THE Dolts

Dwane 1Vontadt (Pyle Int3265-)13110"""Whatever sounds
Entst.wo do-: Status
Quo in.68 -(I -r) John
Coghlan. Rick Parfitt,
Francis(Mike)Rossi.
Alan Lancastr and
RoyLynosPICTURESOF
MATCHSTICKMEN"We stickto our own ideas"
MM FEB 10 Introducing... Status Quo, formerly Thei
I it,. We had a bit of trouble with Stevie Winwood."
EVERY SO OFTEN a record suddenly appears in the chart without
anybody seeming to know anything about it. Such is the case with
Status Quo's "Pictures Of Matchstick Men", which made an
unheralded entry into the Pop 30 last week.
The group- Rick Pa rfitt, guitar, 20, from Woking, Surrey; Alan
Lancaster, 18 -year -old guitarist from Peckham, London; Mike Rossi, lead
guitar, 18, from Bromley, Kent; Roy Lynes, organ, 24, from Redhill, Surrey;
and John Coghlan, 21, drummer, from Dulwich, London - have been
together for four years.
They used to be called "The Tra ffic" but, says Alan Lancaster, "We hada bit of t rouble wit h Stevie Winwood over that. Before t hen we were
known as The Spect res."
The group have recently been backing Madeline Bell, and in fact stillare. "We'll st ick wit h her for the next couple of weeks or so," says guitarist
Rick Parfitt, "until our gigs booked with her are finished. It's great
working wit h her, but of course we can't keep on with it. It's not good forus, but on the other hand we just can't leave her.
"We try to keep as original as possible. We don't like using otherpeople's numbers," adds Alan. "We stick to our own ideas. We try to get
a commercial sound. Just as long as the audience like it we don't mind.
Whatever sounds best, we do."With "Matchstick Men" beginning to move well now, the group are
turning their thoughts to an album. "We've made arrangements foran album. As far as we can tell it's going to be called 'Picturesque
Matchstickable Messages From The Status Quo'." *HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 19a-"q411111111

1968
Rock
revival!
MUM -10"

Stan webband Chicken
Shack get down at
Redcar Jazz ClubinNorth-East England

NME MARCH 9

TO SPEARHEAD ITS rock'n'roll revival
campaign, MCA is reissuing fourclassic rock titles by Bill Haley andBuddy Holly -and it was announced this weekthat Bill Haley & The Comets will fly to Britain
in the early spring for a promotional visit.
Another chart star from the golden rock era,
Duane Eddy, is returning to this country in
April for radio, TV and club dates.
On March 22, MCA issues two former Bill
Haley smash hits on one single, "Rock Around
The Clock" and "Shake Rattle And Roll". Out
the same day are two Buddy Holly evergreens,"Rave On" and "Peggy Sue".
Haley and the Comets arrive in Britain
at the end of next month, and open at
Hammersmith Odeon on April 30. Other
dates already set include Hanley Place(May 2), Dunstable California (3), West
Bromwich Carlton and Birmingham Town
Hall (4) and Folkestone Tofts (5).
They appear on BBC1's Dee Time on May 4
and play a week in cabaret at Batley Variety
Club from May 19. Duane Eddy has been
booked for ballroom and cabaret dates bypromoter Laura Wallis. Following his British
visit the guitarist will go on to Germany forfurther bookings. Eddy arrives in this country
on April 22 for promotion ona new single - he is now
signed to Reprise andwill make radio andTV appearances
before opening his
tour at Pontypridd
1/ 11 1013
Municipal Hall
Sli
on April 26... his
3oth birthday.

mca 4.

Mire toms) ROCA MAD THE UCCISILL NALLY

litS COWS.4010

MM MAR 2 tow to account for the British blues boom? "Record
P nm panies are realising blues is saleable. They sell better than pop."

WHY ISTHERE a surge of enthusiasm
R&B revival when groupslike The Rolling
for the blues in Britain? Why do
Stones, Graham Bond Organisat ion, Manfred
thousands of fans idolise John
Mann, Yardbirds and Spencer Davis Group
Mayall and Peter Green? Why are
emerged. Today's top men in the field all havenew blues groups springing up
widely differing backgrounds. Tracing theirevery month?
past affiliations can be complicated -and fun.
"I've no idea at all, I reallycouldn't tell you."For example, Eric Clapton came up with The
This is the reaction of a man closest to the core
Yardbirds, disappeared, returned to evenof the thriving British blues scene, Richard,bigger famewith Mayall, then formed the vastly
one of the Brothers Vernon. Richard, aged 21,
popular Cream, which has even scored chart
is promotion man for Blue
success, somethingof a sin
Horizon, the independent
in theeyes of hardcore fans.
label released by CBS which
Theother two members of
Ten
Years
After
specialises in groups like
Cream, Ginger Baker andPeter Green's Fleetwood Mac
Jack Bruce, both used to play
are
the
most
and the Chicken Shack. His
together with Grahambrother M ike, aged 23, isBond's Organisation, andas
an equally fervent blues
Jack has played with Mayall
they useenthusiast and produces
and Manfred Mann. Ex the records of Mayall, Green
Bond tenorist Dick
freak -outs
Heckstall-Smith is now
and the Shack.
Theircombined
blowing with Mayall.
enthusiasm in convincing
Dick also has a longhistory
ofjazzplayingand still does the occasional solo
big record companies of the market for blues
has brought forth a spate of big-sellingalbums,
club gig. "Today the scene is equallystrongall
and increasing attention to a music scene once
over the country," he says. "In the large cities
and towns, new blues groups seem to bepooh-poohed or ignored by the critics- theBritish blues scene.
continuallystart ing up. The larger record
The British blues scene has peculiar roots.
companies are now tending to take blues
Men likeAlexis Korner and Chris Barber laid
seriously and are beginning to realise it is a
the foundations of interest and development insaleable product; and, in fact, the albums sell
the '50s. Later came what was known as themore than a lot of pop stuff."

controversial
distortion

Apri129,1968:Bill HaleyisgrotetedbyBritish
teddy boysandfans at
London Airport

TORY OF ROCK 1968

BLUESVILLE 68
,

FRI

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2nd FEB. NEW LOWELL FULSO

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Discs

PETER GREEN'FLEETWOOD MAC

THE

and guitarist has
joined Pink Floyd,
increasing theirlineup to five. He

DISCO SOUL BEA T'"'

VER Y WFDN(SDAY1968. A new singer

NEXT FRIDAY, 10th FMTEN YEARS AFTER
EVERY SUPTDA`i--ond

WO C His-is 21- year -old

David Gilmour.
A childhood friendof the Floyd's Syd
Barrett and Roger
Waters, Gilmour
has rehearsed withthe group forseveral weeks.
and will now jointhem on their first
European tour,
which starts on
February 18
and includes aperformance atthe First European
International Pop
Festival in Rome.

slide gu 'tar, piano), John McVie (bass) and Mick Fleetwood(drums). Theiralbum is said to be sellingover 1,000a day.
After a stint with Jeff Beck (ex-Yardbirds), Aynsley Dunbartformed the Retaliation and is currently working with
American si nger Tim Rose. Aynsley is a friendly, enthusiastic
Scot, hailed by the Marquee Club's John Gee as "a young
Buddy Rich". Their lineup includes Victor Brox (vocals,organ, piano, harmonica and trumpet), John Morshead(lead guitar) and Alex Paris (bass). They have a single
released called "Warning".
Fans are looking forward to the first LP byChicken Shack,titled Forty Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed And Ready To Serve.
l'heyare unusual in havinga girl with them, Christine
Perfect on piano and vocals. The rest are Stan Webb (vocals,
guitar), Andy Sylvester (bass) and Dave Bidwell (drums).
Their first single was "It's OK With Me Baby".

MM JAN 27

Ten YearsAfter, featuringAlvin Leeon guitar, are probably
the most controversial because they move intoa semi -jazz feel at times, as well as making useof feedback, and distortion freak -outs usuallyassociated with the hipper pop groups. But theirfans are equally fanatical and cheer to the echo of
Alvin's lengt hy workouts on "I lelp Me". They

recently had their first album released and thelineup includes Ric Lee (drums) and Chick (nosurname) on organ. Their first single is called"Portable People".
Savoy Brown Blues Band were formed a year ago
and arewell established on the club and college
circuit. Their first LPwas released in September
last year on Decca and they have played in
Denmark and toured with John Lee Hooker.
All these groups are hit by frequent personnel
changes but the latest lineup consists of Chris Youlden(vocals, piano, and guitar), Kim Simmonds (lead guitar),
Rivers Jobe (bass), Roger Earl (drums) and Dave Peverett(second guitar, vocals). Bob Hall is on piano when available.
Every week new names appear on theclub circuit -CliffCharles Blues, Sugar Momma Blues Band, Jethro Tull, Spirit
Oflohn Morgan, ShakeyVic, Skye -Wine, Doctor K's, John
Dummer and the Boiler House which features a 15 -year -oldguitar wonder, Danny Kirwan.
British blues bands are now being rated all over theContinent, especially in Holland and Denmark, and Mayall
recently returned from a successful tour of America.
There is even a blues group operating in Helsinki, Finland,
led by English singer Jim Pembroke, called the Blues Section.
Once again British enthusiasm is reviving interest in an
American music form. British players may not be able tofullyexpress the emotionsof theAmerican black man that
led to the original outburst of the blues, but they are keeping
the tradition alive with a mixture ofloyalty, dedication andability. Chris Welch

The Vernons started
producing blues records
about two -and -a -half years ago, running from their homethe legendary Purdah and Outasite labels on a mail orderbasis, releasing singles by Eric Clapton and John Mayan. The
final result is Blue Horizon. "We tried a lot ofcompanies torelease the label before CBS. They were t he only company
prepared to give us an identity."
Biggest sellers of albums are the Mayall bands. Decca
releases include Blues Breakers, feat u ring Clapton; A Hard
Road with his replacement Peter Green; and Crusadewith
his replacement, Mick Taylor. Their latest is an exciting two volume set of material taken from John's tape recordings
made at clubs, concerts and ballrooms all over England,
Ireland and Holland during October, November andDecember last year. It features the current lineup of Taylor(guitar), Chris Mercer (tenor and baritone), Keith Tillman(bass), Keef Hartley (drums) and John on organ, harp andvocals. It is probably the most consistent of all his bands.
In summer last year, Peter Green formed the Fleetwood Mac
and recently had t heir first release on Horizon. Their lineup
includes Peter (guitar, vocals and harp), Jeremy Spencer

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producing Twiggy's
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MM JAN 27

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11

JONI

1968.

Their high spirits have given thea bad reputation,
but also inspired a huge hit single,"Lazy Sunday". Behind closed
doors, experimental musicalbusiness is in progress. "It'sreally something new, isn't it?"of "Dirty,

beer -swilling,ragamuffins"-

JANUARY 6-

NCE MORE lINTOAndrewOldham'atnner sanctum
off Oxford Street to Interview htsgroup-the Small
Paces -and discuss thefateof "Tin Soldier" withsongsmiths Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. It was
just like old times when music, laughter and sarcasm
were the hallmark of many a colourful interview
with anot her well-known group that Andrew managed.
When I made my entrance ionecannot simply enter Andrevisofficeas
you walk t hrough andontoa raised balcony) I wasnot totally prepared
for the"A lice In Wonderland Tea Party" scene that unfolded before me-Inn then lifeis full of littlesurprises!
Gambolling about theofficewere twolanky Afghan houndsanda
black -and -white collie of doubtful pedigree, apparently playing trains,whileseated about the mund table were Steve, Ronnie, Andrew and ajournalist left over from a previousinterview. Ile was apparently asleep
and remained affixed to his chair throughout the Interview. In
beautiful green tumblerson the table was"Black Russian", a delightful
drink which willoften affix a journalist to a chair.

HISTOF11 OF ROCK SO 119

1968
MAR

kl`

We played some nice discs likeAretha Franklin and a newcomer on
Immediate records, Billy Nicholls, who sanga great song called "You
Wouldn't Believe" backed by the Small Faces. After joining the party,
I provoked Ronnie into verbal activity.
"Your new record is not very progressive, is it?" I challenged.
"What?" grinned Ronnie. "I'm progressing very nicely, thank you. Infact I'm progressing out of this world. I'm progressinglike a pig!"
Steve put on his "interviewed" face. "We wanted to make a record thatwas really us," he said. "'Tin Soldier' is the real us and 'Itchycoo Park' is areally nice kind of send-up. Some of the kids were saying that we were notso wild as we used to be and we thought 'yeah' and came up with 'Tin
Soldier'. We can play this one live but we could never get the same effects
on 'Itchycoo'.""Yeah," said Ronnie. "And we used to have a lot of trouble getting the
RAF to send over jets at the right time on 'Itchycoo Park' to coincide withthe recording!"
How d id the Faces explain that strange, coloured single -sleeve where all
their faces are deliberately blurred in the photo? Steve picked up a copy ofit lying on the table and viewed it dispassionately. "We must have moved,"
he said.
"Either that or the photographer had DTs," added Ronnie.
The group are currently suffering from those misguided people who
believe it's their job to protect fellow mortals from making up their own
minds about songs and human beings.
"There is one idiot out in America who got on the radio and warned all
the stations not to play 'Itchycoo Park' because it was advocating theuseof drugs and encouraging kids to stayaway from school," said Steve.
"I can't remember his name but he's a kind of Irish Catholic Goldwater!""Most of those people have got rubber suits hanging in theirwardrobes," growled Ronnie. "They've all got their own dirty little scenes
going on in their minds. They're silly people."
Were the boys concerned that some people were beginning to think ofthem as "the disappearing Small Faces" owing to their decision to do so
few personal appearances?
"We still do a couple of gigs a week," said Steve. "We've just cut out theballroom scene. We've done all that. We have worked seven days a week
for over 18 months. We need more time to produce good records. We don't
mind if they don't make the charts as long as we have given our best to
people. Anyway, we'll be doinga tour in the spring!"
We played "Tin Soldier" in stereo and "the affixed journalist" awoke tomurmur "beautiful" at the end of it and then went back to sleep. Next we
played a Phil Spector record of Phil singing- made some years ago. Stevesaid he wanted to go toAmerica if "Tin Soldier" followed "Itchycoo Park"
into theAmerican charts. Ronnie said he must catch a bus to Formentera
and went home.
Steve said he thought The Herd would recover from "Paradise Lost" andnot to take all the things he said too seriously. Don't say Steve is mellowing
too! Keith Althorn

NME
C-

HAT'S MY BODY you're laughing at!" said Ronnie Lane

indignantly, having removed his shirt to reveal a torso
which could have given Charles Atlas a nasty turn. To otherremarks about his freckled back from the Small Faces he retorted,"That's a map of the stars, that is!"The group were at their image -battering best while rehearsing forSouthern TV's New Releases in Southampton. Washinghis hair in a sink in
one corner of the room, Steve Marriott was also
happily thinking pop star idols.
"It's amazing that I should have to wash myhair like a real person really," said Stevesarcastically. "Sometimes I even go to the toilet
and that amazes me too! D'y'know, when I wasborn I wasyellow all over -had jaundice. Must
have given my old man the horrors."
Perhaps the most refreshing thingabout the
Small Faces today is that they are not frightened
to be themselves and any attempt to place themon a pedestal is derided by the group.
"We've been all through that phoney scene ofbeing the 'Four Little Mods' for the public," said
Steve. "We'd turn up for a TV show and theywould say, 'Where are allthese trendy clothes you're
supposed to wear?' We were
just four ordinary 'geezers'
having to pretend we were
pop stars. Now we've stopped

pretend inganything.
"We recorded rubbish like
'My Mind's Eye' because we knew it wascommercial and it would sell. Now we canafford to do what we like. I feel sorry forgroups
like The Herd, who arecapable of doing things
much better than 'Paradise Lost', but they do it
because they want to sell. No-one wants to own
up, that's all!

"There's nothing worse than doingsomething
you don't digor being something that you arenot. Take today. We're down here to back Pat (PPArnold( on her record because wewant to do it.
In the old days theywould probably havestopped us because it might look bad for ourimage. Well, to hell with that -we played on herbacking track- we produced the disc and welike Pat. You don't need any other reasons."
A man from the makeup department called
to instruct them to get made up for rehearsals.
"Oh man, not for rehearsals," pleaded Ronnie.
"It brings me face out."
There was a general strike by the other three
in support of Ronnie's face.
"If you don't get made up you won't do theshow," said the man politely.
"Yah boo," said Mr Lane.

Finally, producer Mike Mansfield came
down to reason with the rebels. They remained
unmade -up for rehearsals but quickly
cooperated for the final run-through. The
Small Faces' new single, "Tin Soldier", has got
off to a slow start but recovered momentum
following Steve's very "I ive" performances on
TV recently.
"NewTV shows like New Releases are a very
good scene for us," said Steve. "We needed tosell 'Tin Soldier' live- it's a very visual record. But again it is acase of being
able to generate excitement because we are excited by our song. It's nice tobe able to vent your feelings on something like 'Tin Soldier' -really let go.

That Top OfThe Popswherewe were all on stage together with Pat dancing
behind us was the seller. Theyset it up well and we could all get going
together. Colin Chapman, who is their new producer, really seems to havethe right ideas."
At this point enter Mr McLagan, who was about to shave.
"Alright. Who's going to lend me an electric shaver?" he demanded.
"Haven't got one," returned Ronnie.
"What about you, Steve?" asked Ian.
"Sorry," said Steve.
"Oh well," said lan, unpacking his suitcase, "I'll just have to use my own,
then!" For this he was resoundingly beaten!
The Faces are all on their way toAustralia fora tour this week and thento Japan.
"I can't say I'm looking forward to thetravelling," said Steve. "I get more frightenedeach time I get on a plane, but it'll be good togroove about onstage with The Who. When
we come back we're going to get the British
scene going again. At least three gigs a week,"
he promised. Keith/Wham"We've been

through thatphoney scene,
being the 'four
little mods"

14 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

NME FEBRUARY 17_

THEABOVE HEADLINE ("Small Faces

Sink Australia"( was sarcasticallysuggested by Ronnie Lane, who
declared after the group's recent trip downOnFronchTV show Boston

Rougoporforming-Tin
Soldior-withlmmodiato
labolmatoPPArnold(broadcast March 2,1968)

under, "They would even have accused us of that if it had happened
while we were on tour!"
When a short -haired, meat -eating, brawny, bronzed, brash, "son of anAustralian surf" meets a long-haired, vegetarian, small, pale "son of the
British beat scene" on his home ground, you might expect the kangaroo
fur to fly. The Small Faces found they had little in common with the maleadult Aussie.
Press reports boomeranged back here about Steve Marriott offering
to take on a hostile Sydneyaudience one at a time, and both The Whoand the SI's being forciblyejected from a plane for swilling beer and"behaving in such a manner as to constitute a risk to the aircraft".
Very competently conducting his own defence, Steve Marriott put thegroup's eye viewat a recording session last week. "I'm sitting in the planefrom Sydney to Melbourne readinga bookand minding myown
business," said Steve. "Suddenly out of nowhere this pilot leans over meand says, 'You're a scruffy little man.' Well, what do you do? I look up everso politely and say, 'Go to hell!'""Apparently the trouble all began over a bottle of beer which Paul Jones'
backing group - who were Australian anyway- had bought on board andwere drinking. Because of th is they refused to serve anyof us with coffee
and Paul exchanged a few wordswith the stewardess. He was insulted
and provoked into retaliation.
"Well, I'm sorry, but you don't insult
passengers and don't refuse to serve
them coffee, especially if it's Pete
Townshend, and expect no retaliation.
That was why we were thrown off, but
all those reports about 'beer -swilling
pop groups' were down to one bottle

111,

Steve dealt with reports that he had insulted theiraudience in Sydney
and threatened to "come among them".
"Let's get this straight," said Steve. "The kids were great -all of them. It
was one guy in the front who was looking for trouble, calling me names
and flicking things at me on stage. I just threatened to go down and sort
him out. The place that we played in was a temporary building erected'yonks' ago for a World Title boxing match and never taken down.
"Manyof the kids only got a look at our backs because the revolving
stage wouldn't revolve- naturally they were disappointed. We couldn't
turn round because of our equipment and they never reallysawus.
I got 40 geezers to push the thing round in the second house and it
wouldn't move.
"All our real trouble came from these adult males with big bodycomplexes. In Melbourne there were about six of them waiting outside
the hotel and Keith Moon was with me- he doesn't frighten easily. We
started breathing hard through our noses and Keith asked if anyone
wanted a kicking? No-one did and they ran off. But can you honestly
believe that we went looking for trouble. I ask you - how could I afford tobe hostile with my body?"
New Zealand, according to Steve, was much better and he found
all the people far more relaxed and friendly. The Kiwis even suffered
Steve's 21st birthday party in Wellington with stoic reserve, which is 1.
w.

SMALL FACES" SAW

It's the head -line theFaces
are surprised they didn't
see !
TN&

between fourAustralians!"

New bad-lis ....inaricaly

Los. oiho *How ahm Or.,,,,,.

,..,.

......

prow's .....1 inp d...,We -.16 ......61 romi \my wow/
lapp.ad Nib We iftr. me Saw
in 4 Ow II It WI
1

MI.

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gr., .-na,Anel...adaall.
_....IN... ...L.,.

-------DI'

AUSTRALIA

1968
JA

1

remarkable when one considers
that Messrs Townshend andMoon obliged with one of
their unique "smashing"
party demonstrations anda certain chair went througha certain window.
I took a turn around the studio
below, where Ronnie, Ian and
Kenny were making music.
Provisions had just arrived
and Kenny kindly offered mea sausage- I declined.
"Quite right," said Ronnie, astrict vegetarian now. "It's like
Pete Townshend says, 'Eat the
food of Satan and your stomach
will be turned into a steaming,\I"..

June15.1968:Steve
Marriott inrehearsals.
too weeksafter his
marriagotomodelJenny
Rylance,RodStowart'sIt

boiling pit!'" Kennycontinued
eating his sausage regardless.
Steve followed me down fromthe control room to play me achorus of "Renee The Dockers'

Delight" -just a little somethinghe had written on tourand Ian informed

wall is a huge mural of a Vikinggod with hammer and a large balloon

me that the group's newwarcry is "NUF DNA NIS REEB." If you spell
those words backwards you get the message.
Ronnie decided that, having been in the studios since early morning,
he must get some airand so I took him fora walk round the block. He was
wearing his inevitable hand -painted Cuban -heel boots.
"Can't get 'em off," explained the irrepressible Ron. He went on to talkabout howvaluable the overseas tour had been to them forgetting
together their stage numbers. But he denied the possibility of a tour herewith The LoveAffair. "Nothingagainst The LoveAffair," said Ron. "Goodluck to 'em but it's not on -I thinkTito Burns maybe deputising for us!"
Back in the control room, I watched Steve at work producing, until amysterious whine suddenly interrupted operations and Ian McLagancame into the control room with a lengthyexplanation of some obscuretechnical difficulty. After listening patiently to Ian's long story, Steve said,"Don't worry it's all in the cans!"
Ian looked blank fora minute and then smiled. "Nice!" he said and went
back to the studios.
A remark by me about whether the Faces really played on their records
was greeted with a grin by Steve. "You won't believe this, but when I firststarted some years ago I remember a session guitarist turning up to playon our discwith a session tambourinist. 'A SESSION TAMBOURINIST!'"he cried in despairand went back to making music with his friends.
Keith Altham

drawn from his mouth reading-"Amazinggearr

NME APRIL 20-

T0 VISITTHEThameside abode of Small Face Steve Marriott issomething °fan experience- to put it mildly! Come with me
and you'll see what I mean.
A clatter on the letterbox (the bell has ceased to function many fan pulls.

ago) produces a pack of assorted dogs, all barking joyously, and thetenant himself who gesticulates violently that I should go round to thefront of the house as the backdoor has also ceased to function. Marriott's
home is somethingbetween a "Palace Of Delights" and "The HouseOf
Horrors" at a funfair.
Once in the hallway I am assaulted by a bathroom door which suddenly
opens of its own accord and smashes me in the face.
"It's a mystery door," explains Steve apologeticallyas hiscollie, alsatianand mongrel sniff about my kneecaps. "C'mon, the dogs," urges Steve andwe climb up the crooked staircase to the lounge above.
In the lounge, Steve's sidekick
Ronald "Plonk" Lane isstrumming happily upon a guitar
as I stroll nonchalantly into the
middle of the room and crack
8

my skull against a low -hanging
oil lamp.
"Mind the low light," says Plonk
dreamily. I thank him. On one

I sit on a chair and the arm comes away, so I move off and pick up a pianostool - the lid comes off that. I stand admiring books. The three dogs in
the room have now been joined by two cats, namely an "Arfur" and a"Tibs"-Mrs'I'ibs has latelygiven birth to a beautiful batch of kittens andis magnanimously given to distributing her fluffy little bits of happiness
about the immediate locale.
"Some geezer knocked at the door this morning holdingone of Mrs
Tibs' offspring by the scruff of its neck," said Steve. "He lives a couple ofdoors away. He holds it up like it's not very nice and says, 'I found thisdeposited on my bed this morning:"
We sit to talkabout the new singlerLazySunday"1.Whydid theychoose
this one? Steve decides to go into his Alf Garnett approach. "'Cos it's good,in nit?" he bellows. "I mean, take yer Beatles like what make yer goodrecords. So we fought we'd make a good record like, di'n't we?Tell 'im, Ron.""I agree wiv 'im wholesomely!" says helpful Ron.
"And 'es ejukated, ain't 'e?" emphasises Steve.
In a slightly more sane moment I discover that the special effects on the
disc- birds singing, waves breaking on the shore, bells -are produced
from a special sound effects album. Were the Small Faces concerned thatthey would not be able to reproduce the disc on stage?
"It's not really the kind of record we want to play on stage," said Steve.
"We managed to get away wit h 'Itchycoo Park' by using a tape recorder forphasing, but this is going to prove more difficult.
"The point is that it is a good record and t hat's all that matters really.
We'll get round the live performance somehow."
The group had recently returned from a tour of Sweden much sooner
than they anticipated as thevenues were not up to required standard.
"They were 'khazies, terrible 'khazies'," declared Steve. "If we wanted
to play in places like that we could play in much better 'khazies' than thatover here. And not only that but we were assured that 'doubles' we wereplaying would be a reasonable distance apart. Some of them were atleast 200 miles apart. And I'm tellingyou that's hard in a rowboat! And
when we arrived at the places they'd like set the piano up in the audience.
I mean -TURN IT UP!Who needs it?"
Are the Faces at all worried that this latest overseas disturbance,
coupled with theirAustralian troubles, is going to give them a reputation
as villains?
weer ears N., 4. OM
tam 141,14.Al Okinam"

FACES THOUGHT
OF A JOKE
Mew
CAR
raft th ff..,sayerirab
Ovea tellbeecfs(IN
16 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

"Thor?" I ask intelligently.
"Thor," says Steve mimickingly, "I'll thay I'm thor I can hardly chit down!"

asA-

A, 010ea's sod th 014k upbees I ts.
Feu

11.4.1110.440NSer.
Ms Sawa fates. Theft ...seN woofgehag ha aa4 awe,
fote
Wedo boe tik mod table WW1.
-m

/

MUCH
TOO
'SUNDAY'
FROM YOU
Edited by
TONY BROMLE

SMALL FACES"As faras Aust ral ia was concerned we were a success," said Steve.
"We've been asked backagain. "As far as the kids were concerned they
loved us- as far as the papers were concerned we were dirty, beer swilling, ragamuffins and if that's what people want to believe... well,I don't believe they will. We've been unfairly accused of beingdifficult

because we have clauses written into ourcontract that state 'clean soap
and towels to be provided by the managementin the dressing rooms'- now really, is thatasking too much?"
We continued talking about records
and the Faces adm it ted they were
and
mow
gir
maw
having difficultygetting therecording studio they want tod'finish their LP.
"The place where we usually
go is booked solid," said Ronnie.
"These film people move in andtake the place over fora cornflake adfor six months."
In spite of their enormous popularity,
the Small Faces are finding it difficult to getjust the right kind of tour together for England.
"We had a lot of trouble on the Roy Orbison tour,"recalled Steve. "They thought we were too loud. I mean,
I can understand it in a way -these poor old dears camein to hear Roy Orbison and after 12 barsof 'Shake' they
run out -can't take it. The only time when we run into
trouble is when we get a split audience like this.
"We are loud and some circuits have banned
us because of it, but only from that Orbison tour.
We did a tour wit h The I lollies which was great
and a tour of ourown which was great, because

the audiencewere all kids and they understand.
If we had done a tour with The Who no-one
would have complained because wewould have
had the right audience."
Finallywe all sat down and watched acoloured film on Steve's TVall about apples.
Steve, having seen it before, stoically sat throughit all again. Then we played "Lazy Sunday" on
the stereo for the benefit of the neighbours. It isonly a personal opinion, but mine is that thisrecord is the best thing they have done and if it
does not reach No 1 there ain't no justice! Keith Althorn

0

There was the inevitable copy of the NMEon their table, open at Neil
Smith's cartoon of Dave Dee.
"Gives me the 'orrors," said Steve. "I mean, it's very clever, but he mustbe..." and he started to shake!
Ronnie thought someone should do a cartoon of Neil and Ian ventured
to suggest he would not like his dreams. By this time Kenny had done his
famous disappearing trick and Ian explained that Kenny is the retiringkind. "If he gets bad vibes he just does a run -out," smiled Ian. "Kenny's
really a happy Face. l le just gets on with the drums and lets the rest of life
run itself- rather like Bobby Elliot in The Hollies."
One by one the other Small Faces drifted out of the office and left mewith Ian to interview -at my request -and Rufi, who is a not -so -distantrelation of Seamus who is Stevie's dog. We talked of many things the"McLaghan" and I like -of Maurice of the Bee Gees, who is also a "happyFace" who we both happen to like. Of Ian's
desire to have money to go places in SouthAmerica but no desire to be a millionaire. He
is quite happy in his small pad with Rufi andRusty, his cat. We talked of Steve, who nevergets to bed, and Ronnie, who is always up "firstthing". And Ibiza, the island where Ian hopes to
go on holiday later this year. Finally we arrived
at "Lazy Sunday".
"Yes, it'll be nice fora!! our mums and dads
if it makes No 1," grinned Ian. "We're very
happy that it is as high as it is, though.
"When we first cut the record everyone
thought it was a laugh. Steve started singing itin the recordingstudio and began to laugh at
the song. Then we all began laughingat it. It was
reallyquite a straight song to begin with until
Steve began chucking in 'inky pinky pons' fora giggle. When we finished it weal! thought
it was very funny. But we had no intention of
releasing it.
"None of us wanted to release this record at
first. Humour is such a strange thing. You never"It's a goodrecord... We'll

get roundthe live
performance"

NME

NCE MORE UNTO the magic cave - better described asAndrew Oldham's emporium from whence all things
Immediate happen -and the office where I was to meet the
Small Faces. There was Steve "Face" hopping about the round table
while puffing a fag and assuring me he was "rude as well", while
Ronnie "Face" smiled impishly and told me how "Lazy Sunday" was"breaking big in Caracas!" There was Ian "Face" clutching his new
copy of the Beach Boys single, and Ken "Face" who sat quietly in the
background on a radiator, radiating!
Andrew lounged along his black leather sofa looking magnificent-like some eastern potentate- in black and gold embroidered silk robes.
Ile fed some sounds in the stereo machine. The beautiful, blue -crystal
goblets were produced and filled with sparkling liquid and then what
one laughinglycalls an interview began. More party -time than question time, but who iscomplaining.
For halfan hour they bombarded my senseswith sounds from thecompleted side of their next album -and what an album it is. I am sworn
to secrecyabout the format but I can tell you that they have come up with afantastic narrator to link the tracks and every track I heard was brimful ofgood fun, excitement and the kind of happy music that is drivingsome indesperation back to the simple, slaphappy sounds of Haley & His Comets.
The boys themselves bounced happily about the room and seemed totake as much delight in my reactions to theirsongs as the music itself.
"We've got to complete the mixes on the other side yet," said Steve,"but we're chuffed with what we've done so far. It really is something
new, isn't it?"know whetherotherpeoplewill see it the same

way and we felt that 'Tin Soldier' was much more
the kind of thing we wanted to do. It was reallythe enthusiasm of people likeAndrew and Tony,
Michael d'Abo and yourself which won us roundand we began to think, well maybe everyone
else will see it as a giggle too."
We talked of Martin Luther Kingand his tragic assassination. Ian feltthat it was a disaster, but maybe now peoplewere beginning to realise
what a good man he was.
"Violence, and particularly race -violence, is something I've always
detested," said Ian. "When those riots began not so longago at the
Chinese Embassy I rang up the Chinese Secretariat to try and reason
with him. All I got was this guyscreaming down the phone, 'British
imperialists are killing Chinese people.'"I am not a violent person myself. The onlytime I can reallyremember losing my temper was in Glasgow when we were being torn
to bits outside our hotel entrance by some fans and the doorman refused
to let us in. I walked straight through the plate glass door, shattering it inall directions."
Ian is not all/addict but wasvery impressed by the TVshowing recentlyof t he Tom Courtenay film The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner.
"That was the kind of film which explains the obstinacy of people likeourselves to bow before authority," said Ian. "Here was this guy in borstal,under almost the complete control of the governor, who had him trained
like some pet horse to win the race. The runner defies him by the only way
he is able to by coming in about 50 yards ahead and stopping to let theothers pass him. The most precious thingof all is freedom, and no-one
can make you their slave if you fight hard enough."Along with a lot of others, Ian is looking forward to hearingand seeing
The Comets and Bill Haley.
"Bring 'em all back," grins Steve. "Let's have TommySteeleand 'Singing
The Blues', and The Everly Brothers doing 'Wake Up Little Susie'. Sends
shivers down my spine, it does! At least theyknew how to have fun andenjoy their music."
So do the Small Faces! Keith Althorn
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 117

1968
JANUM

-OR

"Neat stop isCanada...
we're all homesick": The
11Whoin the US.1968--r)Roger Daltrey. Pete
Townshend, Keith Moon
and John Entwistle(

11.111111"11111:7;0RY OF ROCK

*8

"The Knglish
scene doesn't
comparewith

America"
Aggressive performances and thetaxman are taking their toll on. During a year of heavy
US touring, Pete Townshend andRoger Daltrey try to keep strong
links with home, and check in to
discuss LSD, San Franciscan vibes,"the race scene" and the difficulty
in procuring a Fair Isle sweater.
"Things do tend to get out ofperspective," Townshend admits.

1968
JANUARY

MARCH

NME

pETETOWNSHEND WRITES: "After our last visit to San
Francisco, just before the Monterey Pop Festival lastyear in the summer, we were all left with an impressionof really good social relations between the town's
straight and not -so -straight residents. They had thefriendliest police force, the country's best pop promoter-Bill Graham -aware audiences, good groups, I light-Ashbury,
Chinatown, and lots of other things to combine to give San Francisco
a great atmosphere. We felt at ease and happy there.
"Today things are different. At the airport we wereapproached byseveral young people- not hippies and not fans. They were asking for'spare change' and looked as if they needed some. Unfortunately we werecompletely broke and just had to explain to one guy why we didn't carry
any money, but it seemed he didn't really care. He certainly wasn't wellenough to open his eyes wide enough to know we were who we were.
"In Haight-Ashbury now this is a common occurrence. Lots of kids live
solelyby begging; for many, times are hard. If thesummer'sdropoutswant
to drop back in, they must drop in via Vietnam. The FillmoreAuditorium,
however, and its bigsister, Winterland, arevery much the same. The
audiences seem younger, but then the last time we played was the hippy
summer, with hippies of all ages coming from all over the States to SF.
"The audience there is always friendly and the sound is the best in theworld for rock'n'roll. Bill Graham, the man who runs both venues, has
installed over$35,000 worth of microphone system. It's fantastic and it
wouldn't happen in Britain. Nobody could make that much as easily as hecan. He's a brilliant man and works hard to make sure the shows he puts
on are the best in the States.
"Despite the general decline in atmosphere, SF is still the centre for theStates' hippies. There are rumours that many will spend this summer in
Vancouver, Canada. We hear that Vancouver isn't too pleased at thethought. Alt hough flower power wasn't condemned quite as smartly as it
was in England, it's dead now.
"If there's anything theAmerican man in the street hates, its happinessthat isn't paid for, or earned. Pop music in this area is as good as ever. We
realise that most English record buyers haven't cottoned on to West Coastgroups yet, but we think they soon will. Country Joe &The Fish are easily
the least contrived group from the USA, and there are countless numbersof equally refreshinggroupswith guitar frontlines that could break in
England. The Buffalo Springfield, the MobyGrape, TheAssociat ion are
all capable of consistent ly good records and personal appearances.
"Jimi I lendrix, the Cream, the Bee Gees,Traffic,The Nice, John Mayall(and ourselves) have all played successful shows on the West Coast. On
most ofour shows in SF we played alongsideCannonballAdderley andhis band. He was well received by the rock -hungry audience and so
encouraged, played brilliant sets. His pianist, JoeZawinul, was fantastic,
playing t he kind of music which comes from somewhere inside, possible
for anyone to like. Despite their talent for R&B, I don't think it could happen
outsideof a discotheque in England, but who knows until it's tried?
"In England our music came first. Here our music comes second,similar to the wayThe Move made it in England as guitar monsters! Our
albums are well liked here, though, and our singles sell well now. I'll behappy to see the day when some of the energy that goes into a Who 'finale'goes into something useful like quarryingordemolition."

NME MARCH 23-

pETETOWNSHEND WRITES: "After San Francisco we went
directly to Vancouver in Canada. The trip was made by coachand took three days. The bus, however, is one we hire ourselves

and is fitted with beds and all modern conveniences- like beer andScotch and comics and numerous back copies of Playboy to help us
while away the hours.

c daysIlseyamxl with beds
nvenStSVOCS-

sod comics
copies ofwhile

has been used by Phil Spector on
manyof his productions. Mostof the Righteous Brothers hits,'River Deep, Mountain High' andmuch earlyChiffons work is
recognisable for its deep,

resounding reverberation.

CALL ME LIGHTNIN"Jim Hilton is our engineer
there, and he's extremely helpful
C.IW
OR JEKYLL
and good-tempered. A lot has been
& MR HYDE
said about the different merits ofBritish and American studios, but
as we record more and more it becomes clear that a lot depends on theengineer. Glyn Johns, for example, who engineers Small Faces hits,
achieves a characteristic 'tight' sound wherever he works. The Bee Gees,
ourselves and many other groups are engineered by Damon [Lyon -Shaw]at IBC Studios.
"Our second recording project in LosAngeles was the recordingof asong called 'Little Billy'. This is a jingle, similar to 'Odorono' on our lastalbum. It is planned for use by theAmerican CancerSocietyon US radio
stations. The song dissuadesyoungsters from taking up smoking
Americans will heara lot of it because theAmerican government has
granted the society as much air time to dissuade people from smoking
cigarettes as there is time to persuade them to buy them. If it does well it
could be released on a future album or single.
"In order to amuse ourselves and get our 'boats' on celluloid into thebargain we decided to make a funny film. It was meant to be something
like the plug we did for 'Happy Jack', everyone playing robbers. We found
an old deserted warehouse in Hollywood and overcame resistance fromthe officiouswatchman by putting money in his hand. It looked very much
like the factory used in the closing scenes of The Iperess File. Subsequently;t'no we hirepsounding in theworld -like theGrand Canyon or something. It

TOWNSHEND WRITES FROMHOLLYWOOD

isco we .rent

ncouver in
Yas made by"Luckily heaven and Kit Lambert
IWho co -manager] intervened andarranged a week's press and recording
work in LosAngeles. We have lots offriends in LA and heard that theCream, Animals and Richie Havens
were playingat various nightspots intown. Unfortunately, we proved to be
so busy that there was little time to get
to see anyof t hem. We made vague
contact via friends. I did bump into Vic
Briggs ofTheAnimals at Richie's press
opening at the TroubadourClub (I was
too late to see Richie play). Keith also
bumped into him at the WhiskeyA Go
Go, but that's another story!
"When in Los Angeles we normally
stay at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel.
This time, owing to reduced finances(Decca Records were footing the bill),
we stayed somewhere more modest.
Lucky for Decca! Last time we stayed at
the Hilton the bill was $1,500 fora few
days. Pop goes the weasel!
"Our first job was to finish ourlatest
record, 'Call Me Lightning'. We
recorded a trial tape in England andfinished it in Gold Star recording
studios in Hollywood. They havean echo chamber there whichmust be the cleanest, deepest

They ha, An (.:tx, :timber thewwhit* must be the cleanest. deesx,4sound... an

Es._

r- -

.

u,c, the nid I rctihtEMI
cfrandel:cr, hang from the girdcred
eer:ing
Ocrp:re this it a. hornet,/
and iypicalty Hnaywond in carryway
A far cry fmm bathe%%wage .n the criunte)
Trark;', Lamm a!",sm do ertica ea

us Who(, and we were dMary. fb4%wheel 11A.c. AIWA. left

to go so!tt

--.11,"It seemedstrangto playsuch a small

place af ter theStates":The Who
at London'sM arquee Club.
A

our funny film turned out rather macabre. The
director was a brilliant young man who recently
madea much -praised short film for Jimi
Hendrix. He reallydeservesall the plugs he canget. Unfortunately I've forgotten his name.
"Next on the menu was Decca Records' press
reception for us at the lush, expensive, fabulous,
overwhelming Beverly Hills Hilton. Decca
never let us forget it.
"Next door to us was another absurd gettogether. A party of 'Shriners' were celebrat ing"It's become
clear that a lot
depends onril 2 .168

"The last thing we did in LA before we left for
Canada was to visit music's greatest fans, B
Mitchell Reed and Ed Mitchell, at their new

underground radio station, KROQ-FM in
Pasadena. We were amazed to find that thestudio really is underground- under a church,
in fact. The atmosphere in the studio was
fantastic, progressive pop, rock'n'roll and blues
pouringout over LA. John Cage records even!
B Mitchell wasn't expecting us, but all the same
he stopped the show to give us an airing.
"Unfortunately, LA's powerful police force isout to crush the hippy movement in that area.
They have already closed down manygreat clubs and there are rumoursthat one of the finest, WhiskeyAGo Go, is soon to go.
"Next stop is Canada. Thewhole of March and some ofApril has yet topass and we are all homesick." PeteTownshend

the engineer"something (theyare similar to England's
Freemasons) and were all wearing little red
turbans. As we walked through, one of them said, 'Keep America
beautiful -cut your hair.' We suggested America would benefit in beauty
if they took off their stupid hats. Oh dear. Trouble. Actually, after a few
hours t hey were very much like anyone else. Drunk.
"Our reception was a success. If only for the fact that all The Who
arrived! Our Stateside publicist Henry Rogers took us to the Factory. It
really is an amazing discotheque. It was, as the name implies, a factory.
It's huge inside, coveringover the size of an average British dancehall.
It still uses the old freight lift, and chandeliers hangfrom the girded
ceiling. Despite this it is homelyand typically Hollywood in every way.
Afar cry from Traffic's cottage in the country. Traffic's latest album
delighted all us Whos, and we were disappointed when Dave Mason left
to go solo. However, we just heard his latest release and, with any luck, it
will be a big hit for him.
"Traffic's new single also is a sensation. If it gets to the top five, I'll takebackeverything I said about England'syoung marrieds. Our roadmanager, Plum, must be their greatest fan, and spends most of his sparetime with their equipment man, Albert. A horrific pair!

MELODY MAKER

ATYPICAL WHO SOUND blasted in stereo from a battery of

speakers - screaming guitar, vocals, bass and drums. But
Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon were not
involved. The "group" was all Pete Townshend.
Pete's songwriting for The Who is a complicated business ofgetting
words down on tape with the aid of a guitar, then building up four- andeight -track recordings in the studio at his home in Victoria, London. Peteonce had a fabulous flat in Wardour Street, Soho, complete withrecordingequipment, drums, organ, guitars, mammoth hi-fi set up,
massive record collection and a giant rubber plant. Most of it has beentransferred to his new home, and it was there Pete played me a tape of .
HISTORY Of ROCK 1968 121

1968

AMR_MARCHa song called "Now I'm A Farmer", whicheven the rest ofThe Who hadn't heard. It isa song from Pete's project, the long-awaited
Townshend Opera, which he has beenworkingon in different forms, on and off,

fora couple of years. Heavycommitments
in America have held him up, and also Pete
was disappointed at the image of pop opera
created by Keith West's "Teenage Opera".
Pete, tall, angular and energetic, dressedin blue jeans, a dinner jacket and Fair Isle
pullover, ready for an open-air drink at his
local. "Ooh- Pete Townshend has got Paul
McCartney's pullover," sniffed Pete,loading himself up with tissue paper tohold a springcold in check. "I tried like madto get this. It was the only one in the shop,
but they wouldn't let me take it. When I got
home, there it was! My girlfriend hadbought it for me."In the pub he fought the usual battle forservice, then launched into an amazing
conversational marathon full of startlingideas and wild enthusiasm. How did heenjoyThe Who's first performance inEngland for many months at London's
Marquee Club last week?
"I enjoyed the Marquee very much. For
the first few minutes I was very scared thewhole thing was going to go wrong. But theaudiencewas lovely. Although
we have played there hundredsof times, it seemed strange toplay such a small place after
the States. In some places
50,000 turn out for us at hugestadiums. And they really turnout in those numbers for pop in

Canada andAmerica.
"Those flop tours over here
recentlywere a drag. I don't thinkthe 'names' were very wellbalanced. Last year's English
tours were great, and I really

Apri123,1968:at
kis flat inEbury

Stre.t.London.
Townshend
prepares for theevening s9'9thought weweregetting theyoung kids back into pop. At theMarquee, weweren't particularly
together because we hadn't actually played"I like writing
for The Who,but I can't dothat on tour"

since we got back from the States. We didn't do
any special act becausewe tried all those things
at the Saville last year and they always make me
feel uncomfortable.
"I smashed up two guitars at the end of theshow, because one I was using had recently
been repaired and broke as I came onstage, so
I played another one I use for recording. At theend I thought, 'What the hell,' and smashedthem both. Sure- I lost money, and the amps,
which were borrowed, will cost about £20 each to repair. The Gibson
Stereo cost £200.1can't put it down on tax because when I say I use 70
guitars a year, they don't believe me. They put it down as part exchange.
"We makea profit, but it is a disaster for us to go touringAmerica,
because we never make any bread. Ot her groups do, I suppose. We makeour money on recording. I enjoygoing to America very much. It's changing-for the better. The war has taken the stingout of theiraggressiveness.
"They're scared of war and they are beginning to respect t he viewsof the young because of their persistence. lust think- the billion dollars
a day spent by America on thewar in Vietnam would keep every
Vietnamese in two cars and a TV set.
"As for the race scene here... Jamaicans are such nice friendly people;
I'm sure the English don't really hate them as much as they insist they do.
The world is a melting pot and the sooner we are all a bronzed brown
colour the better. Half-castes are much better looking than pure-breds,
22 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

who are the most disgusting, despicablecharacters of all. Eventually race will be nonexistent, but by then the interplanetary races
will be comingover here and we'll get thewholething over again. Would you let yourdaughter
marry a Venusian? 'But mother, we're in love!''I don't care, I'm not lett ingyou marryone ofthose spons.'"
How are The Who changing, and what are
Pete's plans for the future? "I like writing for
The Who, but I can't do that when we're away
on long tours. The group sound is changingprobablygett ing more sophisticated. We're conscious nowof soundbalance, and we do playqu iet numbers. You can hear thevocals now,which you couldn't a couple of years ago.
"I'm working on an opera, which I did once before, and lam thinkingof
calling it 'TheAmazing Journey'. I've completed some of it, and I'd like to
put it on an I.P. The theme is about a deaf, dumb and blind boy who has
dreams and sees himself as the ruler of the cosmos.
"I'd like to call it 'Journey Into Space', but there might be problems
because of the old radio show. I love pop, and so much can be done
through a pop medium. Pop is today. I don't think about yesterday's pop-although to make a terrible admission, I like Cliff Richard and always
have done for years and years.
"Basically, I'm interested in the progression of pop, and I don't think it's
as excitingat the moment as it should be... And I'm not saying that
because we haven't got a record in the chart." Chris Welch

THE WHOMELODY MAKER JUNE15
IT LOOKS AS though we may be getting a fullPete Townshend opera as a Who LP. "Pete has
written most of it and it may run up to twohours," Roger Daltrey told the MM this week. "We
will probably do it on a complete album and it ismore than likely we might do live performances as well.
"Actually, Pete has been writing these operas for some time and a lot of
our hits have come from them. 'I'm A Boy' was from an opera he wrote
about living in the year 2000 when there is a machine that helps you selectthe sex of your baby. That song was about a woman who couldn't believethat the machine had made a mistake and she's got a boy instead of a girl.
'HappyJack' was from another opera he did. I don't think it will be ournext LP. We will probably have to get one out fairly quickly, and thatmeans it will be just a set of different songs. When we come back from ournext American tour wewill really get down to the opera thing."
But the main thingon The Who's collective mind at the moment is their
new single, another Townshend original, about a greyhound, called'Dogs'. "Why have we been so long between singles?" Roger echoed myquestion. "Mainly because we didn't haveanything worth recording. We've been touring
so much there hasn't been time to get it
together, and we feel it isn't worth doing a single
unless you have somethingworth releasing."
The group is off to the States fora new tour onlune 26 and seem to be looking forward to it.
"Last time there were tensions," agreed Roger.

been getting the adoration of the masses once again
and it has helped us to extend out life's work. A couple
ofyears ago, I didn't figurewe would last this longand I didn't think pop would last as longas it has.
"I hate Radio One, it's basically a 'light' musicstation, except on Sundays when it gets a bit moreinteresting. I'd sooner listen to the Home Service
with TheArchers- seriously. And the drama is gettingbetter. I really likeradio plays. They're much better than all that rubbish on Radio One."How does Pete feel about "Magic Bus"? "In the States everyone says itsounds like 'My Generat ion' and that we are reverting to our old style. But
we have just gone full circle, orlooped the loop. We like to play it onstage
because the rhythms are oneswe play well. It cheers us up and gives us akick in the pants. It's an old song, written at the time of'Generation', and it
was recorded by anAmerican group called The Pudding in 1966.1t flopped.
"I don't think we will get the legendary No 1 hit, though. We've never had
a proper No I hit in England.') Can See For Miles' was a potential No 1.
I hope 'Bus' will do very well, but I'm not really too bothered because westart workingon our next album soon and we are very keen and excited."
What are The Who's future plans? "Our biggest project will be the album,
apart from the single, of course. We start work on
September 22 and we'll have it out on September
24. Well, we want it out before Christmas. We'll"All drugs do"You have to tour for at least six weeks overthere. The first three weeks pays for fares and all
the expenses. The fourth week pays for yourbe doing the operatic thingwe have been talking
about forso long. We all likeworkingand we'regoing to do some universitydates during therecording period.
"We've also got another single in the bag thathasn't been written by the group. We've worked
so hard on the album and touring the States that
we have had to be less proud and do somebody
else's song. We did a 'live' album at the Fillmore,recorded by the same people, who did theCream. But it came out pretty badly. We're not as
good as them. We jump about too much, which people expect from us onstage, and you can't play so well trying to be windmills."
The conversation moved onto thecontinually agonisingsubject ofdrugs, which has now moved out of the realms of glib talk about
expanding minds and into the realities of 11 -year -olds turningon.
"Among most of my friends there is a strong movement against drugs of
all types. There is a guycalled DrAlan Cohen who lectures at theArts Lab
and could explain it better than me. He is against drugs, not only for thephysical reasons but because theyare an impediment to spiritualadvancement. Human beings
have the highest consciousness
in the universe and some drugs
x
can give extra enlightenment.
But the person who takes LSD
everyday for six months forentertainment is reallyis strengthen
the illusion ofwhat you see"road managers, the fifth pays for your manager.
The sixth is profit for us. In our sixth week
Martin Luther King got shot. There was no
business, and we came back with nothing.
"And please don't think we've forgotten about Britain. We all love
working here, but what is the point with the taxwe pay? It's stupid. We pay
18s 3d in the pound, so it's hardly worth working. At the moment weare
doing two gigs a week, mainly at universities."
Roger doesn't agree that, musically, it's all happening in the States now.
"The Mothers Of Invention and MobyGrape are marvellous," he said. "Butthe rest area lot of rubbish. It's time somebody told the truth about theAmerican scene. Really, most of theirgroups really don't know where it's
at. Their material is good. They have this environment which seems great
for writing songs. But thegroups themselves are nothingon stage. Part of
the trouble maybe that people don't take groupsseriously over there.
"We naturally want to keep moving. Like our stage act -we've been
doing roughly the same act for a year now. It's so tight; it's fantastic forpeople to watch. But wewant to change it becausewe want to dosomething different." Bob &wham
MELODY MAKER SEPTEMBER 21-

TII E STATES ARE where The Who now have their biggest hits,

most fan fever, and excitement. Pete Townshend, Keith Moon,
Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle flew back last week for aholiday before offering their wares to the home market. "Magic Bus",due for release on September 27, is an exciting reversal to The Who's
old sound, although Pete prefers to call it a completion of full circle.
There is a heavy Bo Diddley beat, some screaming guitars, andinsistent, chantingchorus. Simple but tremendouslyeffective, and highin theAmerican Hot 100. But how far will the "Bus" ride as newgroups
and a newgenerat ion of fans move in? Over lunch, Pete talked -as lucidly
and as honestly as ever- about the group, TV, radio, America, and theperennial topic of drugs.
"The English scene for us, unfortunately, doesn't compare with
America. I don't think our old fans will care for that statement and new
pop fans won't care at all. But the States offers us more money, fans andexcitement. When The Who started off here the business was much more
exciting, there were more good TV shows and radio was better. Pop wasa new, exciting industry.
"For us, reaching a stage of planingoff, just getting No 9 records, andinterviews on BBC2, the States becomes a more exciting place. We've

avoiding the gift of LSD.
"The best way to enjoy life isby not beingselfish and justsaying, 'I'm Pete, I want to get
the most out of life.' You should
enjoy it by sel flessness anddoing your job properly a nd
giving benefit to other people.
Before I took LSD I tried toimagine what it would be like,
and when I did it was as bigas I
expected and blew my head off.
"So if I could imagine what it
would be like, what is the pointof taking it?All drugs do isstrengthen the illusion of what
you see around you. If you see
a piece of orange peel lyingon
the pavement, it's stupid to try
and see it as anythingotherthan a piece of orange peel.
Things do tend to get out ofperspective." Chris Welch

Bus rideback toPop 30for Whononthen

THE STATES are MICR the Whohibk owns ha !Woe, aft! exemement
bingosPete
Tonavong,
K.J
Nook Ramer Dalt..

"We playwhat weWho is the real
voice of the blues?
A new London band,

FLEETWOOD MAC, may

like"have some answers.

Their leader Peter
Green is no purist, butwalks it like he talks it.
"If I was playing what
Cream are playing,"
he says, " I wouldn't
call it blues..."24 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

MELODY MAKER MARCH 16
AMONG BRITAIN'S YOUNG
blues fans, Eric Clapton
was once hailed as a god.

then discarded when
he left John Mayall's
Bluesbrea kers for theCream. Taking his place in their affections
was Peter Green, a21 -year -old from Bethnal
Green, hailed as the true voice of the blues

guitar and symbol of dedication.
Peter left Mayall to form his own group, theFleetwood Mac, and it may come as somethingof a shock to his fans to learn that he is not araving blues purist and started life as a rocker.
"The group has been very successful since
we formed it last August. There is a big interestin blues in Britain, although not what I callreal blues, more progressive stuff from Jimi
Hendrix and the Crea m. But it's definitely
spreading. There are only two places in thewhole country where we don't go down a couple of dead universities.""John Mayall has been the spearhead inreviving interest in blues. He's really done
a lot for it. I've been playing blues guitar for
about three years, and before that I was playing
bass. When I left John, I didn't want to forma group. I wanted to go to Chicago, but it wasdifficult to be sure of being safe and I ended
up dropping the idea. I was happy doing
nothing, but MikeVernon said, "Why not?"and he talked me into it."Peter has been featuring rock'n'roll a lot in his
act. What did he think of the current revival?
"I'm a bit chocked about it. I hope people don't
think we're doing it because of the revival! .

PotrGroon.telloso
rnulationolBBI(ingco ..... tntronglywitti

floElmoroJrn tyloaide puitm of b.ndrn.t
Jeremy Spence,

IS',

POCK

8

25

I was first interested in rock'n'roll and Bill Haley when I was 10 years old.
It has a big place in my musical heritage. I had a picture of Haley on my
bedroom wall. We're all big rock fans in the group. We started out doing'At The Hop' as a joke, then we did 'Ready, Teddy' and 'Lucille' and wereally enjoyed them.
"A lot of so-called blues purists are against us doing it, but I don't carewhat they th ink. We play what we like -we're not just playing for purists.
I'm not a blues purist. I don't know every record ever made, or their
numbers, and I'm not interested in talking about the blues all night. I justplay blues- and rock'n'roll." Chris Welch

NME MARCH 23

FORA GROUP challenging John Mayall's dominance of theblues LP market, Fleetwood Mac are full of surprises. They
thumb their noses at the blues purist; admit frankly that what
they seek is commercial success; and to those who scoff and accuse
them of copying the irreplaceable American blues maestros theyanswer openly, "Sure we do. And why not?"But like most British bluesmen, the four Macs are decided anti -stars
who, in thewords of their handouts, dress for comfort rather than effect.
Take the group's soft-spoken 19 -year -old guitarist Jeremy Spencer (andI use the word "take" figuratively, because there are certain places you
couldn't take him. The Savoy and the Ritz, for instance!)
However, in the Soho coffee bar wherewe met, he blended well with thesurroundings. The midget -sized Jerry-5ft 4in in his socks -was sittingon
a stool, munchingsardine-and-cucumber rolls and waiting for fellow
Mac guitarist PeterGreen, who never did arrive.
Jerry'schoice is clothing forcomfort rather than effect: white
plimsolls, blue denim jeans, a cord Levi's jacket and a black
FLEETWOOD MAC
duffel coat. To add to the image, Jerry rolls his own cigarettes ,and has a mop of black curly hair that doesn't know whereA,
to draw the line, spillingas it does down the sides of his
face and meeting haphazardly under his chin in an
undecided beard.
So much for appearance; now for the facts. Fleetwood
Mac, fort he uninitiated, are four highlytalented blues

Air

57-3145
SAD A

They want to start analysing the music and takeINS
it to pieces. Younggirls and young audiences aremusicians whose first LP, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, ismore open-minded, less analytical."doingvery nicely in the NMEalbum chart. Individually
What about allegations from the puristswho
theyare: Peter Green, lead guitarist from East Putney, whoclaim that British blues will always be a weak copy
AL BATROSS
replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Despite
ofAmerican blues. "People may say we copy. They
the title of the LP, hewould like it known that the name of thesay I copy Elmore James. I agree, but whyshouldn't I? He
group is simply Fleetwood Mac. Peter, says Jerry, is a down-to-earth
to me is the greatest. I've got every record he ever made attype, plays guitar with no frills, is the leader of the group, is heavily
home. Sure wecopy the style, but we think we add something to it."influenced by BB Kingand can make a guitar sing.
I noticed he was wearinga badge on his lapel proclaiming"Believe I'll
Bass guitarist John McVie, also a former Bluesbreaker, is from Ealing
Dust My Blues", which Elmore James fans will know is a line from one ofhis songs.
and, says Jerry, is the Bill Wyman type and likes wine, women and song.
On drums is another former Bluesbreaker, Mick Fleetwood, the giant ofBecause of the differing styles of their lead guitarists- Peter with his BB
the group at 6ft 4in tall. He comes from Salisbury, lives on the Edgware
King leanings and Jerry with his Elmore James influences- the Mac areRoad and is very tall and very funny. Finally, there's Jerry himself, whoable to offer a varied act onstage. It seemed puzzling to me, however, thatplays "bottleneck" guitar after the style of his idol, the late Elmore James,
two guitarists of such conflictingstyles should have come together in thealthough he states that the piano is really his instrument.
same group, particularlyas Jerry said that often when Peter is playinghe
Though it seems they have been around much longer, Fleetwood Mac
stands down and viceversa when Jerry is doing his style. "We just got
was formed only last August and played their first date at the Windsor
together because we both admired each other's style," he explained.
Festival. Since then they have accumulated a large and loyal following"When we started out we wanted to play more sort of down-to-earth
from dates all over the country. Besides the blues, the group's stage act
blues and also sweet melodic blues. We didn't want to play to a brick wall."also includes a generous sprinklingofrock'n'roll (a group feature long
I interpreted the last remark as meaningthat they wanted chart
before the rock revival) and Jerry also throws in some hilarious
success. "Yes, that's right," said Jerry. "That is what we hoped would come
impressions of, amongothers, Cliff Richard, Elvis, Alexis Korner andalong." The group's manager, Clifford Davis, offered the news that the LP
sundry other stereotype characters.
was rising higher in the charts and that it was even outselling Bob Dylan's"Rock'n'roll isn't far from the blues," says Jerry, "and vice versa- theJohn Wesley Harding.
blues isn't far from rock." Probably they like theiraudiences to stand and"Outselling Dylan!" exclaimed Jerry in surprise. And he fell into silence
listen to them, I asked. "No," says Jerry,
to contemplate the thought, muttering, "No, no.""we like them to listen to the slow ones
Singles success has so far eluded the group, because they have put only
but to have a rave to the fast ones."
one release out, t heir version of the Elmore James classic "Believe My
Then probably they resent pop fans in
TimeAin't Long".
an audience. "People who like us are the"Did you read the reviews it got in?" he asked. I answered,younggirls who may not know the firstnaturally, that I read nothingother than the NME (a lie, of course). "It was
t h ing about the blues -we have gone
ridiculous," Jerrycontinued undaunted. "Theystarted taking it to pieces
down well with crowds where Johnand analysing it. Now your paper and some others had good reviews.
Mayall would have died. We don't like
They accepted it as just another record for the pop market, which it was."the purist element, who won't take
Clifford Davis interposed and suggested that the group had the appeal
music for what it is worth, its face value.
of an early RollingStones. I asked Jerry if he agreed. He said he did fromrare L4L,

FLEETWOOD MAC

the point ofview of image."We do have a'couldn't care less' attitude on stage and we joke
around with the audience a lot. We are very
casual and there is more contact with the crowd.
But if we did get big we would stay as we are. I am
sure if the Stones had stuck to what theywere
doing they would be much bigger now."
A new single from the group is due out on
March 29. Tit led "Black Magic Woman", it was
written by PeterGreen. Jerry describes it ascommercialised blues. "It won't be a hit," said
the ever honest Jerry.
"I think it will because of the large number offans who are buying the album," countered Clifford.
"No it won't," Jerry retorted. The issue descended into a good-natured

better to play to girls because they are notworried ifyou are going to play fast or slow orwhether there is goingto be a drum solo or abass solo. I think that girls are more emotional."
Emotion is an important factor in listening
to, and playing, blues, thinks Peter. "Blues areblues. It doesn't matter if it's by Duster Bennett
or BB King, it'semotional," he says. "Ifsomeone
is singinga sad blues and it doesn't get through,forget it. But that's in the case ofslow blues, andyou can't play slow blues all night or theaudience will go to sleep. We usually play one
fast one and then one slow one, because this iswhat the band wants to do. We don't want theaudience to just sit and listen."
A few weeks ago Long John Baldry accused
British blues bands of being boring. Long John's
opinion was not met with sympathy by Peter.
"Anyway, Long John Baldry, in my eyes, is nota blues singer but a jazz singer. I've never heard
him tell his story in anythinghe has sung, andas far as l am concerned he's no blues singer,"comments Peter.
Turning to other bands on the blues scene,Petersays, "Most of them are lifting straightfrom Americans. There are three groups andsingers who knock me out. Duster Bennett is
one -he is great. He makes up his songs as hegoes along. He may take someone else's songand the first couple of lines maybe from theThree former Blusbrttak.rs
andanex-member of The
original version, but the rest is all his.
Le.,i Set: Fleetwood Mac"In the past I've sungother people's songs,"(I-r)MickFleetwood.Peteradmits Peter, "but now I singall my own songs
Groon.JeremySpencerand
JohnMcVie-onJunot7.1968
on stage and the next album will heal! our own
songs. I used to playa lot of BB King numbers
and people said that I sounded just like him.
I thinkheistheone I sound most like."
Who were the other musicians that Peter
rated? "Danny Kirwan," replies Peter. "He isreally good, and Danny plays all his own
material. The only otherguitarist I like is John
Moreshead with 'Aynsley Dunbar'."Another point which PeterGreen feels strongly
about is the definition of what is blues and what
is not blues. "If I was playing what theCream or
Jim i Hendrix are playing, l wouldn't call it
blues," says Peter. "There is such a sick thing
about what is blues and there's all this talk aboutprogressive blues. The blues, really, is having the blues. It is something
you have and if you haven't got the blues about anything, you cannot playor sing blues, forget it. Some people think that it is just a way of playing
guitar, but it isn't."
One of the first requirements fora good blues singer, says Peter, issensitivity. "You've got to be sensitive like Duster Bennett, who singsabout worldly things, but most blues are about women. About nine out
often blues are about women and not about being black."
Had Peter noticed any changes in his style of playingsince he firststarted? "Well, I've always played what I played on the Hard Road
album with Mayall and what I playon myown LP. It's me," replies Peter.
"I've become a lot more competent and I'm playing with less notes toexpress myself now, although I have an occasional night when I have tohave a rave."
TheAmerican black man gave the world of music the blues as a musicalform. Would Peter like to play to an all -black audience?
"I would like to," says
Peter, "but at the moment
it's so violent there, youhave to be known anyway.
We will be playing in New
York and Detroit and I
hope there that theaudiences will be mixed.'
1,,t,
NMI pea.* lo"If you haven't
got the blues,
you can't playor sing blues"

argument.
With the matter still unresolved, Jerryadded,1 didn't play on it, you
know!" I stood back and waited for revelations of session men andghosting. But the explanation was more simple.
"Peter wrote it and it is in his style, not mine. But the other side is mine,another Elmore James thing. 'The Sun is Shining', I play on that. But you
should hear the one we have planned to follow that. It is something like
Buddy Hollyor Tom my Roe. "It's got a sort of 'Sheila' beat about it."As I said, Fleetwood Mac are full ofsurprises. Nick Logan

MELODY MAKER JUNE 29
CC-

E WANT PEOPLE to have a good time," says Peter

Green, leader of the Fleetwood Mac, whose album,
Fleetwood Mac on the specialist Blues Horizon label,is currently doing well in the album chart. "That's why we play a few
rock'n'roll numbers. It would be nice if everybody let themselves go-but they don't," adds Peter, who with the group flew off to their first
United States tour last week. Peter was having a dig at the more
dedicated blues fans who stand and listen with all the solemnity ofa funeral gathering.
Warming to the subject, Peter says, "We don't care about fans. We careabout people and we want to make them laugh and cry. In fact we find it

E

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1968

MUM -MARCH
properly you can't fail to beaffected by him. This is his first LP.
It really upsets me - people only
listen to recipes and telephone
calls on the radio and the music islike the ultimate in wallpaper.
Incredible String Band
rdauLlug Dux (ELEKTRA)
Socitimbert8.1968:Radio
OnaDiJohnPeol.scourgeof"mediocreshowbutine.
performers".atNew
Zealand House in London

after beingnamedBritain's
top DJ inaMelodyfrfakerpoll

More Elektra, I know this again. I
just hope everybody goes to theirconcert at the Royal Festival Hall.
Plug! I really think the Incredible
String Band will run the world ina year's time. Things they do are
perfect. No weaknesses andtotally original in everything theydo. Their sound is so intricate anddelicate, like an exquisite tapestry.
Dr West's Medicine Show & Junk
Band

MARCH 30. John Peel reviews the singles, among otherthings. "I was supposed to meet Tollcien the other day..."SINGLES
Fleetwood Mac Black Magic(BLUE HORIZON)

Have you got any Tyrannosaurus
Rex records? You can take thatoff - I know it by heart! Everything
Blue Horizon do is good. I'm gladPeter Green's LP is doing welland it's great to release a single,
because it gives me theopportunity to play him, but sales -a Noel Coward

wise it won't mean much. Peter
has one of the best five groups inthe country, along with The Nice,
Pink Floyd and John Mayall.
They're very human on stage andtheir music is very exciting. They
were doing rock'n'roll before
the revival, which I think is a bitof a drag, incidentally. You can't
recapture an era. When The New
Vaudeville Band did "Winchester
Cathedral", nobody started

revival. I was
so choked anddisillusionedby the Beatles
record; I could
live without
hearing it again,
whereas I haveto hear 'Walrus'

regularly otherwise
I have withdrawal pains.

-Irr,L_EKTRA)

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An Elektra record that'll be good. Anothersong I know by heart. Tim
Buckley -a work of art.
Very sad people don't
hear records like this. If
you listen to Tim Buckley

IRA 1,6 (PAGE ONE)Oh, I know this one too, Dr West's
Medicine Show & Junk Band.
I was the first person in the world
to play their hit "The Egg Plant
That Ate Chicago" when I wasworking in California. They cameout to see me all dressed likemagicians and driving RollsRoyces. They're incredibly nicepeople, and we just drove aroundfor two days. I like this because I
like them, but nobody will buy it.
They take amateur musicianshipto its logical conclusion. They
play anything they findlying around. No not like the Bonzos,
because they
are on anotherplanet. I used
to rig thechart like hellin California
and get theirrecords in.
CaptainBeefheart was
up at No 4 when
he had sold notvery many records.

Roger Whittaker(COLUMBIA)

Oh, take it off, it's Rex Harrison,or somebody trying to soundlike him. That's awful, take it
off! That's just a job, he's not
involved in what he's doing. I firstheard this by Sammy Davis Jr,
who's so uncool. I thought atfirst, "What a nice idea,
talking to the animals."
But really, the way thesemediocre showbusinessperformers are lionised.
Did you see Tessie
O'Shea on The Eamonn
Andrews Show? It
would be good to havecommunication withthe animals, though;I could go home to my"Simplified,unelectric"
le verdict on John We,
Harding: "Dylan's voice has changed."

MM FEBRUARY 3

BOB DYLAN MADE his firstpublic appearance since
his motorcycle smash in
August 1966 at the Woody

Guthrie memorial concert

new hamster. Biscuit, and say,"What sort of day did you have?"

I'm terrified Walt Disney orsomeone will get hold of Lord
Of The Rings. I was supposed
to meet Tolkien at a reception
the other day. but I was thrownout. I'm sure there are elves about- but not in Kilburn.
Roy Harper Lile twes by (CBS)Take it off. That's Roy Harper.
I don't like it as much as the otherthings he's done, although I
suppose it's more commercial.
People keep saying he's England's
Bob Dylan, which is a dragbecause he's England's Roy
Harper. There are some beautiful
things on his LP. He must have had
a hang-up life because it comesout in his music. There are somevery bizarre things in his songs.
He empties himself in front of you.
I'd sooner see him in the chart
than the turgid people who seemto have suffered pre -natal death.

Procol Hann Quite Rightly So(REGAL ZONOPHONE)

This is Procol Harum. I haven't
heard this one. You can take it off.
Everyone will say it's not similar tothe others and be too afraid to saythat it is. It is. I like it, but it won't
do as well as "Homburg", which
didn't do as well as "A Whiter
Shade Of Pale'', which isa shame.
When I met them, they were
definitely stars,
which is sadbecause the fellow
can write somesurrealist words
and the guitarist isgood. I'm always
very suspiciousof groups thatsuddenly arrivewith a bang and all

dynamic promotion
people. The quicker

they come, the quicker theygo. It's better to sweat it out
for a few years and have10.000
kids behind you rather than one
dynamic promotion man. Look at
The Beatles. They went throughsome really gross times, and they
have made their mark, I think you
could say.

Harper's Bizarre

liwii uo[itiWARNER BROS)

You've got me here. The voices
sound as if they have been
speeded up. Nice start, butthey are a bit like an American
Herman's Hermits - a bit twee.
Not exciting enough to have lastthoughts on. I hate to put records
down, but that's a bit bland.
Leonard Cohen(CBS)

Oh wow, this is Leonard Cohen.
This is so beautiful. I must listen.
The world should be flooded with
this, so we could all float away.
This fills you up with summer.
Leonard Cohen is a poet. It's sogood that he can sing as well a very spare and simple voice.
No embellishments. All poets
should record. I see Tolkien has
an LP of things from Lord Of The
Rings with music by Donald
Swann. It's good because it's
crossing the barriers - like
Donovan. You can buy a person
in a cellophane packet and they
live for you on the turntable.

last week. It was in the samemonth as his accident that CBS
issued his last album, Blonde On
Blonde, in Britain. Since the issueof that album- nothing. We were
reminded of former efforts with
Bob Dylan's Golden Hits but
nothing new has been issued.
This month sees the release of
his first LP since 1966. Tit led John
Wesley Harding, it has been out in
America for about a month but acopy found its way
to the MMoffices.
The title track
opens Side 1 and isan outlaw balladvery much in the
folkvein, as is thesecond number,"The Wicked Messenger" hasmuch more of the deep imagery
and mea ning of the Bringing It All
Back Home era, but the last two
tracks are particularly interesting.
"Down Along The Cove" isastraight 12 -bar blues and "I'll Be
Your Baby Ton ight", with steel-

guita r backing, is definitely
country& western in flavour.
Dylan's voice has changed. Gone
are the rough edges, replaced bya slightly strained but smoothervocal sound, possibly a result of
his accident, but still recognisable
as Dylan. It seems that he has
backtracked and the record,

BOB DYLAN
JOHN WESLEY HARDWG"As I Went Out

One Morning",

although drums
and bass prevent
them sl iding backinto the folk bag
completely. "1
Dreamed I Saw St
Augustine", "AllAlong The Watch
Tower" and "TheBallad Of Frankie
Lee And ludas
Priest" are more
like the pre -crash
Dylan of two or three years ago,
with the lyrics becoming
somewhat more complex.
"Ballad" has the familiar Dylan

spoken narrative. "Drifter's
Escape", the story of a hobo's getaway during what seems to be an
act of God, namely a thunderbolt
of sorts, is clever storytelling.
The second side opens with"Dear Landlord" with a strong
beat backing and a hint of blues
carrying the song along. "I Am
A Lonesome Hobo" is quieter
and early Dylan in feeling.
"I Pity The Poor Immigrant",
with half its tune taken from thetraditional British song "ComeAll Ye Tra mps And Hawkers",
completes a set of three songs thatcomment on human situations
and social predicaments.

despite its
new songs, isan appraisal ofwhat he has written in the past
applied to what he is writing now.
The new Dylan album isinteresting and intriguing, but
because of the variety of songty pes and styles, gives no definite
indication as to where he may gonext - if he does go anywhere.
The beat -group backing is
replaced by a simple bass -a nddrums rhythm section withoccasional addition of a second
guita r and harmonica playing.
The new Dylan is simplified,unelectric and still one of the best
songwriters of the decade.
Dylan's album will be releasedby CBS in Britain on February 23.
Tony Wilson
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 129

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Readers' letters

MM JAN -MAR laves and rants about... Jinn nendrix, John Peel and The Beatles.
VICTORIA CROSS

Thanks to the disastrous Who Small Faces -Paul Jones tour,
I don't think there is anyone left
in Australia willing to promotea showwith British acts. Just how
masochistic is British pop?
ED NIMMERVOLL, Mordialloc,

Victoria, Australia (MM Feb 17)

Who leader PETE TOWNSHEND

writes:IfAustralia thinks
it's gettingoff that easily it's
wrong. More, yes many more,masochistic, unwashed English
beetroots are on theway to namebut one. Air hostesses and anyone
that knows all the verses of"Waltzing Matilda" had betterhold their noses.
Before we know it, we'll be backunpretentious artists who givethe public what theywant.
MISS LIN SHOREY, St John's,Worcester (MM Feb 24)

PET SOUNDS OFF

WHAT on earth is Petula Clark
talking about (mmJanuary 6)f
Jimi I lendrix a hoax? Rubbish!
Jimi isn't aiming at the over -30
age group, but just ask some kids
who have been to his shows. No,
Petula, Jimi isn't foryou- but for
teenagers he is the most exciting
act in the country.
M HAMM, Yeovil, Somerset(MMJan 20)

a "hoax" were timely. But saying,"If he can get away with it, goodluck to him," is most irresponsible,
as it reveals an attitude all too
prevalent on the pop scene today,
which is responsible for many"hoaxes" perpetrated on the longsuffering pop fan.
I lendrix has been comparedwith the Cream, but really there isno comparison, for the Cream are

talented musicians, songwritersand singers who really areprogressive. If more people likePet would speak up, I'm sureuntalented people would bedeterred from inflicting
themselves on the pop scene.
CHARLES BRUCE, East Kilbride,
Glasgow (MM Jan 20)

in the land of opportunityand

FABS FUCK FURORE

Foster's lovely lager. No thanks to
the humiliation we went throughlast time. In fact, the promoters
have already asked us back. In
fact, the Prime Minister himself.
In fact, the whole police force of
NewZealand would be glad to see
us again! Yes? In NewZealandevery policeman is your drinking
partner. In Australia every hostessis partly drinking.
There, there Australia. If we canbind our wounds, you can bindyours. See you soon. (MM March 2)

The biggest disappointmentof 1967 was certainlyThe Beatles

DJ APPEALS AND APPALS
If Martin Brooks (MMFebruary10) thinks DJs are repetitious, whypick on John Peel when Jimmy
Young says nothing but, "Hello,
who's that I'm speaking to?" Peelmust be the most original DJ and
if it wasn't for him we would hear
very few nice records byChicken
Shack and Fleetwood Mac.
PAT LEE, London, N7 (MM Fels 24)

I'm sick of hearing John Peel andother DJs making derogatory

remarks about pop and themusical taste of the British people.
It's time they realised theiropinions are in the minority, andthey shouldn't resort to downrightrudeness to try and proveotherwise. Pop fans preferdiscs
with a good rock'n'roll beat or thesentimental appeal of big ballads.
There's no such a thing as"progressive" music -it's just aterm used by inverted snobs whowant to think themselvesway
ahead of the "common herd". Solong liveAmen Corner, Dave Dee,
Tremeloes, Engelbert and all the

Magical Mystery Tour. After the

publicity build-up, The Beatles
proved they cannot write, director edit their own films. They aremasters of songwrit ing andrecord producing, but should
leave film production to experts.

Although the appalling Petula
Clark !above! nauseates me inhercondemnat ion of Hend rix,
1 realise she is entitled to her own

opinions, however misguided
they maybe. However, I object toher reference to the "generalpublic", not liking Hendrix. The"general public" she refers to are
the over -30 record buyers. It is bypandering to this audience that
Petula and her cohorts, Engelbert
Humperdinck and Des O'Connor,
earn a steady income.
Jim! is a genuine musician who
appeals to teenagers who don't
buy so many records nowadays.

BAVIN COOK. Style Film
Productions. Bexleyheath. Kent

BRIT PARADE
Reader Tony North(Mailbag, December
23) is too hard on
the English groups. While notarguing the excellence of Loveand Doors, there are manyequally good groups here, likethe Pink Floyd, Family, Soft
Machine, Nice, Blossom Toes
and Tyrannosaurus Rex, to namebut a few. Theymay not have theprofessional sound ofAmericangroups, but are still worth a listen.
IA TAYLOR, Sa nderstead, Surrey(MMJan 6)

ERIC CRIMMINS, C ley** Avenue,

HAVE A 'G', PLEASE, BOB
WI IY is the spellingon the new
Bob Dylan album/Win Wesley
Harding? I n fact, it should be"Hardin'" without a G. He was a
Texas gunfighter who killed his
first man in his early teens. He is
reputed to have killed over 40 men.
Aftera long term in prison he wasshot in the back of the head while
playing dice with a bartender.

Viva Petula Clark. At last someone
in the pop world has the audacity
to express their true feelings
about Jimi Hendrix, kingof thisnewweird "music". I have seen
both artists and there is no doubt
in my mind who is better.
JOHN AUTREY, Ealing, London(MMJan 20)

Petula Clark's comments
regarding Jimi Hendrix being

am. 1.4 Iwo IN IN 1101101lii'Me ,,a,NOS NI IIWNIIME

Ulla 11E11

PA i STO IyilrGiltrtrors(MM Jan 6)

Because of this we have to put up
with Petula Clark shows on TV.
But that's the way it goes folks.
London (MM Jan 20)_Sew..1111.,.

460/

e Da z\--j.9 CI
LDECCAJ HARBY,Sleaford,Lincs(MMFebto)

A CBSspokesmars says:The Texas
outlaw had no final G to his name,but Bob Dylan decided to put oneon.
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 131

7S,11111 Mtn

1968

k

APR

BOB DYLAN, THE CREAM,
THE BEATLES, ARETHAFRANKLIN & MORE

$AVINOlt wire roue

renew,

Grmany.

50mber19611 Ent*,

PnthY,..nPParanc
nth The Incred.ble StrungBand tthRer.1 Fettival
Halland sole at end en's
Speakeasy and Middle
Earthhave gene d

32

HISTORY OF ROC[ 1968

II

"You have tobe open..."MELODY MAKER APRIL 13

Introducing... i im Buckley. In the
UK via LA, the Mothers and Elektra.
"I'm constantly writing," he says.
"The main thing is the music."
Tom BUCKLEY IS slightly built, and a mass

f brown curls wreathe his head. He is aquiet, rather serious person but is quick tosmile when something appeals to his sense of
humour. At 21 he is one of the best of thecontemporary singer -songwriters to emerge inrecent years, as his two albums, Tim Buckley
and Goodbye And Hello prove. Call him a poetand he denies being such. "Poetry is poetry
and songs are songs," says Tim, currently on
tour in Britain. "I know poets who write things
I could never write. I'm originally from New
York, then my folks moved to the West Coast
because all the work was there."
Tim started his musical career playing
country music, teaching himself first banjo,
then guitar. "I learnt to play fora country band,"says Tim. "I played with them for a couple ofyears, then I started getting into myown thing."
Tim first came to light when he was working
clubs with Larry Beckett, whose poetry he set tomusic, and bass player Jim Fielder. At a clubcalled It's Boss he met Mothers of Invention
drummer Jim Black, who introduced him to theMothers' manager, Herb Cohen. Herb booked
Tim into NewYork's Night Owl cafe, and there he
was heard by Elektra Records chief Jac Holzman
in August 1966, and two months laterTim's firstalbum was released. Critics acclaimed it, andfrom thereon in Tim began to work the big clubs

and festivals throughout America.
It was while appearingat the CafeAu Go Go in
Greenwich Village that the late Brian Epsteinwent to hearTim on the recommendation of
BeatleGeorge Harrison.
In June 1967, Buckley cut his second Elektra
album, Goodbye And Hello, from which a single,"Wings", has just been released in Britain.
Though Tim denies beinga poet, there is a poetic
feeling about his songs.
He points to no particular influences, saying,"I listen to what other people are doing, but .
HIST

.4,

1S1111r-ebeI

1"C

1968
APRIL-

JUNE.40

Careful with that ace:
the Pink Floydgofrom

four-pioco to fivopiocoand back tof our again(from loft, Rick Wright.
David Gilmour, Roger
Wators,Nick Mason)

I have never been a chameleon.
Of cou rse you learn from otherwriters and you learn fromeverything around you. I don't
learn anything from pop -I'm notsaying that to be careful, I mean it.
One person I have learned from is
Eric Clapton. We just sat andplayed guitar together.
"But t here is a vast difference
between what happens on stage
and on an album. Some people
have more time to sit and write.
It depends on how much time
I have. I write on stage. If you areplaying three sets a night for three
weeks, then you have to have newthings. A different city suggests
different ideas. But you have tobe open or you don't reallycommunicate with people. You
have to keep up with people inorder to communicate."
Has Tim's music changed much?

eal

piMltfloyd

iT WOULD SI SO NV= JUILSA UMWr\;"It's not for me to judge," he replies.
"I'm living too close to it. It's atransition. I have to be ruthlessand say what is happening. I'm notsentimental over old songs. I'mconstantly writing. The mainthing is the music."
Tim was worried at the start ofhis visit as to what he should sing
and what the reaction would be.
Judging by his appearance on the
recent Incredible String Bandconcert at the Royal Festival Hall
and London's Speakeasy club, it
has been good.

"I'm writing things now thatare unbelievably simple, very
commonplace. I guess you would
call them cliches, but they arecliches to the point of how you
say them," he says.

Tim Buckley is concerned
only with his music. He dresses
casually, simply. Perhaps thestory he related about his
appearance on the Monkees
show sums it up. He had been

writingwith Monkee Mike
Nesmith in Texas before Mike
had become a Monkee.
"They asked me to sing on theshow. I went along and there
was Mike in his mohairsuit, andI turned up in workingshirt andtrousers. Mike said, 'Hey, you're
still wearing the same old clothes.'
I replied, 'Yes, and I'm still singing
myown songs.'" Tony Wilson`Don't callme a poet'says Tim
Buckley"A whole scene has gone"
MM MAY18

nus Syd, thn Pink Floyd propneP

grill nturmis way PhP9r1

FIFTEEN MONTHS AGO, the Pink Floyd,"A whole scene has gone," continues Roger
with their own avant-garde electronic music
Waters, who plays bass. "Light shows have goneand somewhat less sophisticated light show,
well out of fashion, but if people still like them there
heralded the short-lived cra of love -ins, be -ins andmust be something in it."cash -ins. Today, with two reasonably successful
The Pink Floyd are innovators and they haverecords,"Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play'',ideas that go beyond the normal acceptedbehind them and their new single,"It Would Be So
boundaries set by the economics of the pop world.
Nice", out now, the Floyd are working harder than
They are very much concerned with the visual
they have ever done. But the singles market is one
aspects of presenting music.
that the Pink Floyd don't place too high a value on.
Roger had the idea of a circus, in a big tent,"It is possible on an LP to do exactly what we want
which would use human acts, such asjugglers andto do. The last single, 'Apples And Oranges', we had
escapologists, and groups like themselves, theCream and Jimi Hendrix. An exciting imaginative
to hustle a bit," says drummer Nick Mason. "It wascommercial but we could only do it in two sessions.
project squashed by those who held the purse
strings. Now the Floyd have approached the public
We prefer to take a longer time.""Live bookings seem to depend on whether or not
body of the Arts Council for a grant in the region
you have a record in the Toplo," Roger Watersof £5,000 to finance another project combining
a number of the arts.
states. ""I don't like 'It Would Be So
Nice'. I don't like the song or the
Says Roger,"It would bea story, using other groups,
way it's sung. Singles releases havewritten as a saga, like The Iliad,
something to do with our scene,so that it doesn't just become
but they are not overwhelmingly
essential. On LPs we can produce
a pop show with someone walking
on and introducing groups. I don't
our best at any given time."
want any of that scene. There"Singles are a funny scene.
Some people are prepared towould probably be a narrator,
possibly John Peel, and there
be persuaded into anything,"
would be quality in the production
says Nick. "I suppose it depends
on if you want to be a mammothof the material.
LET THERE"It would be a non-profit making
star or not."BE MORE LIGHT
scene- nothing to do with selling
The Pink Floyd have seenchanges in themselves and inrecords. I'd like Arthur Brown toplay the Demon King, with thetheir material and Nick thinksthat in the past year their
Floyd providing the music. It
ability and technique has
would be like telling a story like a"improved vastly - which
fairy tale. A definite scene with
teS-1421441
makes a difference".
good and evil." Tony Wilson
Produced by*ow.. So, du"I'd like Arthur

Brown to play the
Demon King, with
the Floyd providing
the music"

reomonan.

NO1 1.011

PINK FLOYDIVU AIN'T GOING NOWHERE
ARTIFICIAL ENERGY"We have aLouisrmstrong andcountry album

his All -Stars are
to open a two-55

week cabaret
engagement at
Batley Variety
Club on Junel6 the booking is said
to be worth£10,000 a week.

MM MAY 25 A much changed Byrds check in.
"it's a fresh area," says Roger McGuinn.
THE BYRDS HAVE changed. In looks, lineup and partly

in repertoire. Gone is the long hair, which, back in
1965, earned them the description of looking
English". Gone are Michael Clarke, drummer, David
Crosby, guitarist and singer, and guitarist Gene Clark.
Of the original group, Jim McGuinn, who now prefers to
be called Roger, and Chris Hillman remain and they havebeen joined bydrummer Kevin Kelleyand Gram Parsons,singer, organist and guitar player. The change in repertoire-or perhaps addition might be more accurate- is that
The Byrds are featuring a number of country & western style songs.
The Byrds came on a last-minute trip to England following
theirappearance at the Rome Pop Festival. "The trip wasn't
planned," explained Roger McGuinn, just before The Byrds
returned to the States. "We went to Rome for the festival andthere we were told that we were going to play in England that was the only reason."
The Byrds made three appearances, twice at Middle
Earth and onceat Speakeasy at
Blaises. Each show
earned them well-

THE

CHANGING
FACE OFTHE BYRDSNE APRIL 20)1. A cheque fordeserved ovations and at the second Middle Earth stint
a large petition was signed asking for their return as soon
as possible. As well as things like "Mr Tambourine Man",
the hit that brought them to Britain first in 1965, "Eight Miles
High", "Turn, Turn, Turn" and "RockAnd Roll Star", with
Roger leading the vocals, Gram Parsons was heard to goodeffect on country numbers such as "H ickory Wind", "Sing$5,000 has beenpresented by
Atlantic Records to
Mrs Martin LutherKing as advanceroyalties on
Solomon Burke's

Me Back Home" and "You Don't Miss YourWater Till Your
Well Runs Dry".
"I don't think we'll go into country music 100 per cent.
But it's pure and it hasn't really been done by pop artists.
It's a fresh area," said Roger, "and a relief from all thatpsychedel is garbage."
And what next on record from The Byrds? "We have a wholecountryalbum that we are releasing -that's completed,"said Roger, "and we'll be following that with an album ofelectronic music, but we haven't done that yet."
The Byrds now seem to have reallygot it all together andthere is no doubt about their musical abilities and their"It hasn't reallybeen done... andit's a relief from allthat psychedelic
garbage"communication with audiences -theirthree appearances proved this beyond
doubt. Forget their past appearances.
[hat's all history now. Their shows last
week, and the happy results, must be
encouraging to The Byrds, and will surely
make them consider a fuller tour. Will it
happen? Well, Roger McGuinn is not aplanner by nature and anything further
than about three or four days ahead hedislikes having to think about.

I

Good or Byrds:(I-r)
Kes,inKollity. Gram

Parsons.Rogr
McGuinnand Chris
Hillmanin '66

new US single.

"I Wish !Knew How
It Would Feel To Be
Free". Atlantic arealso paying five percent of the royalties
on the Hudson
Chorale's recording"I Have A Dream" tothe late Rev King's
Southern Christian
Leadership
Conference.
MIA APRIL 27

Bob Dylan totour Britain in
the autumn! A
spokesman for the
Harold Davison
Agency told theMMon Monday:"There is a strong
possibility he will
do a tour in theautumn now that hehas started doing
appearances again.
He'll probably doa short English tour
and include somecontinental dates.
That's all !can say
at the moment. Bob was last here inJune 1966 when he
did a controversial
tour with anelectric -guitar
backing group.
Later he wasinvolved in a serious

motorcycle
accident whichinterrupted his
career. MAI APRIL 27

1STORY OF ROCK 1958

35

Dylanin'68:hist8monthseclusionisbrokenwhen
heperformswithTheBand

atthWoodyGuthrie
MemorialConcertatNew
YorkCity'sCarnegieHall
onJanuary20,1968

BOB DYLAN"He doesn't

want tobe spoken
about"BOB DYILA 's new album

and return to the stage
don't remotely lessen
his mystique in 1968.

Musicians like Julie Driscoll
have hits with his songs,
and rumours aboundabout a secret cache of
Dylan recordings. "Thereis music from his house,"
The Band confide, "andmusic from our house."-

MELODY MAKER APRIL 13_

THEWALLOF silence surrounding Bob Dylan isstrengthened by the refusal of those who know him,or have met him, to say very much about him. His
John Wesley Hardingalbum, released here in February,
and his appearance at the Woody Guthrie Memorial
Concert in New York last January, brought to an end
more than a year's withdrawal from public activity following his
reported motorcycle accident.
Arlo Guthrie, Woody's son, currently in Britain for a short tour, didn't
give much away about Dylan when he visited t he Melody Makerofficelast week. When Arlo met Bob at the Memorial Concert, it was the firsttime he had met him since Dylan's departure from the American musicscene. 1 don't know ifhe had an accident," said Arlo. 1 don't think he justdisappeared. He needed some time. He was getting pushed in every
direction by everybody.
"At the concert, he was beautiful. He was nervous at first, but I was more
nervous myself, and I didn't pay too much attention to him. He talked toeverybody, but I don't know what he said."
Although the lineup for the concert included star names such as Tom
Paxton, Judy Collins, Odetta, Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Pete Seeger, alleyes, naturally, were on Dylan as he sat in the row of performers on stage
chatting to Paxton. Dressed in a grey suit, blue shirt and grey suede boots,
Dylan looked healthy, sported an ear -to -ear beard and a shorter hairstyle.
Near the end of the first half, backed by piano, organ, electric bass anddrums, Dylan, with guitar, moved forward to the front of the stage tosing his three songs (all Woody's): "Big Grand Coulee Dam", "Dear M rRoosevelt" and "Ain't Got A Home In This World Any More" -anappropriate choice, t his last one, considering his inaccessibility.
"He just did his thing," said Arlo. The finalewas all the performers
joining in "Bound For Glory". When it came to Dylan's turn, he hesitated.
a "He just didn't know any words," continued Arlo. "Everybody had a verse.
Nobody told him anything. Pete Seeger told him to sing the chorus. The
audience dug him there, but it wasn't his crowd. I don't know what he isdoing now." .
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 137

VM1.111111Pit

1968
APR

After the concert there was a partyand it is believed that Dylan
attended. He has moved from his former home at Woodstock and taken
hiswife and child to a new home. "Nobody knowswhere, and if theydid
they wouldn't tell you," Arlo stated. With Arlo in the officewas his English
girlfriend and road manager. Carol -Anne -Davis. She was more explicit.
"He doesn't want to bespoken about," she said curtly, and added, "Weowe him something. If you buy his record you owe him something, notonly Dylan but anybody else who makes records.""If he puts out a record he likes a reaction from people, and we canassume he can feel something. All Dylan wants is a reaction from you,"
Arlo commented. No doubt those who buy his records would like a little
reaction from Dylan too.
But if the aura of mystery surrounds Dylan, thankfully it is not sowith Arlo Guthrie, whose album Alice's Restaurant and his personal
appearances-ofwhich the high spot is the "Alice's Restaurant" dialoguethat starts off with a true tale about garbage dumping and finishes up as
an indictment of conscriptions for the Vietnam war- have been receiving
favourable reviews.
A prolific writer, he has been writ ingsince he arrived in London a week
ago. "I've just written a song that I think has something like 30 verses. It'sa calypso called 'Fant The Giant'. With 30 verses it must last a longtime,
but thankfully time passes by, so it isn't noticeable."
The saga of "Alice's Restaurant" is due to be made into a film. Arlo is
pla nn ing a second album, to be recorded soon.
"We might do it back in England. There area lot of good people to workwith and good recording studios. I like England - it is very nice, nicer than
New York. We were going to stay at the Europa Hotel when we arrived, but
it was too expensive. We wanted to stay at the Europa so we could throwrocks at theAmerican Embassy. But at the Europa we had to pay for therocks." Tony Wilson

MELODY MAKER JUNE 29

IN THE LAST few months a number of Bob Dylan's songs have beenrecorded and released. These include Manfred Mann's chart topping "Mighty Quinn", the Brian -Auger -Julie Driscoll hit "ThisWheel's On Fire", The Byrds' last single, "You Ain't Going Nowhere",also covered by Unit Four Plus 1\vo and Paul MacNeill and Linda
Peters, "I Shall Be Released", recorded by folk singer Marc Ellington
and Boz, Peter, Paul & Mary's "Too Much Of Nothing" and "Down In
The Flood" sung by bluegrass stars Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt on
their Changin' Times album issued recently.
Last week a tape recordingof the original versions sung by Bob Dylan atsecret recording sessions held over six months ago, probably in Nashville,
arrived at t he Melody Makeroffices. It was known that such a tape existed
in Britain. The question was where?
Early last week a chance conversation put the Melody Maker on the trailof these recordings and consequently they wereobtained in return for being allowed to hear thetape. MelodyMakerwas sworn to secrecy overtheir source- a bargain which will be kept until
we are told otherwise.
Aswell as the songs already mentioned, thetape contained another five as yet unreleased byanybody in Britain. The backings for the songs
are a combination of Dylan's acoustic guitar,electric guitars, drums and bass, and among thesession musicians understood to be heard onthese remarkable recordings are Al Kooper,
Dylan's regular session organist, guitarists
Bruce Langhorne, Mike Bloomfield and Pete
Drake, Charlie McCoy and, on one track at least,

country singer JohnnyCash isheard singing with Bob Dylan.
The first song, "Million Dollar
Bash", is medium paced andperformed in Dylan's distinctive
half -talking, half -singing style,with a chorus that goes, "Oohbaby! Ooh -eel It's that million

dollar bash" (it doesn't sound as
bad as it reads).
A clever word collage withthe typical Dylan imaginative
situation sequence "Yeah!
HeavyAnd A Bottle Of Bread" isreally un ique and will need a lot

more listening to reallyget what
it's all about. "Please, Mrs
Henry" is a country& western tinged number with Dylan
pleading "Please, Mrs Henry,I'm down on Iny knees without adime" to a twangy guitar phrase.
There's a strong bluesy feel
about "Down In The Flood",
a contrast to Flatt and Scruggs'
more bluegrass -styled version,and this gives way to Dylan and
TM Band in 1968 -(I -r) Ric kDanko, Lovon Holm, Richard
Johnny Cash duettingon the
Manuel. Robbi Robertson
rocking "Lo And Behold". The
and Garth Hudson -in front
two voices blend well on thisof Danko and HitIm't how.,
Bearsville. Woodstock, NY
and it could make a great single,
if only from interest's sake.
"Tiny Montgomery", in which Tiny asks to be remembered to all his
friends, grooves along nicely and leads into "This Wheel's On Fire". The
arrangement is similar to theAuger-Driscoll version, although the paceis slightly slower. "You Ain't Going Nowhere", another country -flavoured
song, is anot her almost -spoken track, followed by"! Shall Be Released"with a fairly high-pitched harmony sung by Dylan and possiblyAl Kooper
or Bruce Langhorne.
It's a soulful-soundingcomposition and closer to the pop idiom thanmost of the othersongs. "This'll make it," says Dylan at the beginningof
the last recording, "Too Much Of Nothing"- and it does. This slow-paced
song isoneof the best of the 10 and again would make a good single, asPeter, Paul & Mary have proved. On these recordings Bob Dylan's voice ismore like the pre -John Wesley Hardinga !bum recordings, rougher, lessstrained, more relaxed. The old Dylan, in fact.
Having heard the tape, another question arises. If these tapes areavailable to CBS, are theygoing to release them?
The quality of the tape lent to MelodyMakerwas
not the best and sounds like a tape of a tape ofa tape, and probably the studio recordings are
better. If this is the case and CBS can get theoriginals, we say release them. Tony Wilson

Dylan's voice
is rougher,
more relaxed.
The old
Dylan, in fact

MM OCTOBER 12-

THEYARE KNOWN simply as The Band,although at one time they almost
became The Crackers. Their publicity
picture makes them look like a bunch of the
McCoys back from a successful skirmish with
the Mart ins. They hit the MMChart recently
with a song called "The Weight", written bylead guitarist Jaime Robbie Robertson, andbacked with Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released", both tracks comingfrom their album titled Music From Big Pink. The album coversports a painting by Bob Dylan.
Robertson, together with drummer Levon Helm, pianist andvocalist Richard Manuel, organist Garth Hudson and Rick Danko,
who plays guitar, fiddle and mandolin, lives at Big Pink. Big Pink is
a 125 -dollar -a -month ranch -style house in Woodstock not far fromI )ylan's home. It was in the basement of Big Pink that The Band, onceI )ylan's backinggroup, improvised a recordingstudio. Dylan would

V

.

A.,.

.4.

"THE WEIGHT"(J. R. Roboritc")
MUSIC FROM THE RIG PINK

come over and together they would work out tunes"He called me and told me what he wanted and cameranging from folk songs to spontaneous creations.
down and recorded it in three sessions. Bob chose the
The group have been togetheralmost nine years
Calle, Mus;c musicians, who were the same as on Blonde On
ASCAP-4:41
and once backed a singer called Rompin' Ronnie
Blonde, Charlie McCoy and Ken But trey. Besides
2269
Hawkins. They were known as The Hawks. The
being a poet, Dylan is so incredibly funny -and he's
PaNk...ename of the band wasn't picked up or thought up
so goddam nice. With other people I don't know
JOHN itor meant to be anysort of status name because
what he's like. He knows exactly what he wants andhe gets it. He came in with John Wesley Harding
they worked with Dylan. People just called them
The Band. "You know, for one thing there aren't
planned and look what he brought around."many bands around Woodstock, and friends andAmongthe otherart ists that Bob has produced on
JAIME bOUSH P OelpSON SICKDANKO. RICHARD NAHUM
neighbours just call us The Band and that's the way werecord are Leonard Cohen, Earl Hatt and Lester Scruggs,
HUDSON. LI VON HIM
thinkof ourselves."
Marty Robbins and Simon & Garfunkel.TheCashAt
The Band are much travelled and all of them have long
Folsom Prison album is one of t he best live albums produced
musical backgrounds of rock, country and folk. Says drummer
fora long time and Bob himself isvery happy about the way it
Helm, "We had never heard of Bob Dylan, but he had heard of us." Theturned out. "When I tookover recordinglohnny he told me hewanted toboys, havingquit working with Rompin' Ronnie after several years, were
do it. I picked up the phone and arranged with the warden to record in theworking at a coastal resort, Summer's Point, New Jersey, in 1965 when
prison. Everybody flipped over the album. We did have an announcer, but
Dylan phoned. "He said, 'You wanna play the Hollywood Bowl?" recalls
I told Johnny, 'Just go out and say who you are', so he went out and said,
Helm. "So we asked him who else was on the show. 'Just us,' he said."'Hello, I'm JohnnyCash.' I turned on the tape and let the bitch roll."
On the Big Pink album there is certainlya Dylanesque feel about the
Of Johnny Cash, Bob says: "What Cash does, he does. He's a power now,music, and it has been said that Dylan himself is heard on the harmonica.
but I think he's going to be a world power in the business.""There is music from Bob's house and there is music from our house. The
Does Bob think that country music is really becoming big? "Certainly.
two houses sure are different," points out Robbie, once described by
All of a sudden it's world music. It's big in countries like Japan -they've
Dylan as "the only mathematical guitargenius I've ever run into who
had Japanese singers on Grand OleOpry. After Flatt and Struggs played atdoes not offend my intestinal nervousnesswith his rearguard sound".
theAvalon Ballroom in San Francisco, the hippieswere coming up and
Besides the two tracks on the single, other songs on the album include
touching Scruggs and saying, 'You're for real.' The kids hadn't heard of"This Wheel's On Fire", a slightly faster version than the Julie Driscoll/
Flatt and Scruggs."
Brian Auger hit, and credited to Dylan and Danko, "Tears Of Rage",
Bob has been recording Leonard Cohen recently in Nashville. "He's acredited to Dylan and Manuel, and an old country number, "Long Black
beautiful guy," says Bob. "He blew his mind in Nashville. We have a smash
single and a big album coming up.
Veil", plus someoriginal songs from Robertson and Manuel.
I nevitablyThe Band will be identified strongly with Dylan, but although"He hasn't recorded any of the poetryyet, but I'd like him to. He'll
influence is there, they stand pretty firmlyon their own 10 feet.
probably be doinga couple of things that are country. Hewas so relaxed,
he didn't know what he was making."
Working with such remarkable people is an exciting and rewarding
MELODY MAKER NOVEMBER 9experience for Bob Johnston and he says, "I've worked with such a lot of
schmucky little groups, but working with Dylan, Cash, Simon &ElOB DYLA N'S John Wesley Harding album was probably themost eagerly awaited record of the year. "The album came
Garfunkel and Robbins is working with talent.
as a complete surprise," says Bob Johnston, who produced it.
"With me, if I've got a crap artist, I just cover him up with music and turnThe stocky, neatly bearded Johnston, in London last week to record
out a commercial single. But artists like Cash, Dylan and Cohen, I let
Johnny Cash at the London Palladium, also produced Cash'sAt Folsom
them do their thing -I'm along for the ride. The thing is. I'm working with
Prison album.
legends and I feel I'm part of what is goingon." Alan Walsh
1

6/144.21)

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 139

1968
APRIL

JpN[

Brian Wilson inarly1968,
Los Angoles:moditation

asbeen"thonly thing
thAll got ridof his

aranoia",accordingto
is cousin and Beach Boysof °under MikLov

40 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1908

"BrianWilson
loved
it"
"
A

n" "flun are alive with world peace-

and possibility but a joint venture with the
Maharishi isn't as successful as was hoped.
"Everyone should have the experience oflosing three or four hundred thousand
dollars," says Bruce Johnston. "It's real
funky!" A successful return to basics
follows. "I don't like it," Bruce confides.

40,

MELODY MAKER APRIL 6

IT'SGOINGTO be a brave new world through pop.That's the hopeof men likeGeorge Harrison, Donovan and Mike I.ove, bearded,humorous hellraiser ofThe Beach Boys. Love hit London fora lightning business trip en route from India to California lastweek. Ile paused his trans -globe peregrinations to dine on grilledsalmon at the Londonderry Hotel and answer MMdcmands ontranscendental meditation and its influenceon the pop Industry.
Mike wants toseecreative people takingover from the Establishment on
musk publishing and therecord Industry. Ile wantstoseeco.operat Ion
between British and American artists. He believesapopIndustryrunon theprinciplesof t he Maharishi MaheshYogicould set an exampleto the read
the world on howtoconduct its affairs.
Mike wassquatt ing croks-legged in anarmchair, his face sunburned red,and freckled. Ile wore a rather nondescript brown pullover and around hisneck, a simplestring of beads. If meditation rcallyworksIt hasn't done Mikeany harm. He wasrelaxed, full of Idealsand Ideas, laced with bawdy humour ..
,II0.01.
EarlyMayt968.NowYora:sis
The Beach Boys -(I -r)

DennisWilsonAlJardine,

MilsLovceruc Johnston
andCarlWilson-withth
MharishihlaheshYogi(centre).whosewithdrawal
fromtheirjointUStour,
along withpoorticket
sales.ledtothecancellationof 24datirs

and Anglo-American common sense. He described his first attempts
at meditation during his stay with The Beatles, Donovan and the rest of
The Beach Boys at the Maharishi's Ganges pad.
"It was so simple- but effective.! laughed afterdoing it for an hour.
I have learned to stop worryingabout everything, but it doesn't stopme still beingconcerned. It's a matter of putting things into perspective.
I don't worry about the Vietnam War, or the racial situation in America,
which is 20 times worse than Vietnam and could lead to civil war, but I
am concerned.
"The thing is to adapt to changes and flow with them, to use yourenergy in support oflife instead of fighting life. I first met the Maharishiin December, at the Paris Unicef show, and he initiated us in person.
When we went to India to stay with him, there were about 70 people there,
including The Beatles, Donovan and Mia Farrow. A lot of people there had
quit jobs, had taken leave of absence or were students.
"Brian Wilson loved it; it was the only thing that got rid of his paranoia.
Brian had been instructed a year ago, but didn't do it right. Then we all got
together, Dennis, Al, Carl and myself, and did it right. I feel t he world isready for a spiritual reawakening. People are sick of materialism. I had

this feeling before! met the Maharishi.
"This man is travelling round the world helping people to be content,
and the only reason some don't accept it is because of the image of Indian
mysticism. Who needs that garbage? I need something that works fromday to day. I meditate half an hour every morning and eveningand thatsets me superstraight. You just sit in a chair, get comfortable and let yourmind go. Sometimes you transcend and get to the source of thought. It
expands your mind, and it's a physical thing as well. It cultures yournervous system and lowers your metabolism.
"Afterwards, if you want to do anything, like writing songs about race
riots -no problems. You feel you can achieve anything. From now on mylife will be three months Beach Boys, three months Maharishi and threemonths business. The trouble with the Maharishi is he doesn't know
anythingabout TVor newspapers, and papers just distort everything. I'm
surprised The Beatles haven't helped him more to get across. We're goingon a tourof majorAmerican universities with him in May."At this point Greek and Italian waitersslid into the room bearinga trolleyof food. "It stinks," said Mike. Pausing for the reaction to subside, he looked
round with a barely perceptible grin and added: "It sure smells good."
42 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

Later, sipping coffee with honey, Mike described their tour plans.
"We're going to use a lightingsystem to project the Maharishi onscreens above the stage so everybody will be able to see him. We'll
perform with a band for 45 minutes followed by an intermission witha TVdocumentary. Then he'll come out and lecture the audience, withtime for quest ions and answers.
1 saw him do this at I larvard University, and I couldn't believe theinstant response. The place stood up involuntarily in awe. It was what
I call a standingovation in silence. I had tears in my eyes, it was so intense.
If sometimes he doesn't answerquestions, it's because at this stage hecan't afford to offend anybody. He doesn't pussyfoot around. He'll
answer properquest ions.
"Meditation could be used in prisons, hospitals, and forold peoplewho
still havegood minds, but have been pushed out ofsociety by the young. It
really is a panacea."
But wasn't LSD a panacea? Weren't we told by the flower children thatacid was the only way to expand one's mind and achieve bliss?
Mike pulled an expression of distaste. "I'm not an acid head and never
have been. I don't even have an opinion about it. It was a great fad. Ask
Timothy Leary. All I know is that the kids who were taking LSD trips inschool at America are now meditating."
But wasn't' it supposed to be the panacea?"LSD is a bore and waste oftime talking about. The Beach Boys and The Beatles have come off it. It's
been done. It's a boring waste of time."
But what about the LSD ph ilosophy?"The philosophy of the flower
children was great, except for one thing. It was destructive. They were
trying to createeuphoria, but you have got to engage with the enemyand
defeat them by showing them things can be done creatively. You can' justsniff a flower all your life and wish things done. Ifyou want to do that fine, but I can't do it that way. I wouldn't respect myself. Meditation getsyou ready for action - sorry about this, no teenybopper stuff."
In view of his interest in the Maharishi's philosophy, was the pop
business more or less important to Mike?
"Pop is important as a launching pad for many newenterprises. We
could put together the power ofThe Beach Boys and Beatles to form
companies with sound, beautiful principles, administered by people
you could respect. Once we get these sound practices going, we shall beable to establish record companies and music publishers that would be

M

111?flPtleisBOyS
Friends Little Bird

examples of how much better things can be.
"We've got to beat the Establishment at theirown game by being astute in business andremembering- it's a worn out phrase but it stillworks -give and take. For example, in Dallas,
Texas, we are going to give a party for all thefans who havegiven us our moneyover thelast five years. It will be like giving themsomething back. Maybe all our next tours
will be parties!
"As people get more affluent they will need
to be entertained more. The trend is towards
more records, more vacation spots, andmore pleasure. There is no reason whywe
should go back. We have all the machineryto make a fantastic world to live in, buteverything is contained by short-sighted
war policies. Believe it or not, the pop
business will be the start to fight this,because it's the only one flexible enough.
"We've got to make pop a service for the people and try to forgetthe profit motive. Theywill be profit making, but we must rule out
the greed motive. We mustn't become a laughing stock either, orthat would defeat the purpose. We have taken several steps towards
this already in the last yearand the time is very near when we will
announce new and exciting plans. Meditation makes it easier for
everybody to work together. Oncewe start we'll go straight past
the Establishment who rob, and lie, and cheat. They'll be obsoletevery soon.""Have you got any hobbies, Mike?" joked one of h is room guests.
"I'd love to go surfing right now. Down to the sea and ships."
All surfing aside, if Mike Love and The Beach Boys achieve theiraims, it means an exciting future ahead for pop -and maybe society.

THE BEACH BOYS

"Pop will be

profit making,but we mustrule out thegreed motive"

Chris Welch

NME APRIL 6-

WE HADA lovely time admiring the plastic palm trees
and listening to the clockwork birds. Then there were

the home-made, dunky doughnut stands situateddiscerningly alongside the Appeal For Oxfam booth and as a special
treat we all went to see "Mista Bright" and his super polishdemonstration for silverware.
We were, of course, at the Ideal Home Exhibition and "he" was Beach
Boy Mike Love, who insisted I accompany him on this expedition (forwhich I do not forgive him) to Olympia to see if the hall were large enoughfor "World Peace 1".

"World Peace 1 is the first in a series of worldwide concerts that we areplanning for this year," Mike informed me in the taxi on theway to thehall. "We are hoping to open in London and then go on to play most of the

shoppers and the watchers in the huge Olympia Halland was adamant that this could be the place if they
could book it in time. Back at his London hotel he satcross-legged upon his chair and began waving his
hands to emphasise his points elaborated on the
project's possibility.
"I know a lot of people are beginning tothink that we are taking too long to get things
together. It may take time and maybe we'll be
too old to sing by the time it gets together, but
we're going to try. Theworld is ready forsome
form of spiritual reawakening. This is not going
to be some sort of pop concert - it is going tofeature artists like ourselves doing the things
that they do best. What do you do otherwise you can't go on doing a Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky,
Mick & Tich rave for ever! People are ready forsomething new.
"This concert will feature classical music,
jazz and pop and 'skoopie-doo'. It will bea non-political festival oft he arts. The message of peace is for everyone.
Did you know that the Maharishi met the UN secretary general U Thantin America and Thant said that the Maharishi made more sense in 15
minutes than he had heard in 30years!"
There is no doubt that Mike has returned from his month in India firedwith earnest conviction, and there is little doubt that others now feel thesame way. Mike told me he had composed a number of new songs out
there -some about Paul and Jane and others about "Uncle" John Lennon.
He read me one piece of poetry concerning John meditating in the sun ona rooftop while birds and monkeys chattered in trees below.
"Have you seen this?" asked Mike proudlyand produced a little silver
necklet from his shirt on the end ofwhich was a small pieceof transparent
celluloid. Inside was a photograph of the Maharishi, on the other side wasa miniature portrait of the Maharishi's own guru. "That was a present

from John," said Mike.
I deliberately provoked him with a question to which I knew the answer
and got a deserved mental jab. Whydid the Maharishi not give some of his
wealth away to the poverty-stricken people of India instead of keeping it
for his foundation? Did Mike see no poverty in India?
"Of course I saw poverty. What kind of quest ion is that? We motored
over several hundred miles to the cent re and through some of the poorest
villages. The reason the Maharishi retains the money for his foundationis that he believes he can do the most good byaltering theway men lookat life.

"There is enough food for all if we would get our perspectives right anddistribute our excesswhere it is most needed. The Maharishi is trying toshow us things as they are and not how wewant to think they are -onlyby
changeof mind will we change our world."
M ike ordered in some food for us all and began to fork at his vegetariansalad and drink some red wine. He gazed out across the traffic below to
the park and began relaxingand indulging in his favourite sport -teasing
the English, namely me!
"Look at those double-decker buses," he said. "The English are so mean
theywon't build longones; they have to stack two little ones -one on topof the other. The English are so slow to catch on -by the time they lookaround and think about it -it's tomorrow."
I mentioned that I had been talking recently to Bruce on thetransatlantic phone and he played me a Beatles waltz. I couldn't
remember the name of the song at that moment, so I whistled it.
"He's still playing that!" smiled Mike. "And you don't know what it's
called, you dummy. 'A Little Help From Our Friends' is what it's called.
What business are you in -showbusiness?" 1.

major European and Continental countries like Paris and Copenhagen.
"We are hoping to involve as many creative people in all forms of art
and entertainment as possible, from Picasso to Hefner's bunnygirls.
Some of the most famous names in the pop world have guaranteed theirassistance. The movement is aligned to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's
drive for 'Permanent World Peace' and the proceeds of the concerts willremain in the countrieswe play to promote that end.
"In this waywe hope to go onto phase two, which will be 'World Peace II',
playing venues as far apart as Moscowand Bangkok."
And just before you run awaywith the idea that Mike is talking a lot of"Bangkok", remember where he has just come from at the Maharishi's
meditation centre and who he was with! "World Peace" maywell turn out
to be the rallying....
point of all thosesingers andconcerned people
amongour top pop
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Mike had apparently tried to call Bruce that morning at about I lam; it
was about 3am in LosAngeles! The operator told him that the phone had
been lifted off the hook in Los Angeles but therewasa funny noise!"I low
do you mean?" said Mike. "Well," said the operator, "it sounded likesomeone picked up the phone and threw it into the air!"
Bruce is not appreciative of early-morningcalls! I tossed Mike overa copy of /*magazine which contained a picture of Marlon Brando
dressed like the Maharishi and wearinga long flowing wigfora film inwhich he is satirising a guru.
Mike shook his head. "Wait till I see that guyagain!You know we gave
him a lift to the Hilton from the airport in ourcar on our last trip. He wasa niceguy but I'll have to talk to him about this. Theyonly make fun ofsomethingthat theydon't knowabout."
In May, The Beach Boys begin a tourof US collegeswith the Maharishi.
Whoever christened M i ke "Love" knewwhat theywere doing. Keith Altham

them happen and seeing whatcomes out. For instance, we've
just done a verysoft thing, likea waltz, which isvery pretty."
They are more together thesedays, said Carl. At one time,

Brian was the fountainhead ofideas and creativity, but today the other fourboys and Brian's deputy Bruce Johnston
contributes far more to their recorded soundthan ever before.
"It's more a group effort; we are all getting
ideas and putting them forward. For example,
Dennis is writing some fine songs at the
moment. But I wouldn't sayThe Beach Boys
had any particular direction.
"As I say, we are letting things happen,
recording ideas and seeing how they develop.

MELODY MAKER
Tii I, BEACH BOYS -MAHARISHI tour of America collapsed

last week- and the mystic was reported to have left America
suddenly. The problems of the tour came to a head last week
hen only 300 people turned up at New York's Singer Bowl and theconcert was cancelled. A few days later, the Maharishi left and no-one
was sure where he had gone. Ren Grevatt
MELODY MAKER SEPTEMBER 7SUNSHINE SURFING MUSIC is back in the Top 10 -again
peddled merrily by the West Coast wizards of electronic
recorded music, The Beach Boys. Their new single "Do It Again"
has brought the tang of the surf and the gaiety of a sunny California
beach back into the MM Pop 30.
"Yes, it has got the old Beach Boys surfing sound, I suppose," said Beach
Boy brother Carl Wilson to the MM this week. "It's back to that surfing
idea, with the voice harmony and simple, direct melodyand lyrics. But
we didn't plan the record as a return to the surf or anything. Wejust did it
one day round a piano in the studios.
"Brian 'Wilson] just had the idea and played it over to us. We improvisedon that and recorded it veryquickly, in about five minutes. It's certainly
not an old track of ours; in fact it was recorded only three weeks before
it was released. We just liked how it turned out and decided torelease it."
The Beach Boys are getting into a varietyof different
types of music in their recordings at the moment: "There
are a lot of different things happening. We're letting

We arecurrentlyworkingon a newalbum andI think when it's released in Britain there'll besome new ideas for the Beach Boys fans there
to listen to."The group areopen to influences aroundthem. They are aware ofgroups like Jefferson
Airplane and The Doors, as well as theincreasing interest being taken in the blues.
"We all buy and listen to a lot ofalbums eventhough we don't get to see many groups live.
But we are aware: we know, for example,
that a blues group called Canned Heat ishappening. I hear they are really a tremendous
group in person, too."Carl and hiscohorts would deny that a new
Beach Boys sound is emerging to dominate
the group, but theywill be doing a lot of newmaterial when theyvisit Europe again later thisyear. The tour, which will probably take in six orseven dates in Britain, is scheduled for late November or early December
and Carl said: "We'll be doing the things The Beach Boys have become
associated with, but there'll also be a lot of newer things on showthat we hope peoplewill like."
One of the things they will be doingduring their
European junket will be filming. "We are to makea film. Not a feature film, but a crewwill be with
us filming us and we'll be doing some things in
London. I don't know at this stage exactlywhat
we'll be doing with the film; maybe it'll be used as
promotion material. We'll have to wait and see
how it turns out.
"It could be used as the basis fora Beach Boys TV
special or even cinema -screen short, however, andis a project which Carl is interested in."
The Beach Boys, of course, were involved with the
Maharishi, the mystic now abandoned byThe Beatles,
earlier this summer. This, reflects Carl, was probably
a mistake. Alan Walsh
NME

-....

It JOHNSTON OF Coldwater Canyon, Hollywood
rang me last Friday at home (and for all thosepeople who think they are reading an Alan Smith

feature, kindly regard the byline) after my two unsuccessfulattempts to reach Mr Johnston.
November 14.1968: Brian
Wilson with his wife Marilyn
Wilson -AKA Marilyn Ro.,11.
singer in TheHoneys - atthe premiere of Yellow
Submarine in Los Angeles

11

HI641116CK 1668
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114:111

He maybe better known to some of you as Bruce ofThe Beach
Boys and straight from his long run acrossAmerica with The
BoxTops and a comedy act called the Tickle Brothers, he was
exhausted, but happy!
"We broke every attendance record in the book," Bruce told
me. "I was beginning to think that, with theCream thingand
Jimi Hendrix breaking so big out here, we were dying. But we
got unbelievable receptions. The underground is now so big
out here that it is above -ground, if you see what I mean, but weMI

Novmber 30,1968:
TheBeachBoysgo
back tothir surfsoundwith -Dolt Again -on
Top Of The Pops

still have an enormous following for our kind ofmusic, thanks to our loyal fans!"
I enquired about his reaction to the abortive
appearances of the group with the late lamented Maharishi. I lad Mike Love thrownin his hand alongwit h Messrs Beatles when
they "excommunicated" the Yogi?
"Er, yeah?" Bruce started indeterminably.
He restarted: "Well, 1 think that everyone
should do a tour like that. Everyone should havethe experienceoflosing three or four hundred
thousand dollars -it's real funky! Nowwe'respendingall our time making up the moneywe
lost. No, Mike lost no faith in the Maharishi andhe still meditates- none of us have lost faith in
the method."Among the rumours circulat ingabout The Beach Boys tour here later
this year have been those that theywill record a live album at the London
Palladium (as carried, exclusively, in NMEsome weeks ago) and that on
this visit Brian Wilson will accompany them for recording purposes.
"We are definitely recordinga live album at the Palladium and we haveanothersurprise up oursleeve for that appearance," said Bruce. "I can't
say any more about that just in case it does not come off. I think it very
unlikely that Brian will becomingwith us -at present he has even trouble
gettingout of his house!"
At this point I admitted that, as an ardent supporter ofThe Beach Boys'music and in particular the original progressive work of Brian Wilson,
I was personally disappointed with "Do It Again", despite its No2 positionin the NMEchart thisweek."I don't like it either," admitted Bruce. "I don't
think that the group were entirely happywith it. But everyone else wasgoing back to basics, so I suppose it was inevitable that we should.
"One thingyou can be sure is that the next singlewill not be anothersurfing record. Brian has a number of magical musical things up his
sleeves. All I can say at present is that it will beverydanceable and that
we will almost certainly have it to promote when we come over for the
British tour.""Mike has not
lost faith in

the Maharishi
and he still
meditates"

The Beach Boys' other plans include aconsiderable amount of time and effort to be
put into their own organisat ion. They havetheir own building in Hollywood and Bruce
describes their company as a "cautiousApple"!
The tenants of Beach Boys Inc are concernedwith promoting the group's own activities andproducingand promoting new talent.
"Then there is, of course, our recording
studios," said Bruce. "It's called 'Studio Three'

and I think Jagger used it quite recently. A
number of top -name groups record there, but
not many of them are aware that we own it."Like a great many otherAmericans, Bruce is
not terribly proud of what has been happening
in Chicago recently, with the police wading into the demonstratorswith
batons and clubs. "There is no use the general public hiding from theunpleasant truths in this case," said Bruce. "It's brought right into homes-last night I had the pleasant spectacle of seeing a black soldier beating
the livingdaylights out of a whiteguyon mycolour TV."
Finally, Bruce mentioned that he had recently been to see Eric Burdon
and 'I'he Animals at the WhiskyA Go Go. As there have been at least
two reports that Americancorrespondents (including our
Ann Moses) have been less thanunderwhelmed by Eric's latest
performances, l asked Bruce
what he felt about them.
"I thought what he had to say
was quite valid and that the antiwar message was quite obvious.
Some have said that what he has
been doing has nothing to dowith music. I disagree. I think it
has everything to do with music.

It's life." KeithAltham

AFTER THE

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"Soul?

That to me
is a feelin

JJ

With seven US gold records to her name, Detroit's
young ilk i rem hiAlliath arrives to slay London
audiences on her first major tour outside the States.

Her talent doesn't come without a price, however.
"I've been hurt," she explains. "I've been hurt bad."
MELODY MAKER
N ONE OF the attractive middle-class homes whichline the long streets of north-west Detroit, passers-by
often notice an attractive young woman dusting andrearranging objets d'art in the living room. If any of thepedestrians ever stopped to tie up a shoelace, theywould catch the familiar sound of daytime TV soap
operas. The situation is typical. The woman is not.
Her name isAretha Franklin. She's the biggest phenomenon tostun the music industry since The Beatles. In the past 12 months,

1E

she has sold more records and made more money than any
member of the recording fraternity. She arrives in England next
week. A year ago, Aretha lived in another house -close to thecity's ghetto area -and another world. In those days, she dusted,
watched soap operas, and dreamed of the daywhen things wouldchange. It came. But it has not greatly altered her life. A new home
for manager -husband Ted White and herself, and some especiallyexquisite gowns for concerts. She has received seven gold records-each of which is wort h at least $40,000 in royalties- but she has
yet to indulge in an uninhibited shopping spree.
She finds the fame and fortune difficult to comprehend, andto justify. "It's just a great feeling," she says shyly, with humility.
Aretha is reserved, occasionally peeping out from behind her
self-imposed curtain to laugh at some long forgotten -event.
She is down to earth. There is no pretence. She finds her singing
style difficult to categorise. One gets the impression that she
has no desire to pass judgement on her proverbial pot of gold.
It is there. It is intangible. She pauses forseveral seconds before
offering, "Well... it's a crazy mixture. I guess I'm just a singer withgospel influences."

She has no children. Nordoes she plan any "for someconsiderable time".1Byautumn it will be revealed that in she
has three children -see page 49.1When the time comes, she'dlike a small family. Despite the lack of youngones to complicate
matters, she rarely goes out. Hardly ever sees movies. Only
occasionally goes to concerts. Her first big trip outside of theStates started this week when she flew to Europe for concerts in
Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Amsterdam and later London. "Boy, am
I ever looking forward to that," she says, in a rare burst of lengthy
gaiety. "Everyone tells me that London is the fashion capital of theworld, and I might even havea mini shoppingspree."Those long years of wait i ng and hoping have prevented Aret hafrom taking her overdue fame for granted. She is basicallyinsecure, never anticipatingsuccess until it actually happens. She
forecast a dismal flop for her first hit, "I Never Loved A Man". It soldwell over a million. Reliable sources predict her latest single, "Ain't
No Way", will be the biggest blues ballad since "Drown In MyOwn
Tears". "I don't think so," she comments, with no phoney modesty.
She believes that "Respect", her best-selling disc so far, mosteloquently represents what she is saying; her message to t he world.
Insecurityand shyness are temporarily forgotten when Arethasits in front of her piano and therecording microphone. "We spend
a great deal of time deciding whichsongs we'll use," Aretha says. She
admits to having the final say on
what is, and what is not, released
to her ever -waiting public. Herlatest album, currently No 2 onthe charts and entitled -mostappropriately-LadySoul, which

1968

SO1

APR

contains four single hits, required several weeks of constant studiowork.
Not that Aretha is difficult to work with. Producer Jerry Wexler, who's cut
some of the biggest names of the past decade, claims he has neverproduced a session with a more talented or cooperat ive artist. She arrives
at the studio with as manyas 100 songs, from which three or four will
actually be electronically etched across the eight -track tape.
She's happy in her present bag, with plenty of reason. "I want to keep on
making thesort of records which peoplecan identifywith. I'd also like to
do some of the softer old numbers with stringsand big orchestras. But we have to be very carefulin the material we select... people associatestrange thingswith songs."
She makes few concert appearances, and noclub dates. Her last concert, a homecoming
affair in Detroit, pulled $60,000 at the door. She
confesses to preferring home to the concert
stage. She was deeply shaken by theassassination of Martin Luther King. "I just can't
find the words to express how I feel. It is a great
tragedy... underlined." Her father, the Rev CL
Franklin, had worked with the late Dr King.
In her own quiet, softly spoken way, ArethaFranklin has a wayof getting things done to hercomplete satisfaction. Be
it makinggreat music, dusting a coffee table orcharmingan interviewer.
She is a true professional, without the glossyveneer and the phoneyglamour. In short, Aretha really knowswhere it's at. As do the peoplewho
dig her inimitable sound. RenGrevatt

try to pace. Surprised? I suppose I was." The answer is typical of thisyoung
singer's (she's still in her middle twenties) level-headed outlook.
She had expected a successful British debut -after all, she recent ly d rew$60,000 worth of custom to a concert in her hometown, Detroit - but notquite the clambake that transpired at Hammersmith. When she came
offstage, at the end, she said triumphantly toAtlantic Records' Frank
Fenter: "What do you want to tell me about that?"
Not unexpectedly, she prefers concerts to any other ki nd of engagement,
except recordingsessions. I said I would like to"I'm an old

woman indisguise - 26

hear her in a club or some such place, preferably

when shewasn't drowned out bya combinationof poor miking and over -amplified band.
Aretha was clearly unimpressed. "Singing in aroom might be nice for three days," she told me.
She preferred the 12 -piece band to anything
like organ and rhythm. "I like it more than
the small group," she told me. "I prefer thesounds." But she didn't mind, apparently,
when ! criticised the brass section and thearrangements. "We have a fewthings tostraighten out," she explained. "Thearrangements were made in case the girls
couldn't make the tour. So they had to sing the same parts as the band."On the subject of Britain, Aretha was quite forthcoming: "I wanted tocome here a longtime ago, but I didn't have the chance, workingall thetime. Now I've been, I liked it very much and want to come back. But it
seems I'm never going to get here. I'd say there are two chances: either thevery late autumn or early next year, and there's not much chance this year."
As for her own style of singing, Aretha looks on it as a mixture not easy
to define. "I don't think of myself as a jazz singer. I'm closer to R&B andstraight blues, with gospel sometimes and a little popular music mixed
in there. Soul? Well, that to me is feeling. It's the emotion you feel and theway it affects other people." Maziones

goin' on 65"

MELODY MAKER 1'A AY 25
W!IA' I'1' BOILED down to, when we talked about music, was

hat Aretha Franklin listened to most types when she had
the chance, and liked much of what she heard. Did she enjoyt

and British pop music? "Yes, I very much like The Beatles and The Rolling
Stones. Also Terry Reid, I think he's very good."
She listened to gospel music and blues, likes Petula Clark and, naturally,
Sarah Vaughan ("Yes, Sarah can sing, can't she?"). In the jazz field, sheadmires Oscar Peterson, Junior Mance, Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard,
Nina Simone... "Oh, and a lot of them."
Aretha didn't seem an exact ingor highlycritical person at all.
Considering howshe lets flyonstage, I'd expected someone less placid. Of
course, appearances at press get-togethers can be deceptive, but in fact
she displayed none of the superstar, "do -you -know -who -[-am" attitudes
which afflict many young ladies overcome by fame and fortune.
Quest ions were answered with mildness and quiet touches of humour.
She's just been shoppi ngand approved of our fashions. "I like the micro
skirts but he doesn't," she said briefly. "He" was husband Ted White.
Most of her replies were simple and to the point. How did she go about
picking songs? "First I'm attracted to the melody."
Does she write many herself? "Not very much lately. I'll have maybe

three things out ofan album."
And on her sanctified piano style: "I accompanied myself
when travellingwith myfather, Rev CL Franklin, and I
accompanied him. I was 10 when [ started in church. It
first taught me how to stand on a stage. And it helped
me learn how to communicate with an audience."
Communicating, and at a pretty intense level, issomethingAretha Franklin indisputably does.
And asyou'd expect, closenesswit h the listeners
is important to her. "I always move towards theedge of the stage to get to the audience."
When I asked about this, and what she thoughtof her British concertgoers, she replied warmly
but without affected enthusiasm that it had all been

MELODY MAKER SEPTEMBER 7

ELLA,SARAII,CARMEN, Dakota, the late Dinah Washington,
Della are just a few of theAmerican song greats who havedominated the international music scene over the years. And
Ella, the Grand Dame, is as great today as she was some 30 years ago
when she blazed onto the world "pop" scene with the unforgettable, if
somewhat immature, "A-Tisket A-Tasket".
Now, anotherAmerican star is blazing brightly in the international
firmament. Aretha Franklin. And she has one thing in common with all
those great names who preceded her. She is coloured. And, the truth is,
one would have to look pretty hard to find equivalent white singers tomatch theworld status of the Ella-Aretha line.
Peggy Lee? Possibly. Certainly, she burst on the scene with Benny
Goodman back in 1940 with her memorable "Why Don't You Do Right?".
Then, she was just another band singer. But she soon became aninternational favourite and has had an immensely longand deserved run.
Al&

TLANTICa ball. "Yes, if they feel it, I feel it; if theydon't, I do thebest I can. It was pacing, Saturday, for Sunday. I always

because she's lived

such a hard life

With husband manager Ted
White and Atlantic
Records founderAhmot Ertogun(rig ht)at Atlantic
Studios. Now York
City.April1968

lirefflaJra

ARETHA (26) FEEL
OLDER
LOT
A
SHE'S
of
FATHER is a barn storming holy roller
HER
likes shiny alligator shoes anda Reverend who__,a _ r. an() F,no fn. Failing to file tax-(

v..-//144"141111110qh

Arethaat

Hammersmith:unbelievable

power meetstrickyacoustics

Anita O'Day? She's long been a favourite with the "in" jazzcrowd.
Particularly with musicians, some of whom rate her as theGreatest White Girl Jazz Singer0fAll Time.
June Christy, Chris Connor and - in a more commercial vein
-Julie London, all had their particular scenes going at various
stages. But has any one of these considerable artists wielded the
MM May18 ,uspel-soulworld influenceof Miss Fitzgerald and company? Has, in fact,
being "coloured" anything to do with this impressive success?
Lctl' iireLlia Franklin
Over to Miss Selena Jones: "It's hard to say," she comments.
makes her London debut.
"Few white girls face the same problems as coloured girls, whohave a more trying time. White girls can get in where a coloured
ARETHA FRANKLIN, America's
girl can't. And maybe this whole scene leads to them expressing
soul sister, came, was seen,
their feelings musically."
and conquered Britain lastweekend. And, at Hammersmith"But there are some finewhite singers around; Marian
Montgomery, for instance, reallygot into a bagwith 'When Sunny
Odeon on Sunday, she almost incited
Gets Blue'. But Aretha- I really dig that girl, baby. She draws
a riot from a wild and excited audienceof soul brothers.
pictures when she's singing more than anyone I know. When
Aretha sings 'I love you', she really means it; when she sings 'Hold
Aretha is without doubt one of thegreatest soul, blues and gospel singers we have seenme', you can see a big lovescene going. I really regard her as thefemale Ray Charles."for a long time. She has a searing, soaring voice;
Says Frank Fenter, European representative ofAtlantic Records:
powerful on high notes, warm and wild in the lower"Probably the greatest quality about Aretha is her incredible
register. She has a slight, tubby frame and a deceptively placid
amount of humility. Her total form of expression is through her
appearance, but that fantastic soulful voice pours forth with almost
music. She absolutely vibrates on stage and on records. Yet, in
unbelievable volume and power.
person, she is the most quietlyspoken and modest person
Her programme was not all raving soul, however. She also sang several
imaginable. We owe a lot to Jerry Wexler for bringingout her
beautiful blues - including "It's My Life" - and her "Dr Feelgood", self tremendous vocal qualities on record. The crux of the wholeaccompanied on piano, betrayed her gospel roots. Aretha roared on stage,
matter is that he let her be completely natural -and those qualities
to the jumping if at times ragged backing of her orchestra, led by trumpeter
just came out."
Donald Towns and her heavily choreographed vocal trio, and went straight into
Arthur Howes, impresario who brought Aretha to Britain for"Satisfaction". Her songs were mainly best-known numbers -"I Never Loved A
those memorable soul concerts in London last May, says: "I've
Man", "Respect", "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman", etc, but she also
never before known such a sta nding ovat ion for a girl singer. Eightsang a great personalised version of The Young Rascals' "Groovin'". My only
thousand people were on their feet at Hammersmith, and 7,000 at
criticism: falling foul of tricky acoustics in the auditorium.
Finsbury Park. It was the most exciting experience I've had.
The rest of the bill was merely a build-up to The Moment, Joe E Young and
Aretha has such a starquality in her voice. She can sing soul,
The Tonics -a competent if unsensational soul band. American Robert Knightrhythm'n'blues, gospel, jazzand pop with such conviction andtried hard but failed to arouse the audience, while Lucas, with The Mike Cotton
feeling. She has a tremendous range.
Sound, bounced and bobbed with exciting effect. Alan Walsh"We want her back. And Aretha wants to come. The trouble is thetime factor. Also, she can command such an enormous amount ofmoney in the States. She is one of their highest -paid artists. She can get far
grow up is hurting, you know. You make mistakes. You try to learn from
more money there than here. But she would come fora charity like thethem, and when you don't, it hurts even more. I know what it's like. I've
Royal Variety Performance, and probably stay on fora couple of dates."
been hurt- I've been hurt bad."
Adds Frank Fenter: "I'd like to seeAretha in a Royal Command
She says she wanted, needed, to become a singer the day Clara Ward
Performance."sang "Peace In The Valley" at her aunt's funeral and suddenly tore off
Certainly, thousands who saw her in person in London feel herstature
her hat and flung it to the ground in sheer fervour. That was at the age
today warrants such an honour. But then, honours- in commercialof 12. Apart from the verycolourful Reverend CL Franklin -who isrewards and critics' acclaim- have already been heaped on ex -gospel
pastor of Detroit's 4,500 -member New Bethel Baptist Church -Aret ha'ssingerAretha. JerryWexlersums it up simply by saying: "There is nothingfamilyconsists of her brotherCecil, who is now assistant pastor of the
new in what she is singing. Black music- the onlycreative artform insame church; her sisterCarolyn, 23, who writes songs for her and is also
America." With good and just reason is Miss Franklin called the Queen Of
in her backing trio; and pop singer Erma Franklin, who is 29 and now lives
Soul. Laurie Henshaw
in NewYork.
Occasionally, says brother Cecil, Aretha will lower her defences and letherself go enough to do a WC Fields impression or imitate Bela Lugosi as
NME SEPTEMBER 7
Count Dracula! But only occasionally. He adds, sadly, "For the last few
ER FATHER IS a barnstorming holy roller of a reverend whoyears, Aretha is simply not Aretha. You see flashes of her, and then she's
likes shiny alligator shoes and who once paid a £6,000 fine forback in her shell."failing to file tax returns; who is such a fiery preacher that two
When Aretha was 18, shewas inspired by thework ofSam Cooke andnurses are reputed to stand by waiting for his overcome parishioners;
went to NewYork to try the pop field, audit ioningfor a Mrs Jo King who
and who commands £1,000 a performance and can afford to travel
got her signed to a Columbia Records contract. Says Mrs King: "Aret haaround in real Cadillac style.
did everything wrong, but it came out right. She had somethingof her
She isAretha Franklin, "LadySoul", who is currentlydoing a touch ofown -a personal concept of music that needed no gimmickry. She was
the Dionne Warwicks via her Bacharach-David hit "I SayA Little Prayer",a completely honest musician."
which stands at No 5 in this week's NMEchart.
Then she made a lot of records which failed -and this Aretha also
Obviously Aretha comes from a background with a lot of know-how
realises -because they weren't really her. She didn't believe in them.
about showmanship and soul. Maybe her offbeat family life, in fact, is the
They didn't have soul. The switch toAtlantic Records was her saviour,
clue toAretha as she is today, a sizzling performer who now almost turns
and she's never looked back since. Now, Aretha can afford to retreat tooff completely when you meet her by day away from the footlights. I know
her £20,000 colonial -style house (with its 12 rooms) when she isn't busy
that when I met her in London recently, it was hard going trying tosinging or touring. With her there are her husband Ted and her three sons,penetrate the mystical curtain she seems to throw around her.
aged nine, eight and five.
One thing that struck me then was that she seemed a little older and
She likes to sleep in the afternoon, or go roller-skating in the evening.
heavier than I'd imagined, and I must say I don't quite feel so ungallant
But most of all, she likes to stay quiet and cool and hide behind her curtain
now that Aretha has smilingly mentioned the fact herself. "I might be justof mystery with only a slight smile to betray the way she's really feeling.
26," she says, "but I'm an old woman in disguise -26 goin' on 65. Trying toThat'sAretha Franklin. Alan Smith"A searing,soaring voice"-

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 149

1968"We'redoing *unbelievalotT
well"
e

%WM

Londoi.,to catch an audience
with Eric Clapton in his
eccentric Chelsea pad.
On the agenda: hi-fi
equipment, lorry
drivers, America andrumours of a split.
_11/1r1 nry1/4/ it A urr

MAY 4-TI RED AND FRUSTRATED Eric Clapton isgoingback to the blues. The gu har star of t he Cream wasback in London fora few days' holiday last week,

snatched in the middleof thegroup's marathon
tour of America. And a jam session with bluesgiant
RR King was his most influential experience during
is months abroad.
"I went onto aim of different things since theCreant formed. I went offz

in idol of different direct ionsall at once it seems, but 1 find I have floatedback to straight blues playing. I've returned to what I likedoing as an
Individual, and that is playingexploratoryblues. I met RR and when
50 I HISTORY Of ROCK 1968

TheCreamin'60:0-0Eric Clayton.
Ginger Bokyrond

Jack B.uu

"I've boon foolingtirodandfrustratoe:
Clapton backstage

attbEarlWarrn
Showgrounds.Santa
Barbara.California.
February 24.1968,

dt

BB played I realised it isn't a question of
fashion, or blues dying or being reborn; it is there all the time whether you
play blues or not, and I just realised I want to play blues again. We jammed
together at theAu Go Go in NewYork. I had to play the hardest I have everplayed in my life and that taught me a lot.
"In a pop group the first things you suffer from are jealousyand terrible
insecurity. So many groups are making it on the pop chart scene; youkeep wondering if what you are playing is out of date.You get really hungup and try to write pop songs or create a pop image. I went through thatstage and it was a shame because I was not being true to myself. lam andalwayswill be a blues guitarist."
When Eric makes his rare visits home, he lives in a rambling collectionof art studios in King's Road, Chelsea, reached by twisting, darkstaircases covered in chickens. Aghostly voice whispered through theintercom in answer to my ring: "He is asleep." But the door was opened
by remote control, and I picked my way up the stairs through clouds ofchicken feathers. Not a soul was to be seen. Silence prevailed. I stooduneasily in a corridor trying not to look at fearsome modern paintings
gloweringand gibbering from the walls. Suddenly the ghost
materialised from a room, a pale -faced, slim young woman, lookingas if
she had just been in spiritual contact with EdgarAllan Poe. "He is in
there." A droopingarm indicated another room. "Will you go in?""Well, actually, I wonder if you would mind going?" I tried to force
a smile, and inwardlycursed myself for not having brought garlic anda small wooden stake. But the girl seemed to understand my request andwithout raisingobjections or indeed making any sound at all, drifted
towards Eric's chamberand opened the door.
"Eric -are you awake?There's a gentleman to see you," she called softly.
I caught a glimpse of a white face, covered in long black hair, lying on apillow. A deathlike croak emitted from the lips oft he prostrate figure,
followed by a groan of recognition.
As he was probablyon an astral flight and was haulinghis spirit backinto his body by the old silver cord trick, I adjourned to yet another room
to wait for the completion of such tasks as the donningof trousers andthe cleaningof teeth. Meanwhile, the girl had vanished.

The room was a vast studio in a state of indescribable clutter,most of it the property of an artist for the hip satirical magazine Oz,
who shares the premises with Eric. Vast eye -assaulting paintings,
old copies of Beano, a rubber statue of Mickey Mouse andpostcards ofVictorian nudes were just some of the objets d'junkthat hit me. Eric appeared some minutes later, moustached andcheerful, the bright sunshine fighting through the studio
windows obviously having a refreshing effect.
"I lave you been sacrificing fowls?" I inquired, referring to thefeathers. "What sort of house do you think we're running, Mr
Welch?" Eric picked up a psychedelic telephone a nd called up a
hi-fi firm. "Do you know anythingabout hi-fi? I just can't get it towork. Pete Townshend would know all about it. What a mess thisplace is in..." Eric waited patiently for the hi-fi experts to answer.
Coffee at the antique supermarket was the plan, and tyingback
his shoulder -length hair with a tatty ribbon, and dressed in a red
shirt and blue jeans, he guided the way alongsunny King's Road,
through the myriads of hippies and irate old ladies. A lorry
thundered past, the drivershout ing mouthfuls of abuse. Seconds
later, another workman whistled and gesticulated.
"Oh, lorry drivers don't like me," grinned Eric, as we strolled into
the supermarket filled with discreetlyexpensive clothes andpaintings and climbed to the rooftop cafe.
Ericwanted to catch up with all the group news: "I'm so out of
touch. How are Traffic doing?! really dug their I.P. Stevie's toomuch. I remember two years ago talking to him about forminga band together. But he said he didn't want to be a leader andneither did I. So- no band! Haveyou heard the new Mothers Of
Invention LP? I'm on it somewhere, talking, not playing. We'redoinga concert with them in Chicago when we get back. Wewere
going to superimpose our acts on each other's, but I don't thinkthat would have been humanly possible.
"I know FrankZappa very well and he's a great guy. Zappa's intoa lot of social reform things. He's mainlyaddressing the older
generation through things like 'America Drinks...' and thecollege kids. He's changingall the time and as players the groupare really respected. Talk to anybody like Mike Bloomfield andthey all dig the Mothers."
He's against dropping out?"Yeah, I guess so. I'm less struck
about that kind of thing. I'm not interested in passingon messages. There
area lot of things I want to do, but timing is important -very important."
Are theCream breaking up?"All the rumours are denied. I'm happy withthe group, although needless to say there has been strain. We've been
doing two -and -a -half months of one-nighters and that is the hardest I
have every worked in my life. Financiallyand popularity -wise we're doing
unbelievably well in America. It's strange. I've only been back three daysin London and I just can't make out what is goingon. The scene here haschanged so much and nobodyseems to be able to stay on the scene forlong. Steve Miller didn't like it in London. He said he saw a middle-agedoutknocked
Clapto
Eric
that
the
to
returning
I AM knocked out to

Green
Peter
Says
"Straight

read about F.ric Clap -ton's return toblues playing". Thisissomething I have waitedfor front Eric, knowingis.
how changeable he

We used to talk about

52 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

it a lot.

thehighest and h,pe he'll keep_,,,,,,
re,
1

rate

him

with

Wh.,, Koss Mc'hian.rs vngs

IVs, VI,*n thc Ji,
Son,
under>land eve,'ivouos t,wlav
and
Perk)

-

Pletk)PI.TI,It

SAllintftS, London IFS.
remarks
SMITH'S(151, May 4) about the

I AN

Sae,

f.111)3:i

aid

(

ruk

shack ant; ert ri if they ch.k
get hits. thcir ret tads
soliblef,.tsnyi ne

PAtRICK WRIGI
titresBtandford. DOrbet.
P

LONG live the Nice!
can't be long het

real

CREAM

Anyone For Tennis
man takingoffhis trousers in a club to get laughs-and you knowand 1 know who that was- and hesaid he went to another club where everybody was
wearing seedy flower -power clothes. It's very st ra nge
forAmericans from San Francisco in London.
"America is doubtless a sick country, but it has
the most potential good of any place I know and the most potential evil. I've changed a lot
through living in America. I've tended towithdraw from making contact with people.
I'm harder to get to know than I was a few years
ago. I don't trust people so readily.
"Not here, of course! It's madness here.
Nobody seems to give a damn about anything!
It's really quite relieving to be back. Over there,
every conversat ion gets involved in the race
problem and ends on a doomy note.""We died thedeath fromplaying
exposure"

They had their successes and failures. Eric got
hung up on the pop scene fora while. The resultof that was "Anyone For Tennis", a nice enoughrecord, but one that didn't impress Cream fans.
It flopped. Sometimes, the Cream in full cry wereas exhilaratingas a Lightningjet screaming
past at ground level.
Jack's soulful singingand harmonica wailingon "Train Time", Ginger's great drum solos on"Toad" and Eric's "SteppingOut" thrilled fansacross the world. Sometimes theywere tired
and played badly. Sometimes fans complained
their music was taking the wrongcourse. Mostof the time theywere idolised. Eric told me last
May that the Cream were breaking up. But it
was to be kept secret until business problems
had been sorted out.

OK, but are the Cream breaking up? "AllAt the time, Eric said: "I went off to a lot of

rumoursare denied! I mean- thegroup isn't
going to last forever, but it's not going to breakup in the foreseeable future.
If we hadn't had this holidaywe might have broken up anyway. We all know
where it's at in the group. Each one of us has got to be free to move. We've
just got overa period of recording inactivityand we have two LPs out soon,
one recorded 'live' at the Fillmore and one in a studio, whichwill boost ourego and give us more confidence. I've been feeling t ired and frustrated."
What did Eric think of t he British blues scene today?"It looks very
healthy. I've spent some timewith John !Mayan and heard his new LP.
He's expanded his mind so much. I love PeterGreen's stuff aswell. His
album is phenomenallygood. MickTaylor is great aswell.
"But there is a great deal of belligerence wrapped up in the British blues

scene, among both the musicians and fans. Theyare both verydogmatic.
But speak to BB Kingabout anything, man, and he's not dogmatic. So why
should we be like that?"
Eric finished his coffee: "Well, I'vegot to pack my bags and go." And
the young guitar picker -who started his career with The Yardbirds in
Richmond, England, has become one of the world's great contemporary

blues figures, and remains one of the most unaffected people around sauntered off, back to America. Chris Welch
MELODY MAKER JULY 13-

CREAM ARE BREAKING up. The world-famous trio that features

Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce are to go separate
ways in the autumn. Said Eric at his Chelsea home this week:"I've been on the road seven years and I'm going on a big holiday."It was two years ago, in July1966, that threeof Britain's mostoutstanding instrumentalists elect rifled the blues world by joining
forces. It was two years ago that Ginger Baker rang me to say, "Me and Jack
are forminga group with Eric." Then came the denials.
Eric was the star ofJohn Mayall's Bluesbreakers,
Jack waswith Manfred Mann and Ginger waswith Graham Bond. Nobody wanted to lose their
key man. But Cream were not goingto be turned
off. Soon they were rehearsing together in a
London church hall, a thunder of blues startling

n is

hlues

their first audience -some Brownies, a caretakerand manager Robert St igwood.
They made a sensational debut at the sixth
National Jazz& Blues festival -in pouring rain atWindsor. They had their first hit with "Wrapping
Paper" in November 1966, and then came "I FeelFree", concerts at the late -lamented Saville
Theatre, and this year they conquered America
and became superstars.

MelodyMaker

ay u, Nis

different directions all at once it seems, but
I find I have floated back to straight blues playing. I've returned to what
I like doingas an individual, and that is playingexploratoryblues. You get
really hung up and try to write pop songs or create a pop image.lwent
through that stage and it was a shame because I was not being true tomyself. I am and alwayswill be a blues guitarist."
In the bedroom of Eric's pad he played a fascinating Bob Dylan tape,while we lit cigarettes, drank quarts of tea and attempted to talk about the
future. But the oppressive heat of the day often reduced the conversation
to about three sentences an hour while Dylan sanghis "...Wheel's On
Fire" and "Mighty Quinn".
"They were recorded in his basement with friends at Woodstock," said
Eric. "There is some reallygreat music coming out ofAmerica.Ithink weare due fora whole new spate of Sgt Pepper's... I've got another tape here
of Bob Dylan's Band. I think this music will influence a lot of people.
Everybody I have played it to has flipped. The Band is releasing an album
called Music From Big Pinkby the group. Since I heard all this stuff, all myvalues have changed; I think it has probably influenced me."
When and whyare Cream breaking up? "In a couple of months. We'll
probably be doing a farewell performance, maybe at the Royal Albert
Hall, plus 15 'farewell' dates in the States. The reason it is breaking up isa change of attitudes amongourselves, more than anything. Also wehave all been on the road a longtime, beforeCream started. That is a big
hang-up. Wewant to do things now that require some privacy. We wanta holiday, anyway.
"Also, I just want to perform contemporary blues. With the Cream,solos were the thing, but I'm really off that virtuoso kick. It was all overexposed. We died the death from playingexposure. I think the Creamreached its peak last yearat San Francisco. From that we all went on sucha huge ego trip. Making it in the States was a bang in the head."
What will Ginger and Jack do, and what are Eric's plans? "Jack willprobablyget into recording, and Ginger will probably get a group
together. I want to be in a group where I can control the music, but I want
to beat the back. I've already had plays with a few people, and I know themusicians ! want. Listen to this."
Eric produced a small spool of tape, threaded it on the machine and weallowed our minds to be blasted. "You can't say who it is," said Eric. The
one number on the tape rocked along forseveral minutes. It was a backing
track without thevocal, includinga veryfunky piano, and two guitars.
The most outstanding featurewas some tremendouslydriving drums.
I have no idea who the musicianswere, but from the styles they sounded
remarkably like Nicky I lopkins on piano, George Harrison on rhythm
guitar, Eric on lead and Ringo Starron drums. But this is just wild surmise.
The number was called "Sour Milk Sea" and if this is any indication of
the sound Eric wants in the future, disappointed Cream fans can lookforward to a great newgroup in replacement.
"I'll start work on the newgroup in
November. I want a piano, bass, guitarand drums. Yes, I was disappointed
with the Cream on record. I don't think
we took the right direction. The tours we
did meant beingon the road forsuch along time, we couldn't rehearse and try
new things. That was the strange thing."
Chris Welch..CREA M SPLIT
111111.1

1

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 33

1968
APR

"There are
more wonderfulpeopletlaan jerks"
How to celebrate the global success of "What A Wonderful
World"? For ALBS ANS i HUNG, it's with a fortnight
residency at Batley, West Yorkshire. Satch calls in advance,
charms both press ("It's like Las Vegas!") and crowd, andobviously promotes his own line of laxatives, too.

--

MELODY MAKER

THERE WASA click on the transatlantic line, followed
by a gravelly "Hello, pops" that could have come fromonly one man - "Satchmo" himself: Louis Armstrong,
now gracing the MM Pop 30 with his mighty vocal
presence at No 1. "Who's that?" questioned the voicecompounded of equal parts grit, gravel and charm.
"The Melody Maker? My favourite music periodical. How's my man
Max Jones, Nat Gonella - all them cats?"
The voice that typifies jazz crackled over 4,000 miles of telephone cablefrom Miami Beach, Florida, with a warmth and friendliness that cheered
up a dismal evening in North London. Sixty -seven -year -old Louis,
indestructible and fighting fit, is top of the chart with "What A Wonderful
World" -and knocked out that he's still pleasing his fans here in Britain.
Armstrong is the one man who has spanned everyera from the earlydays of jazz at the time of the First World War through to popular music in
1968. And he is one of the few jazz musicians to have been acknowledged
and revered internationally. Ile is currently to be heard, on his hit, as a
vocalist, but it is as a great jazz trumpeter that he is better known. Louis'
trumpet playing has warmth, beauty, purityof tone and brilliance oftechnique combined with a gigantic powerof swing.
Born in NewOrleans, Louisiana in 1900, Louis learned to playtrumpet in the Coloured Waifs Home For Boys. He was exposed to andassimilated earlyjazz influences and in 1917 joined trombonist Kid Ory'sband. He progressed from this group to others, including a band led by
the legendary KingOliver in Chicago, which he joined in 1922. In the
mid -'20s, Louis formed the Hot Fiveand Hot Seven recordinggroups
34 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

-among the most legendary in jazz and a step away from the pure
NewOrleans style.
In t he early '30s, Louis toured Europe extensively a nd made his first
motion picture, Pennies From Heaven, in 1936. From then he worked
mainly with large orchestras until he returned to leading small groups
in 1947. He formed hisAll Stars, the band he still leads and whose
present personnel consists ofJoe Muranyi (c10, Tyree Glenn (tmb),
Danny Barcelona (dms), Marty Napoleon (pno) and Arvell Shaw (bass).
Louis was relaxingat the Deauville Hotel, Miami Beach when I phoned
him. He was in Miami for an engagement with theAll Stars prior to flying
to Hollywood to play at theAcademyAwards dinner last Monday. "That's
a great honour," said Louis.
Louis had been singing "Wonderful World" with the band for a year orso before he recorded it. "I love the song -that's why I did it," he said. But
the tune's not too old- it's brand new, really.
"I love it because I've lived in the same house in Corona (Long Island)for 30 years and I love that line in the songabout the children. I've seen
three generat ions of children grow up in Corona. And they all come backto see Uncle Satchmo and Auntie I.ucille," hechuckled.
It's not the first time he's been in the pop charts -"Hello Dolly" wasa hit back in 1964 -and I wondered if Louis had anyother numbers up
his sleeve. "I got a lot where that come from, pops," he growled. "Joe Glaser
told me it was a hit in England, and that'sgreat."Was he looking forward to visiting England again- negotiations areat a final stage for him to come here forclub and concert work in June?
"Are you kiddin'?AII my men are there. I'm always glad to see them andmy fans in old England. Tell my fans Louis will be glad to come and playand sing for them."iikr3l4WV I AIWA:
14
ib.\R

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Manyof the admirers were local, as ! could hear, but for theVarietyClub,
Batley the term "local" embraces quite a large slice of Yorkshire. A female
voice actually said, "Ee, you were wonderful", adding somewhat
unexpectedly, "You can't get away from what you've got, can you?" A malevoice said the evening had been "the thrill ofa lifetime", to which Louisreplied, "For you and me, daddy."
The point about Armstrong is that he takes personal trouble over his
fans. He'll sign almost anythinganywhere, and even a tongue-tied
youngstergets an encouraging "I'm glad you came". To a young man ina wheelchair he was both considerate and charming.
Old favourites, of course, he never forgets. When he heard Lyttelton wasin theclub he introduced him from the stage ("one of Britain's great
trumpet players") and had the spot turned on him. It picked me up as well,so we had a numberjointly laid on us... "to the fine cats over there, 'That's
My Desire-. Thiswas sungbyTyree Glenn backed by Louis -who playedsome most sensitive music behind vocals by
Tyree and Jewel Brown -and then as a comedy
duet with the trombonist, in colourful millinery,takinga female role. As Humph reminded me, it
was a performance which harked back to thedays ofArmstrongand ZuttySingleton.
He'd heard that Louis played very little on the
opening Monday and was surprised by what
MELODY MAKER JUNE 29
met his ears: "It was all there, and on 'KissTo
ITWAS AFTER 12.30am and the Variety Club
Build A Dream On'. Fine stuff."
at Batley was emptying. But along one side,
No doubt Armstrong was extremely tired onby the stage, a queue of people waited to pay
the opening show. Fled travelled a great deal
LOUIS
and had very little rest for three days. On therespects to Louis Armstrong. He had been on
stage for a long stint, lasting perhaps one hour
Saturday, he'd worked at the Naval Academy,
ARMSTRONG
and a quarter. During that time we'd heard,
Annapolis, just outside Washington.
"The band had finished at midnight andamong other things, several bursts of vitaltrumpet playing -in "Ole Miss", "That's My
Louis stayed and signed those autographs,"
Desire", "Hello Dolly" and "The Saints" Ira Mangel explained. "We didn't get out until
which had the flavour of vintage Louis.
one o'clock and had to get back to NewYork andBack in the dressing room, Louis had been
beat KennedyAirport around 4.30 for the planerubbed down and refreshed. He had changed,
to London, leaving at 6.30 that evening. I'd hadtaken a sip of Seagram's VO whiskey, and now
to switch planes on account oft he strike, andwas ready to receive all -comers. The MMwas
that was hard as we needed 13 seats and only
entertaining the fivewinners of ourArmstrong
travel first class. We arrived in London at 6.40 in
the morning, your time, and had to wait till 10.30
contest, and theircompanions and Louis had
agreed to meet them "after the show". All of
to catch the Leeds plane.
them thoroughly enjoyed the evening and Les"So, now in Leeds, the press appeared and they
Partington, next to me, leaped to his feet more
kept him on the go. The guys and Louis had nothan once to shout acclaim ofa particular vocal
sleep at all, and I thought he wouldn't be able toor trumpet passage. Humphrey Lyttelton wasgoon. It's pretty unfair; they shouldn't reviewopening nights."
a surprise addition to our table.
I asked specifically if he'd had any sleep, and Louis said: "As much as
Armstrong and his manager, Ira Mange!, impressed by the distances
necessary. Wewere all night on the bus, got in about six. I died in that bed
somewinners had travelled (Edwin Hinchcliffe and his wife leftfrom six until 11.30, then got up and had my fruit juice and coffee andShoreham, Sussex bycar early that morning), invited them in first. But
Swiss Kriss. Then I had my two eggs.
they waited their turn, and it must have been 1.15 before the last one said
"I feel fine, because thiswoman travels with me" - he indicated Lucille,
goodbye to Satch. H inchcliffe, a veteran reader, showed Louisa card
who looked mock -indignant at the descript ion -"when we do a long trip
signed by him and members ofSpike Hughes' band when "Hinch" first
like this, a week or more in one place. But on those one-nighters, Mama
saw Louis -at Harrogate, Yorkshire in 1932. DH Bayes, a Hull winner, said
stops home. She takes good ca re of me and I take care of her. We look after
he hoped to see Louis next year on another visit. "Yes, I'll be back,"
each other.
Armstrong promised, "if they give me time, and don't load mewith too"Of course, I take care of my insides with a laxative everyday, and mymanyone-nighters."
chops with this FranzSchuritz lip salve. But if I forget for any reason..."lady winner, Miss Marion Gillies, gave him a piece of music she'dhere Louis gestured toward the bottle and winked at me... "She'sgot it."written. "If he just looks at it, that will be marvellous," she told me. "I can'tThis past week and more, Batley and the surrounding area had taken totell you how much I've enjoyed myself tonight." These greeting -and Satch in a big way. Everywhere he goes, people lionise him, or approachsigning sessions are very much a part of Satchmo's world. They take up
him just to say hello. Trumpeter Dickie Hawdon, who leads the resident
a lot of his time and energy- no joke to a man in this business who will begroup, was naturally knocked out.
68 next week- but he undertakes them conscientiously, as he does press"I never believed he'd actually get here until I saw him step onto thereceptions and other public-relat ions chores.
tarmac at the airport. It's been ridiculous hearing him every night; andWhile Louis shook hands and chatted with his fans, and signedwith him here, I've seen more mates in a week than all the previous year."According to Hawdon, Armstrong had seemed to gather strength eacheverything from programmes and photographs to handkerchiefs andrecords, I asked his wife, Lucille, how he felt about them in general. "Louisnight. "It's got betterand better," he said. "All theguys in his band do solo
doesn't mind doing this," she said. "Theyare his fans and his friends, andfeatures. But he sits in a chair behind the screen while they're on, and its
then he plays some of his best things."
he sees them all. Before the show, no. He arrives only half an hour before
going on. Then he gets readyand composes himself. But afterwards he'll
As for the object of this admiration, Armstrong himself, he liked the
do anything. It's his life and he wouldn't change it."
Batleygig well enough. "It's only one show a night. The people seem toPeoplewere still filling into thedressingroom, bearingcomplimentsand
like us, and we have a nice show for them. One of my fans complained thata fewgifts. One presented Satchmo with a boxof Irish linen handkerchiefs.
it stopped too soon. I said, 'Well, we stayed an hourand a quarterand
He got up to show them tome. "My birthmark," he said, laughing.
we're supposed to do 45 minutes.'" Max JonesLouis said that both he and his wife Lucillewere in great shape. "I'm justgreat these days. I've been on a special nine -day diet and I lost upwardsof 50 pounds in weight. I never felt this good in ages. This diet letsyou eat
steaks, omelettes, chops, all of them things, and on the seventh dayyou
can even have an aperitif.
"Tell you what I'll do for all my fans in England. Tell them that if they'reobese- fat, you know- theycan write to old Louis c/o Joe Glaser mymanager in NewYork and I'll send them all my special diet sheet fornothingso theycan be beautiful like me. I've just spent 5,000 dollars on
a whole new clothes job. I'm really trim -down to 145 pounds now," hesaid, and that unmistakable Armst rong giggle roared down the phone.
Louis said he still had two or three weeks' work on his latest movie- thefilm version of Hello Dolly. "We are spending a few weeks from theend of
this month out at the 20th -Century Foxstudios in Hollywood to get thefilm in the can."Finally, as time ran out I asked Louis if he had any
message for his fans in Britain. "Yeah, you can tellthem that old Louis is looking for ward to meetingthe people. Tell them they should get me work,
while Satchmo is feeling great, looking great, andblowinggreat." Alan Walsh-"Louis had
no sleep at all.
I thought hewouldn't beable to go on"

Our,

56 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

Juno18.1968:
topping a billof his

All Stars,Armstrong
rationshisglorious
trumpet playing. but
Batley still laps it up

NME UNE 29_

THE "WONDERFULWORLD" of Louis Armstrong is coming tolife this week at Bat ley Variety Club, and it was here that thislegendary character gave a 200 -strong gathering of press,

television reporters and showbusiness personalities his interestingand often frank views on a large variety of subjects. The "Meet Louis
Armstrong" conference, arranged by club owner I i m my Corriga n
and his wife Betty on Tuesday, took the form of a question -and answer session.
Arewe likely to seeyou back in this country again? "Yes. Britain's likehome to me.1hope to make a I2 -monthly visit. I would like to comeback here to Batley next year if I can. I don't do one-nighters now.
I concentrate on residencies of about a fortnight like this one."
What do you think oft he audiences you have been getting? "They'vebeen great everywhere and lam very pleased with my reception at
Batley. It's another place to work in, like Las Vegas except that t hey don't
have the machines and dice games here."
How long do you plan to go on in showbusiness? "As long as Lucille [hiswifei and I can talk Turkish!"
It has been reported that you said "Wonderful World" was corny. Whatdo you say to this? "I didn't say it was corny, others did. It got to No 1, andt hat's what counts."
What did you think of "flower power"? "ldon't believe in fictitious styles
oldress. I ike good plain styles.That's allIwit lit to wear."
Whydon't you useaguitar inyour band? "1 tit ink too much emphasis isplaced on guitars. We don't need a guitar because we have a good piano,
which is far more important."
You must be a millionaire by now?" I reckon I am richer than you. In fact,I

1k now I am!"

I low many weeks a year do you work?"Fifty-one. I don't need a holiday
when I have such a nice wife as Lucille with me."Looking back on yourlongcareer, is there anythingelseyou would have
liked to have done? "No, I have no regrets at all. I have enjoyed every
minute of it."Do you still listen to your Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings? "Yes, I still
have them with me. I have a copy of every record I have made."
Who isyour favourite composer? "Fats Waller."
What do you think of the North? "lhave always enjoyed my visits here.
I have played places like Leeds and Sheffield before, and although someoft he theatres have now gone, !still remember them."
Do you follow trends in jazz? "TheAll Stars and I don't go by trends. We
just play our music."

Are you superstitious? " I used to be. But the black cat crossed me so manyt Imes in one evening that I made friends with it. So I decided, 'I fyou can'tbeat 'em, join 'em!"
Who would you rate as the finest musician? "Wit bout doubt, King Oliver.
His melodies always impressed me. And he created NewOrleans jazz."
Do you think it is a "Wonderful World"? "Yes. There are more wonderfu I
people t ha n there are 'jerks':
F!NALLY, LOUISENDED on ahumorous note. Whenthe Lady Major of Batleyasked if he would call in at
the open day at the Town

Hall during the afternoon hesaid: "I must have my siesta."
The Major replied, "We don't
have siestas in Yorkshire." ButLouis, in a jovial mood,brought much laughter by

Satchmo plugs his

countering with: "But I am
going to have a siesta inYorkshire." Gordon Sampson

favourite laxative
ona novelty card
sent out to fansya',behindLeave it all
Louis tells MM
AM's Alan Walshra spoke to Louis
HUM

nn

the

Acker Bilk hair IY Pre'vented Ica% ing Australia
by

t

men

Said

his

Stre. tRi.dAnnnot. as daft as

VIE

LIVE?
4-1968-"Singing and clowning"
MM JUNE 22 Louis live at the batiev variety tiii
ROBERT BURNS' famous assertion that people all over theworld are basically the same was proved again in one senseon Monday [June 18] in Batley, the Yorkshire wool town.
Sixteen hundred ecstatic members of the 40,000 population
gave Louis Armstrong a standing ovation at the end of his opening
performance at the Batley Variety Club. Exactly the same emotion charged ovation that Louis gets in Tokyo. San Bernardino, Milan or
Accra. But in Batley. they get down to brass tacks more quickly andthey booed the unfortunate compere who came out to shush themup. Only Louis, reappearing with jacket in hand, managed to do that.
Undoubtedly Satchmo touches the heart of all who see him. His
winks, gestures, head -shaking, finger -pointing are cunningly
devised to rivet attention to his incredible face. And he always
achieves his object. His programme on Monday was exactly thesame as he offered at last year's Antibes Jazz Festival, with theaddition of "Wonderful World". The emphasis is heavily on singing
and clowning, and lovers of the Louis trumpet may be disappointed.
He was perhaps a little tired after his long trip. When he blows
himself in, he often opens up one night and astonishes even themembers of his group. The tantalising thing is that you keep hearing
brief snatches of that glorious horn. On the unpensionable"Indiana". backing Tyree Glenn's lampoon of "That's My Desire",riding along briefly on "Cabaret" and the opening "Sleepy Time
Down South" his sense of tone is undeniably still there.
One of the highlights of the performance was pianist Marty
Napoleon's solo spot, "The Girl From Ipanema". Napoleon puts on
a two-fisted tour de force that rocked him off his piano stool and set
the crowd yelling. Tyree Glenn clowned his way through "Volare"
and showed he's still master of the wawa trombone. Joe Muranyi
repeated his "Closer Walk With Thee", which moved in the lower
register but which sounded shrilly sharp when he switched upstairs.
Bassist Buddy Catlett and drummer Danny Barcelona trotted out
their customary solos, "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams" and"Stompin' At The Savoy". And Jewel Brown in her close -hugging
sparkling dress perfunctorily performed her three numbers. But it
was Pops the woolworkers wanted. "Bring on Louis," a gruff
Yorkshire voice shouted as Jewel announced her last number, andwhen Pops came forward from his backstage seat where he washaving a drink and a cigarette, the crowd broke into smiles andapplause as he beamed his way through "Wonderful World".
For three minutes he did make a wonderful world. There was evena pause in the consumption of vast quantities of heavy beer, gin andscampi and chips. By the time the closing "Saints" was hand -clapped
through, Louis could do no wrong -except leave the stage. As one
transported Batley housewife said as she demolished a large gin:
"I could just watch him sitting there having a cigarette."
Selena Jones sang a long set before Louis and was warmly received.
Excellently accompanied by pianist Brian Lemon and the Batley
Variety Club group led by trumpeter Dickie Hawdon, she brought
power, swing and artistry to such numbers as "I'm Yours", "Gloomy
Sunday"."Witchcraft" and "That Old Black Magic". Jack Hutton

Alfa

Ise

Pete Philip', ilrumrywr

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

I

57

JerrySag

ro sfar out for some people. There's
a whole new generation who
haven't heard of Carl Perkins andthey're hearing him now. Carl is on
the tour with me, you know. Peopleof all generations are the same.
They will buy rock'n'roll again.
Bruce Channel,E

Nice record! I like this. Ha ha!
Johnny Cash, bossof allthings boomchicka-boom, takes
tho Maker's Blind
Data challenge"Thetre great!don't recognise him, but I'd saythat was a No l hit record. He reallyput some character into that, andhis own personality. Definitely ahit. What next? Must be a MervynConn production coming up.
New Christy Minstrels

group but that doesn'tmean anything" remetngrash

UU)

oere but,u (CBS)Is that the A -side? New Christy
Minstrels. It's easy listening
alright. I don't think it'scommercial, though. I remember
the Supremes hit and I prefertheir version.
Jerry Lee Lewis ,Vhat'd I Say(LONDON)

Bobby Bare Find Out What's

say they were Irish. We've got lots

iappening (RCA VICTOR)

of friends in Ireland, and I like The
Clancy Brothers.

I don't know who that is, but it'sa hit. I heard that record in theStates, and I think it was a hit
there. Let me see, who produced
it? Duane Eddy? Hey, that's
Bobby Bare. Chet Atkins
produced it, and that's really
what's happening! Bobby Bare isvery popular in the States. He's
one of our best friends.

The Doors 'hr. !IlriHro.q,

That's the wrong side. The otherside is the hit called "The Unknown
Soldier" (record hastily reversed).
I don't like it. They haven't had a hit
here yet, but I'm sure they will. I'mquite interested in some of theWest Coast groups, but I don't
think this'll be a hit here. It's not
the sort of thing teenagers want tohear. They don't want to hear

new Man (TRANSATLANTIC)

I don't know if that record will bea hit but it's a nice and easy sing along song with good words. I'd031110/1

c5

GULP, ...

JOHNNYUNKNOWNSOLDIERCASH
BE SO GOOD

the new
singles-

Ir. mama.
PAP

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TOGETHER- spinsd'Ir.

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Sal Am LPbry

is one of my favourites. I like his
version, but I don't know if it will
be a hit. It's good, though.

The Crickets & Buddy HollyULliiL uuji (MCA)

I remember the song. It's not oneof my favourite Buddy Hollysongs. I don't know if the country
is really ready for that again, andI'm a Buddy Holly fan. I don't thinkthat can be brought back,although he could. I don't meanthat literally, of course.
Little Richard Good Golly
Miss Molly (LONDON)

Yeah -that's right. He's
made a hit! (Laughs) That's
Little Richard - yeah. Ha haha! (Falls about) Ridiculous.
This rock revival here isa good thing, and Little

4

OarA

Jerry Lee Lewis, who incidentally(ELEKTRA)

hey'll Never net

The JohnstonsrdIrlicw

military drum beats, in fact I don't
want to hear military marches.
God no, it's all over now. I'm sorry,
they're a great group, but thatrecord doesn't mean anything.

Richard should be one of
the big names of therevival. I'm not surprised
it's happening; in fact I
expected it to happen. I
guess pop was getting too

Glenn Campbell Want To Live(EMBER)

Glenn's not big here yet? He willbe, I think. Is that the topside? I've
never heard this song before, andit's not as good as some of the
stuff he does like "By The TimeI Get To Phoenix". This could go,
but I don't like the lyrics. I don't
think they've got enough roots,
although I like his voice. I can't
understand the record company
putting this out.

"It's not my scene
wchester United star George Best ("El Beatle"in some parts) reviews recent singles of note.

MM APRIL 6

The Beatles Lady Madonna

seem to be sticking to what wasa successful formula. Yet I don't
think anyone could have handled
the singing on this quite so well.

(PARLOPHONE)

Well, what can you say about that?
Everything The Beatles make isgood. and they seem to get betteras they go along. It's a rock'n'rollbeat. but more modern - a sort ofdig at rock. This is their best yet which is what I seem to think about
every record they make. They justget better and better.

The Hollies(PARLOPHONE)

This is one that grows on you themore you hear it - but I don't think

it will be a big hit. Good for the
discotheques and for dancing.
Well up to The Hollies' standard
and very similar to "Bus Stop".

Esther And Abi Ofarim

Manfred Mann

This is a great record - absolutely
fabulous. It's so different - andsuch a quaint record. And Esther
has such a wonderful voice. Bet

is alright by me. This is fabulous.
I like the fact that it is different-but, of course, all Manfred's
records are different to theprevious one. This is a good song.
too, although I don't normally like
Bob Dylan's songs.

(PARLOPHONE)

Without doubt, this is the bestrecord that Cilia has made so
far. I suppose the television
programmes have helped it a lot,

Paul Jones(COLUMBIA)

but it is a good song, and she sings
it well. I've always liked Cilia - but
I like her even more now that she's

No....I don't like it. It's a bitof a dirge. He seems to be
struggling. It was written by the
Bee Gees, wasn't it [yes -Ed],
but the combination hasn't
clicked this time. Nothing likeso good as Paul's days with
Manfred - but then he was with
Manfred, wasn't he?

getting better material.
'" ''"I (MGM)Don't like this -monotonous nothing at all to lift out the rut.
Successful ideas but somehow
the mixture doesn't merge.
Bee Gees

Dionne Warwick(POLYDOR)(PYE INTERNATIONAL)

It's the Bee Gees, isn't it?
Certainly not as good as"Massachusetts", which was thefirst of its kind. Now they seem tobe trying to repeat the dose. They
are just not progressing. Theyct/// tN.

C+IT

se, .e---GEMINIThis is just the greatest thing
I've ever heard! Dionne Warwick
could sing anything for me. Whata wonderful voice. Because shedoes it, it must be great. I've seen
the film and this is the only thing
in it. She's great!
The Moveq.

45(REGAL ZONOPHONE)
ct.

1:31El540 301JENNIFER JUNIPER"aft or ram.ca

tothEuropeanCup
Finalagainst8tenfica

Anything Manfred Mann does

Cilia Black'

8estin1968.nroutEthey had fun making this.

Tony BlackburnAcsfacc Gorg

Hey, another sing -along! But I like
The Move a lot. Right now I'm
patiently waiting for the next LP.
I think this is their best single todate, but make no mistake, they
will become better still. They are
a versatile group. They are goingto last a long time.

this is good for dancing too - I hear
it in all the discotheques. I like thisa lot - undoubtedly it will be a very
big seller.
Donovan(PYE)

This is great -as good as "First
There Is A Mountain", andthat's going some. The wholepresentation is good. I prefer
Donovan in this happy mood tohis "message" records. He must
make himself miserable. Pleasant.
happy record.
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
(FONTANA)

Oh yes- I like this because of thewhip. I can never get the "whip"right - I must practise. Seriously,
this is one that makes you turn up
the volume as loud as possible,
and sing. I like the big brass soundof the backing. Great!

Matt Monro(CAPITOL)

Not a chance of being a chart hit-this is not for the teenage scene.
This is definitely LP material -wellsung. excellently produced, andhas its own market. Matt needn't
worry - he's doing well enough.
The Tremeloes

This is another one to make you
turn up the volume. But it's too
fast for dancing, a real singalonger. It's a happy, cheerfulrecord, very good indeed of its
kind. Good for The Tremeloes'
image. Certainly won't do themany harm.
The Foundations

There seems to be a spate ofthese happy, singing records. But

Cliff Richard(COLUMBIA)

This one should easily win the
Eurovision Song Contest. It isjust the right kind of song forthe contest and will be a big hit
as a record. It has every gimmickin the book, yet it's still a bettersong than "Puppet On A String".
But it's not for me. It's catchy andCliff is a good singer, but it's not
my scene.
Lemon Pipers(PYE INTERNATIONAL)

I personally think this is great.
It stuck in my mind the first time
I heard it,just couldn't forget it.
I bought it immediately it was
released, and I am still playing it
regularly. I think it is a great songand they do it so well.
Paul Mauriat(PHILIPS)

I think there are far too many
versions of this number. Someone
told me there were 1.4. But thisone is by far the best of the bunch.
Orchestral pieces are not usuallyfor me. but this is a good song.
And this is just the righttreatment. Just the thing forcosy fireside listening.
Gene Pitney(STATESIDE)

Gene Pitney? Gene doesn't
seem to be recording what theteenage public want today. This isnothing different to what he hasdone in the past. Sorry. but thiswill not be a big seller. Yet I'd
travel miles to see him on stage.
He has a great stage act.
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 139

1968
Septembers, 196E: The
Boatioarohisaraing "Hoy
Judo -at Twickenham Film
Studios.
fora
promotional film broadcast on
this BBC's ostiricol show Frost
On Saturday four days laternew songs. Between seances"Lady Madonna", anu JU inure

as wiser men, with

THE BEATLES`A handful ofsongs and
four
boys
to
sing
them"
W

-"`

and promoting their newcompany, they reveal theircurrent musical position("we're rockers, rocfr.
and defend their poa

tack. "We're trying to ge.

that their new single was based loosely on Humphrey Lyttelton's 1956
hit "Bad Penny Blues"; talked of India and the Maharisihi and denied hewas losing interest in meditation; and spoke of his schizoid life as both
Beatle Ringo Starr and plain, private Richard Starkey. Two people tohim, but overlapping into his private and public lives. There wassadness in his final remarks on his dual existence. "I try to keep themseparate, but you can't," he said.

"Lady Madonna" has been called almost a return to rock'n'roll. Is thistrue? Yes, that's what it is -almost a return to rock'n'roll.
Can you explain what you were trying to do in this record? The thingis, we've been trying to make a rock'n'roll record for five years now.
Because rock'n'roll has suddenly hit the headlines- the great revival because this one is a rocker (a slight one anyway) people are saying it'sa rock'n'roll record.

When did you start thinking about this record? Paul thought of it
originally. He did it like Fats Waller first. I only heard it in the studio. Paulplays piano on it. What he's doingon piano is a sort of "Bad Penny Blues".
We said to George Martin, "How did they do it on 'Bad Penny Blues'?" andhe said they used brushes. So I used brushes and we did a track with justbrushes and the piano and then we decided we needed an off -beat. So we
put an off -beat on it and then Paul decided to sing it in his sort -of Elvis voice.

out with rock'n'roll records but now, suddenly, everyone wants rock'n'roll
to come back so they say this is a rock record and that's a rock record.
They've picked out records that have an off -beat, or a saxything, or aDuane Eddy thing. They're calling ours rock'n'roll and The Move's "FireBrigade" and Elvis' record. I don' think anyone will evergo back torock'n'roll as it was years ago- the reissues will be the only ones, because
there's so much more musical influence now from all the years that havegone before. Rock originally was influenced by count ry & western andthe blues mainly, but now we've had 10 or 15 different types, so all the new
rock'n'roll records will have a bit of that in as well. They'll be technicallya bit more advanced and have a lot more musicians in them. So I don't
think it's really your old rock'n'rollit's just a title.
This single is different to the sort of Beatle music on Sgt Pepper, forexample? We always try to be different. If people hadn't been saying"the great rock'n'roll revival" we most probably still would have done
this record, and it would have been just the new Beatles single. It wouldn't
have been rock'n'roll Beatles.

How do you feel about the early days of rock'n'roll?Theywere thegreatest days for me. I was just at the right age, but I don't even think there-releases of the old rock'n'roll records will sell. It's nostalgia for us -youand me... the people who went through that. The 25s and over.

Many people thought it was you si nging? Yes, a lot of people did. It didn't
sound like me to me.

Would you ever get so nostalgic that you'd want to play again? No,
I don't think I ever would. I don't want to play again on stage. Not at the
moment anyway.

Is this as near as you've got to a rock number In fiveyears? Ever since
rock'n'roll, rock'n'roll records have been made, but people forgot to say
rock'n'roll. All through the years there have been people who have comeIs this record a step in any specific direction for The Beatles? It's nota backwards step, as some people have said. Because it doesn't freakout, people think you're going backwards. It's just another step, and"Yes we're going tohareaparty.porty-:
Ringo and Pattie
Boyd help celebrate
George Harrison's
25th birthday at theMaharishrs ashramin Rishikesh.India,
February 25,1968

that's what they all are. Just because we
do certain things on some records, it's
called progression. This is just us doinga record...it 's just a record. It's not a stepback or a step forward or sideways. It's justanother step. It's just another type of songfrom The Beatles.
You stayed only 10 days in India. Whenyou got back, were you confused about
why you comeback? I wasn't confused.
The newspapers were confused. I cameback because I just felt like coming back.
That's the whole simple thing to it. I justthought -well, I'll go home. We got there
and it was great and the sun was shining.
Nice place.

The Beatlesin earlyFebruary1968,
recording "Lady
Madonna -forrelease af ter theirimminent trip to India

Was there any element of disappointment
or d isenchantment in you r decision to
comeback? No, it was just that we felt likecoming back. We still meditate. The whole
point of going therewas because wewere

away from everythingand Maharishi would
like you to meditate for as manyhours as
you can, and while you are there you can.
But it's impossible at home to do 10 or 12hours, really, because everything's provided,and you've got your room. You don't have
any worries about all the work you have to do.
We weren't disenchanted. It was just a feeling.
I thinkeveryone must get it sometimes,
wherever you go.

"I find tunes
the hardest to
do. I don't

think words
are very hard"

Was it homesickness? Yes. It can be described asa lot of things. I think Maureen was missing thekids. That was theonly thing. I mean, we didn't
say suddenly, "Oh, we've got to see the kids." Itwas like a hundred reasons which turned into one thing. You feel likecorning home. So we came home.

It was reported that the Maharishi was disappointed when you left?
We went to see him and he wanted us to stay because he's helping us. If
you're going to learn something, you might as well learn it from the bossman, and he's the guv'nor.
Were John, Paul and George disappointed? No, we just said we're going
home, and they said alright. See you when we get back. Not one of us holds
the other.

Will therealRichardStarkeypleasestand up ?
Ket
!UST sEcAusr THE OTHERS arc in Ind.aIlls inrc.ri. ws q ',tinsel Ringo Starr .1% we settled itRaiarmchairs at NEMS new Mayfair he acigus I tr.,
was back in Britain. Chirpy. cheerful. he sipped hissatiently. Ringo

What have you been doing
since you got back?Th is is thefirst day's work. Apart from
that, I've been at home doing
whatever you do at home. I've
just taken up enlargingand
developing films. I've been
doing that the past few days.
That 's all really.

You said in the MMin

December that the Maharishi
looked like answering a lotof quest ions for you. Is thisstill true? He st ill does.
Somebody said that I looked
at him and said, "There I am."
But he's a long way ahead from
where I am. He's so great.

There's something about
him.lcan't tell you what it isreally. You just know... there's
a great man.

Do you think he'll ultimately lead you to what
you're striving for?lle's put me on the road.
Now it's up to me whether! follow orget off.
Do you intend to carry on?At the moment, yes.
I've never, with anything, said, "In five years
I'll still be doing what I'm doing now," because
I don't know.
Has it helped you up to now? It's calmed me
and made me more relaxed, although ! still havethe same emotions as anyone else. But I feel
more relaxed.

What's the practical application of meditation
when you're at home? Half an hour meditation in the morning, and half
an hourat night. The rest of the time you just do what you normally do. It's
meditation because we're " householders" -that's t he word for people
who have to get up and do jobs and who can't be monks and sit in a caveand not do anything. So we do the householder's meditation -and thiseases your mind in the morning before you're out doingyourjob. Then
when you're finished, everyone's mind's a bit tight and meditation relaxes
you. You're a better person. All the worries, t roubles and tribulations of
the day- if theyare there, they build up and that'swhen you get all theaggression, because everyone is so tied up that they are not thinking
straight and theyare all shoutingand fighting before they know what's
happening. So, that way you relax your brain and no problem seems to be
as bigasyou make it out to be.

The devotion off he Beatles to the Maharishi has given him a lot of
publicity. Has it been good or bad publicity?The publicity we've tried togive has been good publicity, but all the people who think it's somethingelse have been saying a lot of rubbish really. This has been bad publicity.
But you are going to get this -you get good and bad with everything, andit's just a pity that all the people who have never tried it are giving it a lot of
bad publicity -like the press and a few pop stars.

Hash helped you musically? I don't think it's helped me musically,
no. Oursongs will be influenced by it because of John and Paul. It's
another influence, so it'll influenceour songs. But I don't think I'll bea cosmic drummer.

Have you acquired any ambitions to go deeper into musk yourself? No.
I have the phases where I want to play guitar or I want to play piano -oranyt hingl can playa tune on, because I get sick of bang, bangall the time,
though some drummers can make them talkand can play tunes on
drums. But I haven't done anyof that, really.
What about writing songs? No, I have the odd go, but it's a joke. It's tunes
I find the hardest thing to do. I don't think words are very hard. UsuallyI

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 I 63

I write a song and then I sing it to someone and theysay, "Oh aye, 'Blue
Moon'"- and it is. The first ones I used to write used to be pinches from
Jerry Lee Lewis -all his B-sides.

Has the fact that you're away from touring and just work in the studiothese days given you any appreciation of other types of music? Not
really. I still appreciate the same music that ! used to, which is country,
rock'n'roll, pop and the odd classics.
What about jazz? I've been through it all, you know. I've been throughtrad jazz and that got boring, and I went through modern jazz and I still
like some modern jazz. I like small combos -Chico Hamilton, Yusef
Lateef, people like that -small groups more than big bands. But there's
no great urge in anyof them. I just playan odd LP and I have to be in thatmood to play that sort of record.

What do you listen to most at home? I don't think I listen to anything
more than anything else. I stick LPs on, from Tamla to country. I put themall on.

Away from work in the studio and elsewhere, what takes up most of yourtime? Photography, playing with the kids, answering the telephone- justbeing a normal person who lives in a house.

Do you every miss touring and the days ofchasing round the country?
No. When we toured, it was such a frenzy and so exciting that I'd hadenough at the end of it... Five years of it at the pace we did it was enoughfor me. I don't feel at this moment that I want to do a tour.

Starkey, if I wasn't me. I still make two different scenes altogether. I try
and keep them separate, but you can't. Alan Walsh

MELODY MAKER JUNE 8-

pAUL McCARTN EY, NEW -STYLE businessman of Apple, tookt ime off from creative planning last week and talked about The
Beatles' recording plans. Paul spoke to the MM the day before
the group started recording sessions for a new album and possibly a
new Beatles single. He revealed that they were starting recording with30 completed songs.
"Twenty were written while we were with the Maharishi in India," said
Paul at Apple's Wigmore Street headquarters. "The other 'Owe havewritten in the time sincewe came back to London." There is no central
theme to the songs. "They aren't about anything in particular, they're justsongs. They're not even particularly connected." They are in fact justexamples of Lennon and McCartney's wide-ranging melodic ideas andembrace different themes and ideas, reflectingall the influences taken insince their momentous Sgt Pepperalbum.
The Beatles are not sure how long their sessionswill take, but it's a fair
bet that theywant to complete recording in far less time than Sgt Pepper
took. "We have no time schedule, we're just recording until we arefinished. We have the studio booked fora couple ofweeks initially andwe'll go on from there.
"We might record a1130 songs and pick 14 orso for an album, or it could
turn out to be two albums, or even a three -album pack. We just don't
know until we've finished. We are going in with clear heads and hoping
for the best. We had hoped this time to do a lot of rehearsingbefore wereached the studios rather than rehearse actuallyon the instruments, but
Has age had its effect too?Yes, that as wellies like, when I first moved
down to l.ondon I used to go out to the clubs every night and I had greattimes. But if I go now, I sort ofexpect it to be like it used to be, but it never is.
Although you blame the club and the people, it's you yourself as well,because you've got older and you've changed yourself.

Do you ever become nostalgic for the early days
off he Beatles and Beatlemania? Not yet.
Maybe I will in a few more years. We haven't
been away from it that long really. Maybe in 10
years; like I'm still nostalgic for rock'n'roll now.
Are you ever nostalgic for the North of Englandand Liverpool? No, because now I have my own
family and my own life, I still go up and seethem, and !still enjoy going to Liverpool. If thisall finished and I was back to not being Ringo back to normal -I suppose I might move up
there again, but !don't know really.

as it happened, all we got was one day."
While the group are recording, Apple activities will be more orlesssuspended. Theywill probablycarry out most sessions at the usual time,
which is evening. "Some nightswe may record through until five in themorning, if things go well. It depends what happens. If one night does go
well, the next night we'll stay later -until 8am
and so on until we disappear up our own!"
It is hoped that the sessions will product the"They're justsongs. They're
not even
particularly
connected""Back to normal"- that's an intriguing phrase.
What do you mean?Wel I, it is. But it's one of thephrases you use. I consider myself as Richard

Starkeyand Ringo Starr -they are really like twodifferent people. But they're not.It's just I think
Ritchie Starkey has got his life to lead, and hedoesn't want it in all the papers or the wholeworld shouting about it. And there's Ringo, where
I'm quitewilling to put up with it. This isa Ringo
interview. It's no interest if you write Richard

R 5615Vadag INK!
LADY MADONNA

We have atranscendental meditation
with spiritualism. Reports
appeared in the national press

handful ofsongs and aband called

the Beatles

INNER UGHT

next Beat le single. But again, that's a matter ofchance. "Until we start, we don't know what'll
happen. A song that looks good on paper mightturn out to be a flop when it's recorded. Or wemight cock it up in the studio. For the first week,
we'll just record and see what happens. If
nothinggood comes out of the songs, we'll get
The Scaffold to write one for us!"But Paul promised that the music will beeither simple or verycomplicated. "It'll be
one ext reme or the other- it'll either bevery
simple or it'll have everythingon it. We haven't
booked any musicians. All we have is a handfulof songs and four boys to sing them. That's all there
is -a band called The Beatles."But t heir hard work seems to have got theirApple
project off the ground. "It seems to be going0K.
We're happy with things the way theyare
progressing. Like all things we do, it started as chaos
but now it'sgoingquite well. It always takes up a timeto seeour mistakes and put them right. But now
things are startingto fall into place. They're goingsmoother and it'll keep on
gettingbetter until it's perfect."And, Beat le Paul revealed,
the group are not followingthat The Beatles had been

attendingseances to contact

41k

their late manager, Brian
Epstein. Paul explained what
happened: "Sometime during
this mad summer, George andJohn got a call from a mediumwho said that Brian was trying to contact us- that he hadsomething to say to us. We didn't want to pass up any
chances, so John and George went along to a séance. But

theydidn't believe it all. Therewas nothingin it." Alan Walsh
NME AU G UST 10-

som E WEEKS AGO I begged to be excused fromthe full story of Paul McCartney and the village of
1 larrold, which began in Bradford one hot Sunday
afternoon and ended with me staggering home in
London in the thin, cold light of the Monday dawn. The
cider had got to me.
It was also right there in the middle of my holiday, and I
wanted the time to sit down and write about it as it was. And
it was, as I still remember vividly, a dusk -to -dawn encounterthat taught me a great deal about the inner mind of theamiable Mr McCartney and at least a little about myself.
It all started when Paul, PeterAsher, DerekTaylor andTony Bramwell kindly offered me a lift back to London after
the recordingof The Black Dyke Mills Band.
One hour and a half later we were still in Bradford,
sitting in the deserted hotel, talking to people, drinking
tea, being friendly. A BBC TVunit turned up and Paulstood outside in the sun to be filmed chatting up someof the local talent. We leave. The thermometer inside
the Rolls had been at 110, but a touch oft he button andthe window opens and a nice breeze blows around us via
Paul's giant sheepdog Martha.
On and on to the Ml. Miles and milesofwhiteconcrete.
Conversation. Paul pushingbuttons on the radio and hearing
The Marmalade's "Lovin' Things" with eyes wide open...
"Fantastic! Get that bit!"Alan Freeman's Pick OfThe Pops. Des
O'Connor's"! Pretend"... "but he's a nice bloke", says somebody. Estherand Abi's "One More Dance". "God," says Paul, "are thecharts all like this?"Push of the button- "Sing Something Simple" on Radio Mr°.
Community singing... we all join in. "Music, Maestro, Please" and"Michael Row The Boat". Well, it's a laugh, isn't it?And there's only thatdamn concrete, stretching on and on along the MI.
Boredom. Brilliant wit ofApple PRO DerekTaylor (ex-Hoylake,
Cheshire, ex -Daily &press, ex -an interestingand satisfying life in
America and elsewhere eversince) comes to the fore. Fills in two Diners
Club application forms, one from Max Wax, "Professional Killer", theother from Norman Prince, of Wallasey, "part-time joinerat Grayson,
Rollo & Clover" on Merseyside. No chance!
Back to Pick OfThe Pops. Easybeats' "Good Times" slamming out of
the speaker. Paul, PeterAsher and all knocked out by the sheerguts of it.
Sudden decision to get away from the M 1 and an Asher eye sees the name
"Harrold", a Bedfordshire village. We head towards it but "Good Times"
is still kickingaround in people's heads and the car is stopped and an
attempt made to get through toAlan Freeman and saywhat about
putting it on again?
No luck. Choked faces in the callbox. It's a live show, isn't it, but they
won't even put you through to the studio. All you get it some stuffed -shirt
duty officer saying it is not possible to make contact with Mr Freeman
during the cou rse of the programme. (And Mr Freeman, when I tell him
later, is choked about it himself. They didn't even give him the message.)
Two scruffyurchins go by, bless 'em, with dirt on their faces, and their
shirts hanging out, and they look up at the big
Rolls and then at the famous passenger in theback. But there is no recognition. They walk on
their way.
Eventually Harrold. EarlySunday evening,and only the sound of feet crunching along theroad and birds singing and Paul asking, "So
where's the Ouse, then?" -hadn't Derek said we
could find the RiverOuse somewhere aroundthere, and what are we doingstumbling aroundfieldswhen we could be in the local village pub?
Bearded man in garden shows no immediate
reaction to request from Paul for whereaboutsof local boozer, delivered in heavy Liverpool
accent, but gives Irish -accent directions to the

IMay16,1968:John
LennonandPaul
McCartney at London

Airportafteratripto
theUStopromote
theirnewcompany

li,Apple Corps

Magpie down the road. This turns out to he a cosy little
place the size of a bathroom, with a Jolly Joker machinein the corner and a dartboard behind the door.
All of us are speakin' like we do in d'Pool, wack, but there is noreaction from the customers to the effect that here is an international starsitting in their pub eatinga piece of pie and drinking a beer and dipping
into a bagofcrisps. They're all British, aren't they- nobody is goingto
blow his cool. The only thing is that from time to time the door opens
and somebody is standing there red-faced and gasping for breath as if
he's just finished a two -minute mile, and immediately a corner of hiseye
falls on Paul he forcibly regains his composure and walks casually over tothe bar. But what, I asked myself in one case, is that particular customer
doing wearing an "I Love The Beatles" badge on his lapel in his local pub
on a Sunday?

The bearded Irishman arriveswith his wife Pat, and we get talking to
him and he turns out to be a most genial man named Gordon who is the
local dentist.
I'm not too sure about the rest of it (the cider, you see- it was the cider),but the memories includea visit to another pleasant pub, and Paul at the
piano in the half-light, gravellingout Fats Domino songs like "Blueberry
Hill" and "Red Sails In the Sunset", and then a visit to the home of Gordon
and Pat for meat and rice and more cider and wine.
The children came downstairs in their dressinggowns in the wee small
hours and play hide-and-seek, bashful about being seen by their famous
guest, until he shows one of the little girls some magic tricks and wins
their confidence.
Time drags on. Is it 3am? Four?The room is almost dark, but Paul sits
at the head of the table, head dipped over acoustic guitar singingsongs
I have never heard before. The voice aches over words of sadness andpower and I wish, only wish, I could recall
them now. They have to be from the next LP,

Is it 3am?
Four? Paulsits, headdipped overacoustic guitar

I remember thinking, and pullingout achequebook and trying to write some notes on
the back. Something went wrong somewhere.
All I see now is some faint scribble.
Time to go. Farewells to Pat and Gordon
and the family. The crunch of the Rolls on
gravel, then out on the road to London andconversations about people and life. St John's
Wood. The first light of dawn. Farewell to Pauloutside the high walls of his home and then on
in the car to my part of town.
Trip over the dustbins. Turn the key. Bed.

Alan Smith
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 185

E

NME
IOT SUN ON the back of my neck,exhaust fumes at the back of mythroat, four friends in front of thetape recorder. Left to right: Mr Derek Taylor,
Mr James Paul McCartney, Mr Peter Asher
and Mr Tony Bramwell, some of whom may
be known to you. I land reaches down to therecording button... push forward... raise themic and speak.
Inhibited by the wayside Question Time, andthe first inquiry is an inarticulate one. "Films?
How about films?! mean, you must give mesomethingspecific... the United Artists

commitment..."P Mac Cee: "The only trouble is, Alan, I don't
like to be specific. Now, !wouldn't mind if I had
a few things to say. But I'm afraid it has to be...
it has to be... more general."Looks like it's going to be hard going, this.
Yes but, I say, and Paul sends the wholething up wid dis sudden Brooklyn bit
about we's just a group of boys who get
togedder, by d'roadside, and' we's
gonna make it big wid our next album
on d'Apple label.
Yes, yes, I struggle, but thecommitment to United Artists...
P Mac Cee: "Right, well go on, and I'll
give you some evasive genera lisat ion:
There's a few films in the air. There's
films I'd like to make on my own, withnot me in 'em, just people in 'em. Just
anything films. Films of what goes on. Fi Ims ofgrass. Films of people movingabout. And thenfilms I'd like to make with the Beatles band.

Which would be musical films.
"But... they shouldn't just be musical films,
which everybody offers. They should be theother thingas well. And it's probablygoing to beup to us to think of it, because people don't seemto becoming forward with offers."
It's going nicely now, I'm warming up to it. I ask
ifThe Beatles are now dedicated to making

E

McCartnor"It'sgetting backtohow
it shouldbeagain...
rockers...rocking.'"The truth
about me isthat I'm
Pleasantly
Insincere"money, for whatever reason.
"No, that's not what we're dedicated to. We'rededicated to making what should be made, andincidentally- there'll be money. If you didn't need to get things, and if
you got things by swapping 'em, then by a roundabout method we'd be
dedicated to swapping. We're only dedicated to doing."
But then, I say, you're obviouslyout to expand Apple and make it athriving business concern, and MrAsher agrees but points out the reason
is not to make a fortune. Mr Tayloragrees and says theApple policy is tomake and sell hits, hits, hits -hit records, hit films, and hit electronics.
Suddenly: "There's something also you want to know, Alan, and I'mwilling to give it to you. But if you just sort of say, 'Films, then I'll say,
'Right, Alan, Eggs.'"
Get a bit hurt. Ah yes, I say, but you know what I want to know.
"Yes," beams Paul, "I know I do."Mr DerekTaylor puts it all in focus; he interviews me. Alan Smith, hesays- areyou dedicated to making money, as it is said of you that you are?
I have to ad mit it, I am. I believe money will help my loved ones and me tolive in comfort and style. "And style," emphasises Taylor, "you're in good
shape, Alan." It was nice to have me on the show
I'm beingput down, and although goodwill dilutes the sting, it's still a bit
uncomfortable being grilled by so many chefs at the roadside barbecue. So
it's back to the car and I think -Right, mate. No punches pulled this time.
Turn the tapeover, put it at thebeginning, switch on and know I'm wiping
out Cilia Black and Davy Jones wit h everyword. Do the bold bit about now,
lookhere, I interview manyartists and most of them arespecific, you know.
"OK then," says P Mac Cee, feet up and defences coming down.
"Whenever we lay off recording for a long period oft ime -which we do -88 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

we get out of the habit, and it's not together andit's not happening. It takes us a couple of weeks
to get to knoweach other again and how weplay. For instance, when I went to LA, I heard
things on the radio that completely changed
a lot of things I'd been thinkingabout music
and about sounds I was hearing. So it made me
write a couple of songs differentlyor arrange

them differently."
Hint of things to come... "So now it's gettingback to how it should be again... rockers...
rocking. Which is whereThe Beatles should be
and what we should be doing."
Longdiscussion about Apple and what itmeans and what it stands for. Paul points outthat in the past there werecreative people who had to go on their knees forworkand records and films and to get the breaks, man. "And everyone
gets down on their knees and grovels a bit.
"The idea now is that Apple is an organisation where you don't have todo that, where i f you're good you get recognised. The trouble is that somuch of the pop and record business at the moment is run by people who
don't have a clue what it is about. The ones who do know- it shows. Jerry
Wexler, HerbAlpert, Berry Gordyand soon. When you have thinking,involved people like this, it isn't necessary to depend all the time on the
Big Fat Men."

Start to get around to the no -punches -pulled bit. Talk about cripples (ordisabled persons, as my correspondent of last week tells me. Sorry. A word
can cut like a knife.)
What about helping people like this, I ask? What about giving themthe money to buy things to make things, to obtain theirsatisfaction andself-respect?
Paul: "Well, what about helping the cripples?"
Me: "Well, why not?"Paul: "Well, why?"
Me: "Because maybe they're having a hard time of it, and you'redoing
alright. Don't you believe in human kindness?"
Paul: "Cripples are not necessarily havinga hard time of it. And even iftheyare havinga hard time of it -it's their hard time. It is, man, it doesn't
matter what you say about helpingcripples or India, there's no way topour millions of pounds into India and make India alright."

THE BEATLES

Let me get to your conscience, I say. You must

"I now want

have that deep meaning thing- and I'm trying

to writesongs that
don't have any
meaning"experience out of writingand recording.
lle said: "Of course -it's all like a challenge.

have seen, in India, people with their bellies
hanging out with hunger. "No," says Paul.
"I didn't see that. Haveyou?"But doesn't it worryyou?
"No," says Paul flatly, "starvation in India
doesn't worry me one bit. Not one iota. It doesn't,
man. And it doesn't worryyou, if you're honest.
You just pose. You don't even know it exists.
You've only seen the Oxfam ads. You can't
pretend to me that an Oxfam ad can reach down
into the depths of your soul and actually makeyou feel for these people -more, for instance,
than you feel about getting a new car.
"If it comes to a toss-up between that andgettinga newcar, you'd get a new car. And don't sayyou wouldn't - 'cos
that's the scene, with you and most people. The point is also: 'Do you
really feel for Vietnam?' and the answers are the same. Maybe I'd rather
listen to a rock record than go there to entertain, that's the truth in all ofus.1 knowone is morally better than the of her, but I know I'd neverget you
round to it. I'd be a hypocrite."
Says he believes in somethingcalled God, but anythingand everythingis God. Never thinks about eternity or outerspace - more concerned with

innerspace.
The Crunch. Ask him to analyse himself and tell him I have always
believed him to be Likeably- repeat, likeably- Insincere.
Pause. "To you, possibly," says Paul. "Because I don't think, 'Here's NME
newspaper, I don't thinkAlan Smith, person, at al1.1 think I have to watch
what ! say because you don't saycertain things to papers. I think maybe
NME- Enemy! Whenever I'm faced with a pop press conference ora drinkwith the reporters, I can't be sincere... 'cos I wouldn't be there. But I
suppose that by being pleasantly insincere, I can at least get to know
people on some level in the short space of time."
Longconversation and then, finally, a statement.
"The truth about me," says Paul, "is that I'm... Pleasantly Insincere!And
really that's thewhole truth, and nothing but." Alan Smith
NME

ftICHARD. LITTLE RICHARD. That's who I'd love to record.

He's a fantastic character with a fantastic voice -andwhether he's singing rock or gospel, he's still great."Gem ge I larrison unconsciously tapped his soft shoe in rhythm as hetalked, and we both jumped in at the deep end of nostalgia as we chatted
about the good old days when El was Kingand Richard used to tutti-fruit
his head off. Extending his "I'm a RockerAgain" thesis, George said he
didn't care to dwell on the "Mystical Beatle George" anymore. "It's still all'Within You, Without You'," he added, but I don't want to go into that any
more, 'cos now I'm beinga rock'n'roll star!"
The crooked grin broke into a crooked smile.
"I'm still writing, though and after 'Sour Milk
Sea' I've got a few songs I've done on the next
Beatles LP. At least, I think they'll boon it. We
haven't worked it out yet. I've got a lot ofsongs
kickingabout in theair, and there's also about
two or three I've got at home. But I don't knowwhether to do 'em or not. Sometimes I write
them and with the mood I'm in, they'reOK.
But I comeback to 'em laterand I'm not inthat mood any more, so I think, 'Oh, well.
Rubbish.' I've been doing that for years!Cometo think of it, I've probably thrown away atleast 20 good songs wh ich, hadl followed
them through, would have been at least as

good asall theotherones.
"Sometimes I put on a tape at home, and I
find there are five bits ofsongs I wrote around1954-5-6 or 7 that I just forgot completely
about. I've got a song I liked when I first wrote
it, and I still like it, but in-between I thought,'Aw, this is a bit too much. People are notgonna believe this!' Anyway, I took it out
recently, looked at it, and I know they're still

not going to get it! The reason is it still tends toHarrisom"rve got a few
songs I've doneon thenext Beatles L P. At least.
I think t 11.01 b on it -to get out of that. I now want to write songs that
don't have any meaning, because I'm a bit fed
up with people coming up and saying, 'Hey,
what's it all about? What does it mean?'"
I asked George if he got any reallycreative

You get the idea and you've got the bit of plastic

to put it on, but then there's the actual thingof
going through all that bit of gett ing musicians
together and making people do things the way
you want, trying to get the best out of it.

"And then, in the end, when you've done allthat, and you'vegot a little thing there, likea painting... and you put it out...
and people say, 'Oh, it's a load ofman.' But it doesn't matter. Not to me,
anyway, because you get a lot of people who do like it, and it is worthwhile."
We got on to the Beatle Fan's Biggest Hope Of All -will The Beatles everplay live again?
Answer from George, with that smile again: "It just depends. The thing
I'd like to do most of all is play resident in a club. Not to go touring...
because I didn't like all that travelling and playing, and all that sort ofthing. But if we were to do a live show, I'd prefer to do it like at the Top Ten
in Hamburg for three months, and just play in the one place for about
three months. Then we could get rid ofThe Myth once and forall ofThe,

Beatles being 'something apart' from everybody else.
"Obviously, we go through cycles. At the moment, it's all that bit likegetting my guitarout again, and it's happened quite a bit on this next
album ofThe Beatles. We've got 'together' for it. Like, in the early days wewere prettygood because we played for so long in one place. That's why
I'd like to do a resident spot. Then you've got you ramps and yourdrums
set up. and get used to the one sound.
"All these people come to see you, too, so you can't hide. You can't
fake anything. It's like, you know, you've got your trousers down. And
there's nothing to hide! Now, we're trying to get as funkyas wewere in
the Cavern. 'Cos in the Cavern and Hamburg, all we reallywere was
thump -thump -thump. But so together, you know, because we wereplayingall the time. And thosewere the days when we used to think that
'Twist And Shout' was too
way-out fora single. All very
Shadows it was, then, andgetting into suits.
"This next album is much
simpler than Pepperbecause
it's more down to guitars,
bass and drums, and maybe
a piano. There's a nice oneof Paul just playing with his
guitar, singing to himself but

E'ATIESwith just a bit of brass on it."
We got on to the subject

ofThe Kingand George
said, "1 rememberat school
there was all that thing about
Elvis. You never really wanted to go toschool, you wanted to go out and play orsomething. So when some record like Elvis''Heartbreak Hotel' came alongand you had
this little bit of plastic... it was amazing.
Now, it's hard to realise that there are kids
like I was, where the only thing in their life isto get home and play their favourite record,
and maybe it's ours.
"We know Elvis is great. We knowhe is.
He stopped beinga rocker, and they madehim go into the army and by the time hecame out he was a clean, healthy American
doing clean, healthysongs and films. But
basically, he's got such a great bluesyvoice.
It would be great if The Beatles and Elvis
could get together for an album. It reallywould." AlanSmith
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 167

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APR

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Films. A new producer. A new direction. For
THE ROLLING STONES, 1968 brings a creative

rebirth. First "Jumpin' Jack Flash", then anothermajor song, "The Devil Is My Name". "There's
no script or anything," says Keith Richards.

"The oldthing...
that'sfinished"

68 1 HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

.
11.

I.

5

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5

.

MELODY MAKER

T0 REACH THE Rolling Stones' plush new London
office, you step into an ancient lift which looks notunlike the Tardis -and takes off with the same startling
disregard of gravity. Once upstairs, we were greeted,not by Doctor Who, but by Mick Jagger, seated at aconference table dressed in brown corduroy jacket,
pink frilled shirt, green trousers and black shoes.
Munching sunflowerseeds, we listened to the new Stones single"Jumpin' Jack Flash". It's a driving bluesy piece with just the five Stones-easily their most commercial single in quite a while. Wewondered if it
was a deliberate move back. "It's very basic," agreed Mick. "But we didn't
say, 'Right, we'll go backwards.' All you are really saying is that it has agood beat -it's not weird and full of electric sounds. Wecould do it onstage. In fact we have done -fora film for Top OfThe Pops. We did it live,with no backing track oranything.
"We didn't do it as a single. We are over halfway through the new album
and it was difficult picking which track should be the single because they
are all quite good for singles. The only person on the album so far, apartfrom the Stones, is Dave Mason. There's one song, a ballad, that I think
we will use an orchestra on, but most of the tracks are uptempo things,
all our own stuff. We rehearsed quite a long time beforewe started
recording, in a studio in Surrey."
Mick said the reason they now had Jimmy Miller producing their discs
was largely becauseof the physical difficulties of recordingand
producing at the same time. "It doesn't mean we do everything we are
told in the studio now," he went on. "Actually, we did some of the single ona cassette tape recorder, which is a pretty mad way of making a record. We
were all round at my house and we were recording everything. We got

such weird sounds on drums and guitarwith the cassette that we decided
to use it. Charlie was just playing toydrums but we liked it and thought, so
why not use it. We recorded again over the top of it."Will British audiences eversee the Stones on stage again? "I thinkyou
will," said Mick. "I'd certainlylike to, and I don't seewhy not. But you can't
Mick Jagger in
Olympic Studios.
Barnes.SouthWest London
during the Beggars
Banquetsessions.

go on forever, just going round the country. There are other things to do-likegoing round the country and actually looking at it instead. I likeworking, but travelling all the time -no!"
Mick seems completely unscathed by the Stones' trials and tribulationsof the last year. We asked how bad publicity affected him. "I get so used tohard knocks, I don't notice much," he said. "And anyway, I don't get
knocked by the people l respect. The publicity thing has been like that forfive years now. The arrest thing did screw us up last year. Lookingat it
objectively now, it screwed us up as far as records go, and performing,
because we just didn't feel like doingany of it.
"But I was surprised at some of the support we got. It helped to balancethings up. Reading what The Times had to say was one thing that mademe feel people are fair. Actually, I felt like packing up last year, but it was
just a feeling that passed."
Ask Mick if he plans for the future and he says:"I don't think more thana few bars ahead."
Asked about his business interests, Mick told us: "My interests are allin music -and movies. I have several things goingon in filmswhich arenothing to do with me as a performer. Then, this office grows. I just let it
ride alongand it just grows. I don't have to do much about it beyondvaguely telling people what to do."As front-paged in last week's MM, Mick is to make his actingdebut in a
Warner Bros -Seven Arts film, The Performers. "I'm going to play a kind of
dropout," he said. "It's all your actingbit. I've been working quite hard on
it because I have to understand the person before I play him. Shooting isdue to start in July. There is also
the Stones' film coming up. All
I can sayabout it is that it's very
good. It will be made here thisyear and is all music."
Mention oft he rock revival andBill Haleywas thesignal for much
Jagger hilarity. "That kind of
rock'n'roll," he laughed. "The best
kind was all the Little Richardemeik FLASHand Chuck Berry that was part of every group's basic
education. But Bill Haley! You know what I mean?
"Really,1 have great sympathywith the revival, but all
this stuff is not good enough. If what you are looking for is
excitement, you've got to be able to find it in new things. If you
are a grooverand all you've got is all these ballads in thecharts, I can understand you wanting to go back torock'n'roll, but this is just living in the past. If Haleycame up with a great new record it might bedifferent, but all it is is hearingall the old ones again.
It was all great at the time because it was everythingthat was happening then, but now, no!
"I suppose somebody will start saying our new
single is rock because it has a blues basis. 1 like to
do blues very much and I like listening to people
like John Mayall, but I don't get stuckon the blues.
I couldn't have a blues band -we've already had one.
I want one that can do other things as well."What does Mick listen to? "I'm so involved with myown thing I don't listen to too many other groups,"
he says. "I think Radio One is alright, but in a city like
London there should be room for at least five stations. There should be
one playing the Top 40; one like Radio One; one all jazz; one for freak pop
sounds, new things andAmerican records; one playingclassical music allday. There should be room for so many di fferent sounds.
"Iflwant to listen to Stockhausen, Bach or Jimi Hendrix, I should be able
to press a button and get the sort of music I want. Mind you, t here arethings Ilike on Radio One. John Peel, for example. And that guy who does
the blues programme, Mike Raven."
Mick launched into an imitation of Mike Raven, saying: "I must
apologise for this record, which is so old you can't really hear it, but it wasrecorded in a barn in 1933 and the music is first-class." He laughed. "Thatone is really in the BBC tradition -or perhaps theAlexis Korner tradition-but it's a great programme. It's well worth listening to."Mick yawned. "I'm tired and we are recording
again tonight. The rate we are going, we arefinishing two t hings a night -or almost
finishing them. We don't like scrapping things
when they are half done. We try and finish
everythingand then sort out the best t racks at
the end. The B-side of the single, 'Child OfThe
Moon', we did with country piano and acoustic
guitar. I rather liked it, but Keith didn't digit. We
did it another way, all more electric, and I must
admit it turned out better. This is the point
about beinga cooperative group -you have tobe; you can't do it anyother way. It's just a case ofunderstandingeach other. You know what they
all dig before you start working on it."How does Mick relax outside of working hours these days?"I never go
to clubs now," he says. "I stay home orgo out, but not to clubs. I go to films,
concerts or other people's houses. I'm moving house next week. I'vebought a house in Chelsea and I've also got a house in Hampshire; it'sa huge great place. Cars? I've got an Aston Martin and a 1936 Cadillac. Oh,
and a motorbike. I just got it to go across country. It's like a scrambler."
That seemed like a prettygood time to leave Mick to rush off to his
recording session. So, if you see Mick Jagger roaring across the Hampshire
fields on a motorcycle, it'salright; you don't need a trip to the funny farm.

January Moe:
Mick Jagger with
Marianne Faithfull.
whosereading
recommendations

influencedthe
lyricsof Sympathy
For The Devil

Philips, with nice legs and a nice smile, who formerly
worked for nice Kenny Lynch before becoming
Personal secretaryto the group. Jo sits at her desk ina redesigned invalid chair on wheels. The desk itself
is a converted pre-war Singer sewing machine. Her telephone directories
and pads are piled upon a huge travelling trunk, the late propertyof thelate Fusilier SEW Waller, who soldiered in theCrimea. Her favourite
phrases are "outasite", "neat" and "too much". She is an American.
Sometimes she loses Mick, who is wont to roll around the world looking
for the sunshine in remote spots ofSouthAmerica, which is neither "neat,""outasite" or "too much". But she is overjoyed when he finally turns up insome obscure countyof Northern Ireland on a hikingexpedition!
Occasionally someone like Tom Keylock- the Stones' chauffeur and agood man to have on yourside- will appear out of the "boardroom" andregaleyou with an anecdote about the time he saved Bob Dylan's life
when someone pulled a knife on him in a club up north, or tell you what
Keith Richard hit in the Bentley recently. Then there is Sue Cox, a fugitivefrom KRLA, anAmerican West Coast radio
station. She never managed to get out of theoffice and so became an employee. On radio she
was known as Princess Of Razmatazz. Other
additions include Theodore The Toledo Turtle
and Clarence, the coffee machine.
When I arrive at the office, Mick issittingon
achairwith a dark-bluecapeclasped about his
neck. He is smiling into a phone. Laterheasks if I
would like to hear the single and when I assent,shows me into the boardroom. The dominating
feature of this room is a huge wooden dresser
stacked with jars ofd ried fruit, currants, apricots,
raisins and pumpkin seeds forguests to nibble
upon. He places "Jumpin' Jack Flash" on the player and retires to the otherside of the room while I listen. He is obviously concerned about this single
but just as obviously is not going to let anyone know how concerned he is.
"I don't feel the success of this single is anymore important than the last
one," says Mick. "I shall be pleased if it is a hit, but that applies at anytime.
I think it is a good record, but I'm not going to turn round and say people
are out of their skulls if they don't buy it. It has a nice catchy chorus line
and it's a good performance number. I think it's..." At this point he got
a little suspicious of my line of questioning as to whether the success or
failure of this disc would be significant for them. "Look, what do you wantme to say?" he asked. "Do you want me to say it would be a big thrill andverygroovy if it made No 1?Al right, it would be groovy!
"We've had some lousy records which have gone to No 1, and somefunnyones- I think this disc is better than those. 'Little Red Rooster' wasfunnybecause it just didn't sound like a No 1 record, and 'Get Off Of My
Cloud' was not very groovy."
I saidlliked the record (it has since taken another four hearings for me
to love it). It has that bigvulgar Stones sound, which is just what is needed
to put some guts back into the present pop mediocrity. We returned to themain office and Mick mentioned that hewas concerned about Brian's
proposed interest in a dairy farm. "I think it will make him happy and heshould have it," said Jo from hersewing machine.
"I want him to be happy too, but I want to make sure he is gettinghis
money's worth," said Mick. "Fifty acres is not really that much when you go
and look at it. I've got 48 acres and it's just a few fields when you lookout"I felt likepacking up
last year, but
it passed"

Bob Dawbarn

NME MAY 25 ___THE MOST REVEALING things about the Stones are usuallylearnt while they are not aware you are watching them. So it waswhen I ambled downtown recently to observe Michael Philip
Jagger at work in their new London offices, which, as you might expect,
are beautifully bizarre. Rolling Stones Ltd are situated six floors up, one
floor above Issy Bonn Ltd. Issy, singing "Every T'ing Is Hunky Dory" towartime audiences on BBC radio before Mick had become a little
pebble, might find odd the goings-on above his head above his head!
The two chief Stone rollers are little, loveable Jo Bergman, formerly
a Beatles press officer and then a publicist for Harpers Bizarre group
before becoming a super -"express" -secretary to the Stones; and Maggie

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 171

1968
APRIl.

SANE

the window." Jo mentioned that their accountant in the outeroffice knew
all about these things. "Right," declared Mick, "I'll go and talk to him."
In the course of the afternoon I gleaned other little pieces of
information. For example, Mick has acquired a small, round Napoleon
table and someCharles II furniture for his house. He has also bought abeautiful antique bed for £200, which was used in the Liz Taylor and Mia
Farrow film, TheSecret Ceremony.
Mick returns to the room and sits in a chair alongside a round kitchen
table, on which sits avase full of elegant, long-stemmed, red roses. Ile
growls his displeasure of one recent report that the Stones hope this new
single will be a hit because they have no money left. He threatens to throwa bucket of water over the offending journalist on their next meeting. Of
course he does not really mean it, but it is all a part of being the big, bad
Rolling Stone.
The strange thingabout Jagger is that he is instinctivelya gentle, kindhearted person. But he just as instinctively defends himself by attacking the result of meeting too many less kind-hearted people who are only too
happy to kick him in the teeth (metaphorically) at the first sign of a soft
spot. One emotive reaction he could not disguise, however, was his
delight at the reception accorded the Stones on their first live appearance
for 18 months at last week's NMEPoII concert.
"It was just like old times," smiled Mick. "In fact, it was better than old
times -one of the best receptions we have ever got. Wewere all delighted.
We intended doing lumpin' Jack Flash' only and then just accept our Pollaward, unless there was a worthwhile reaction, in which case we would
also do 'Sat isfact ion'. We played 'Satisfaction'!"With a definite demand for more excitingsounds and more danceablemusic being demanded by youngsters at present, the Stones are
re-emerging at just the right time. They went to considerable trouble tofilm a live production of"Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Child OfThe Moon"
at Olympic Studios, Barnes. The recordingstudios were so full of film
equipment it caused a bewildered Charlie Watts, expecting just a couple
ofcameras, to say to a friend later: "It's like bleeding Paramount in there!"
You should be seeing the results of this on BBC1's Top OfThePops shortly.
As office hours drew to a close we spent some minutes discussing

Marianne Faithfull's culinaryability, over which I will draw an indiscreet
veil, and the staff began to put their heads round the door to say
goodnight. Mick remained hunched in his chair and to each withdrawal
wished them a "Good night", adding, like some Machiavellian "Uncle
Mac", "children everywhere" under his breath. He obviously thought thishugelyamusing. Finally the chauffeurarrived to take Mick home, andfrom there we were to go to a recording session... KeithAltham
NME JUNE 1

0

UTSIDETHE RECORDING studio there were two little
teenyboppers from a bygone age, sheltering from the rain
In a shop doorway in the hope of speaking to their idols.
Meanwhile, inside the studio the "idles" were getting it all together

in their usual apparently haphazard, but highly effective, manner.
The Stones were in session.
Keith Richard sat cross-legged upon thefloor, extracting inspirationfrom h is guitar, upon which you looked and found it looking back at you
because he had pasted two cut-out eyes on it which were so photographedthat they gave the impression of movingand following you about the room.
Bill Wyman, all in black, is exercising his lower
mandible in preparation for another of his"action man" appearances and experimenting
with a Mellotron. His hair is longer than usual
but he is considering having it cut -the problem
being to decide which one. Mick is patrollingthe area to and from the control room with such
enthusiasm that he seems to have lost a stone inweight, but later informs me that this is due tothe fact that he has given everything up for
health reasons -eating, drinking and smoking.
He reports acidly he has never felt worse. He
looks remarkably healthy.
Charlie Watts is also preparing fora return tolive appearances and in one of his inspirational moments of deadpan
comedydoes a practice run -out off an imaginary stage, from his drumkit,
wavingone stick to the imaginary crowd. It deserved a bigger laugh thanit got. Brian Jones arrives in the control room to consult with Jimmy Miller

about the present stage of their newalbum
and whether there might be room for him
to include some of his special electronic
music on the album. "I'm very hung up onelectronic music at present," says Brian. "Ifthere is not room to include it on our album
I would like to do somethingseparately."
At one stage Brian was convinced that
"Child of the Moon" was the morecommercial of their sides on the current
single and took some considerable time
and trouble in working out the saxophone
effect on this number, which turns out
sounding like a trumpet!
"But the more I hear lumpingJack' themore I realise I was wrong," smiles Brian.
"It has that same appeal as 'Satisfaction'and now I'm really getting to love it - itreally is a gas, gas, gas!"
He talks brieflyabout his disillusion withpop music of late and how he stopped
listening to it as of six months ago when"the really groovyand interesting things
stopped happening!" Brian also refers totheir film, which begins shortly, as having
a theme of "destruction and creativeness".
"We create," he adds with a wrygrin.
Jimmy Millergoes down inthe studio and sits in on a partof the jam session on drums. He
works himself into such a lather
that the mane of black and grey
JEAN-LUC GODARD
hair flies in all directions andhe sweats profusely- if
1111.11111111111010111.....

Keith Moon ever needs areplacement! This "playtime like" approach by Jimmy has
more significance than somemight realise, for he believes in± ONE
ROLLING STON

complete identification withthe artists he is working with,and in absorbingas much of
their musical identityas hecan. Consequently you will see
him even doinga little cod impression "Jagger's jig" during
a run-through.
"I don't want to impressanyof
my musical ideas or attitudes upon the Stones," says Jimmy. "I just want
to bring out all the natural talent they have. I want the Stones being theStones and that's what we think lumpin' Jack Flash' is. The Stones reallysell sounds. You're in the studios with them and everything seems to be
driftingto no purpose and then it all comes together quite suddenly."
While Keith and Brian are working out a guitar thing, Bill sits in thecontrol room and interests himself in a trade paper. He is hugely amusedby an advert fora DJ called Jerry Conway who
has a picture of himself in one paper with the"I believe they
exist - plentyof people haveseen UFOs"

72 I HISTORY OF ROCK 19680

heading"Recognise Him?" and continuing,"Direct from his fantastic disc -jockeying
success in the Strand." Bill had apparently
missed out. Jimmy is playinga tape backof an
earlier recordingcut by the Stones in which

there is a fine piece of piano bashing.
"Who's playing piano?" I ask, committing
the cardinal sin of expecting Mick to reply topedestrian questions. "Charlie!" says Mick
immediately without flinching.
Lulled into a sense of false security, I get as far
aswriting "CH" in my note book before fallingin and finding my informant regarding me out of the corner of his eyewith a derisive grin. Jaggered again! Having watched me wander about
the studio for some minutes, Mick finally takes pity on me and suggests,"Maybe you would like to ask me some questions?"

Bill Wyman, Keith
Richards and Mick
Jagger recording"Sympathy For The

Devil" during JeanLuc Godard's. filmof t he same name(originally titled
One Plus Oneuntil
recut and renamedby the producrs)"That would be nice," I agree and we retire to a small soundproof room
which is halfway between the studios and the control room- a kind ofno -man's land. Mick is in one of his 'let's be co-operat ive but not too
co-operative' moods. "'Child of the Moon' is probably the more originalof the two numbers we have cut for a single," said Mick. "It's a pretty song,
I think it will do well in America- it's more for theAmerican market."
Why? "It has a country & western influence," replied Mick with touchingstraight-faced sincerity.
Was their new album likely to be a reversion to form?The kind of thing
we expected before Satanic Majesties? "There will be some simple thingsand some complex ones," said Mick.
Would there be any love songs? "Oh yes, plenty of that," agreed Mick
fervently. "Lots of that!" I meant songs dealing with boy -girlrelationships? "Well, there's 'Parachute Woman'," offered Mick.
Plenty ofgood, solid beat numbers? Mick shakes his head and nods
violently, indicating much beat with a stampingof his foot. Other Stones
were drifting into the room and sat to listen to the crossfire. I attempted
to give him a hard time with one question - some chance. Why had hedecided to accept the role of pop star in his first film when he had always
stated he would not play that kind of character before?
Keith Richard made an aside which collapsed Charlie. "Did you hear
that?" smiled Charlie. "He said, 'On behalf of the board, I should like tohear that reply.'""No, the role is not like that anyway," said Mick defensively. "It's no use
my saying it is good until you see the result, but it's not the conventional
idea of a pop star."

Why had the early excitement of pop music apparently cooled -was it
due to so many top groups like the Stones doing fewer live appearances?
"All these t hings go in cycles," said Charlie. "You can't bring backan era

that is dead. If The Beat les went back to Liverpool now, there would be noneed to cordon off blocks to prevent the thousands of fans getting atthem. The times have changed and it's going to be a longtime till theychangeagain. Outside these studios now t here are two kids. A year ago
there were 10, and the year before that, 20 or more." Keith Altham

MELODY MAKER UNE 15_

K1 iiiilt ICHARD, ROLLING Stones guitarist and co -writer ofsongs with Mick Jagger, believes that he lives on a UFO landingsite. There's a growing interest among pop people in theexistence of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and Keith claims tohave seen several down near his country home in Sussex. "I've seen afew, but nothing that any of the ministries would believe," he told me
this week. "I believe they exist - plenty of people have seen them. They
are tied up with a lot of things, like the dawn of man, for example. It's
not just a matter of people spotting a flying saucer. I'm not an expert.
I'm still trying to understand what's going on."But he believes that something is happening. And he says he has it on
good authority that his house is a landing site for UFOs. Meanwhile, backon Earth, the Stones have started work on their first feature film with
French award -winning director lean -Luc Godard.
"We started the film by just carryingon the way we were before. We
continued making our album and he (Godard) filmed us doing it. That's
howhe works- he films a bit and then looks at it and decides what to do
next. It's the same way as we work -it's the only way we can work. We
haven't discussed the acting part with him yet -he doesn't work like that.
There's no script or anything. He just works from one point to another...
films a bit and then adds a bit to it." .
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 173

1968
APR

I

July 30.1968:Jean-Luc

GodarddirectsBrian
Jonesduringoneof his
intermittent appearances
at Olympic Studios

The film, titled One Plus One, was scheduled to last six weeks, but Keith
nowfeels their involvement will be much less. "I think we'll be doinga
couple of weeks and that's all."He didn't know when the whole film would be completed or when it
would be shown to the public. And Keith revealed there was another film
involving the Stones in the air. "But I can't sayanythingabout it at the
moment, because they're still hustling about money. But it looks as if it's
all getting together. If it does, I expect we'll be doing it later this year.
"At the moment, we're concentratingon getting the album finished.
We'vegot enough recorded to bring out the album, but we want to getanother four or five things completed so we can have a good mixture ofthings on it. It'll definitely be out next month and we are still aiming torelease it on the 26th, which is Mick's birthday."
Unlike fellow Stone Bill Wyman, Keith has no aspirations to record
other artists. "I have enough trouble recording Bill Wyman and theothers," he said. Instead, he spends any spare time he has down in the
country learning to ride a scramble motorbike which he has bought.
And, of course, scanning the skies for those strange flying objects. With
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" notching up their biggest single hit for some time,
the Stones are thinkingabout their next appearances for their fans.
"We have been thinking about it recently. We want to do someappearances, but I don't think the fanswant to see us do the old thing-a tour, with us on stage for20 minutes or half an hour, kickingoffwith'Sat isfaction'. That's all finished. We are developingsome ideaswe've hadfor some shows that are different. They maybe just crazy ideas, but they
involve a circus. We have ideas for combining the Stones with a circus."
There are no firm dates for the project at this stage, just ideas. "First,
we've got to find a circus that'swilling to do it," said Keith.
Over to you, M r Ch ipperfield. Alan WalshNME JUNE 15TEIREE FIRE ENGINES later is a strange but apt way of startinga Rolling Stones feature about their first film. But it's accurate -the Olympic recording studios, Barnes went up in flames when
they were working there on Monday. There were simply oodles ofinteresting people gathered there to see the bonfire night. There wasMarianne Faithful! with a little mutt (dog of indeterminate origin) called
74 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

Tassle, road managers Ian Stewart and Tom Keylock and a young lady ina tiny red cardigan who had beautiful colour photographs for the album
Beggars Banquet. The Stones are shown dressed as tramps (Charlie, theother Stones unfairly claim, is a natural) taken in the banquet room ofan old, old Hampstead house. Such is the quality of the colour on theoriginal photographs that they are made to look like oil paintings.
And, of course, there was record producerJimmy Miller, who appears to
get a few more grey hairs to his thick thatch after every Stones session. He
was augmented on this occasion by sound engineer Glyn Johns, whom
"MickThe Lip" greeted sardonically with: "Mellow Glyn- thought you'dgone to America. Joined the brain drain!" Mick likes Glyn.
There was film director Jean -Luc Godard, who is the least noticeable
person amongst the pulchritude ofyoung ladies leggingabout the studioand the bright long-haired young men. He was dressed in a sombre suitwith an innocuous tie and has a small, pertinent, bespectacled face.
Speech among the watchers is at a minimum due to the barrage of soundemanating from Messrs Jagger, Watts, Wyman and Richard seated on thefloor getting things together!
"We've done about three nights of this kind of shooting," Keith tells me
duringa break. "We shot a number called 'The Devil Is My Name', which
is on the LP. The first run-through was a disaster and then the second takeeverything went perfect. It could well be the feature track on the album."
Having heard the playback a few minutes later, I would think it could
well be. It showcases the Stones at their traumatic best with thundering
drums, brilliant guitar work and an excitingelectric piano from theirlatest satellite musician, Nicky Hopkins, with Jagger's vocal fighting forlife and making it through the beat barrier.
Mick, apparently, did not knowwho half t he assembled people were,but made a point of saying goodnight to everyone. Even thosewho were
not leaving! He was dressed for the occasion in green trousers and a black
shirt with yellow prints of razor blades drawn on it. It has been some timesince I haveseen him in such high spirits and thesewere obviously due tothe success of "Jumpin' Jack Flash", which is flying high in the NMEchart.
There have been those who have sadly underestimated Jagger, Richard
and co. Myadvice is do not, and lookout for this next superalbum tofollow the super single. "A lot of the tracks relate to actual characters," said
Mick. "There is 'Parachute Woman' and 'Factory Girl' and 'Lady'. We werethinkingof animat ingsome of these figures for the cover."ROLLING STONESThe cover photographs were the subject of discussion during myvigil inthe control room and produced a considerable amount of speculation.
Speculation is about as close as you come to information with the Stones
at present and the best wayof obtaining it is just to sit about and listen andwatch. Take this extraordinary sequence for example.
Enter Mick into the control room: "Who's taken the bread knife?" "Youmean the one with the silverhandle?" replies Keith. "That's mine, it's athrowing knife." "No, I mean the bread knife," says Mick. And so on until
one realises that theyare referring to the banquet pictures and the props
used for it. Then, of course, there is an actual take- much more fun.
They run through an interpretation of "Lady" with Nicky Hopkins once
more on electric piano, and then comeback into the control room.
"It's much too polite." says Mick to Keit h. "We could distort the piano,"suggests Keith. "Where's Nicky?" asks Mick, and finds him sitting four feetaway. "It's not 'YAI I!' enough," he explains to Nicky. "Jimmy, give him theface," says Mick. "He means it must be more 'YAHHHHHH!'" explodes
Jimmyand screws his features into the most horrific contortions.
I yawn- it's one in the morning. "That's nice," says Charlie, pouncing
upon the act. "'Ere we aredoingour best to entertain you and you'retired!" He plays it deeply hurt.
Jagger beams gargoyle -like from his stool upon me. "Someday I'm goingto write a really horrible article about you," he promises. I thank him anddecide to go home. Outside is the mobile canteen- frying into the night
and the early morning. I join road manager Stu and pianist Nicky for abacon sandwich. I go home greatlychastened and fall asleep, which iswhere all good stories end... but no.
At 4am there is a phone call from a delighted
Bill Wyman. "Well, you missed it -the studio's
gone up in flames. There are three fire engines
and the ceiling's on fire. Jimmy and I have beendashing in and out saving the tapes and there isfire extinguisher fluid all over the organ. One of
the arc lamps in the ceiling must have set fire tosome papers. The whole place is going up."Bright and early next morning! motordown
to see what I missed and expect to find theremnants of smoulderingStones in the ashesof the studios, but things are not so bad. Thereis a nasty -looking mess in the ceiling, with thegreater part of the lightingsystem hanging out, but most of the debris iscleared. Studio manager Keith Grant informs me that all the equipment
is OK and with a temporary lighting system he expects to be back inbusiness by midday. "But it might have been the end of the studios if thefiremen had not acted so promptly," he adds.
I knew someth ing would happen if I went there. Keith Milian!

feats. They have arranged a cunningsystem of poles, which carry wires
from London to the Watts farm, enabling his speech to be heard as if hewere in the next room.
Onlya crossed line, frequent pips and a cow rubbing his head against
a telegraph pole somewhere near East Grinstead made Charlie sound as
if he were in the next room but one when he spoke to theMM this week.
"What's been happeningon the film?! dunno, what's been happening
on the film?" said Charlie, in vague response to vague queries about theStones' film One Plus One, by French director Jean -Luc Godard. "Thething is -have you ever seen anyof Godard's films?""No, are theyveryexperimental?""No, I don't like that word experimental. Well, his films aren't like basic
stories. They are much more intimate. He can shoot a film entirely in one
room. He's just filming us at work -as he calls it, 'creating'. When he's atwork, you just don't knowyou are being filmed. I've heard people say it's
like a documentary, but he's creatingan environment, fora film about
creation and destruction."
Do the Stones have speaking parts? "What we say are speaking parts."
Was Charlie involved in the recent fire at the studios? "That was bloody
frightening. The lights got too hot, and when the fire started I didn't thinktheycould put it out. Most of ourgear was saved, so we can still work. It
was funny. We sat looking at the fire and we didn't think it was happening
until they started getting extinguishers out."
Howbusyand involved are Charlie and theStones? "We haven't stopped
workingsince January. There hasn't been a week when there hasn't beensomething to do. I'm very pleased with thesingle and the next LP has got fantastic things
on it. It will be very right for the times. It'll bemuch more together than the last one.
"Satanic Majesties... was a good step in theright direction, but thiswill be better. When
we did Majesties we didn't have a producer andnobody to hold us together, which you needwhen you've got five people putting different
suggestions out.
"I like working with our producer, Jimmy
Miller. He kept us going through the sessions.
Mick and Keith kept on writing, of course andJimmy kept us playing. Jimmy's got a great ear
for picking things out, and he'll tell us in a nice way what is right andwrong. Mick asked him to join and 1 hope he stays- personally."
What of the future, Charles? "I've got no idea what The RollingStones
are going to do next. All we can do is do what we always do. Make
another single. Make another album. As for a tour, I don't know

"Mick getsdepressed,then he feels

alright again"

MELODY MAKER JUNE 22 ___TIIE BEACH BOYS, The Beatles and Donovan chased round theworld after the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in search of spiritual
peace. But Charlie Watts has built-in meditation power andfinds all the peace he needs on an isolated Sussex farm.
Many pop stars have been through traumatic scenes in the last few
years, bend ing like reeds before the blasts of philosophy and fashion.
Charlie has stayed the same. He likes to give the impression of beingbored -and boring. But this is a good line of defence for somebody who
is as enthusiastic as ever about The RollingStones, enjoys working andhas lots of interest in art, writing, films and music. If he is reluctant
to expound too wordilyon his interests, it is because pretension isanathema to him.
Although the GPO area strange crew who plan shortly to destroy all
London's telephone directories, they are still capable of some technicalanythingabout that."
What is the present mood of the Stones in viewof recent events? "Wewent through a period of depression last year; people change everyday,
don't they? One day we can do a track that sounds awful. Work all night
and it soundsAWFUL. Then next day, it sounds totallydifferent. Mick
gets depressed, then he feels alright again. There's no point in our saying,'Shall we carry on?' We have to carryon because there is nothing else we
can do and it's our way of gettingenjoyment."
What is givingCharlie musical enjoyment at the moment? "Myfave raveat the moment, you can say, is The Sorcerer by Miles Davis. And I like
listening to the quiet stuff Buddy Rich plays- like his album with Art
Tatum. I like Don Ellis, but he can go off after a bit. But it's great, if you
know what I mean. There seems to be more West Coast avant-garde pop,
like the Mothers. Maybe that is where jazz isgoing."
Does Charlie have any ambitions to do things outside of the Stones?
"I do. But it's no good talking about it until I've done it."And somehowone is left with the feeling that one dayCharlie Watts will
shake the world! Chris Welch

FIRE!
ON
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fire engines later is a strange
about their
THREEof starting a Rolling Stones feature
Olympic record
accurate-theBut
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first film.
in flames when they
Barnes.
went
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Monday.
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1 herr .... Mariann.. taith.
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By KEITHALTHAMgiye haw the Ix,' soy. N41,1i.
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SLY & THE FAMILYSTONE, SMALL FACES,

JIMI HENDRIX & MORE

76 1 HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

Leathorwarning:
MarianneFaithfull
takosawildridein
Jack Cardiff's GirlOn A Motorcycle"Marianne's
charms are
exposed"NME AUGUST 24

s Faithfull

takes on her first leading role.
"Outstanding photographic
effects," says NME.
LEATHER-CLAD MARIANNE FAITHFULL,

as she appears in her first starring movie,
Girl On A Motorcycle -which has its world

premiere at London's Warner Cinema on
Thursday, September 12. General release
will be on theABC Circuit during the autumn.
The film is noteworthy for its outstandinglack Cardiff photographic effects, and forthe manner in which Marianne's charms
are exposed by the camera -and we domean exposed! Dramatic musical scoreby Les Reed.
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

"If I got shit rmchanging

1968
uy

my name to Zinc Alloy-,
Marc Bolan and (left)
Stove Perogrin Took of
Tyrannosaurus R.. inEcionbridge,Knt.1968

SEPTEMBER

same way I do. Steve just picks up a drum
and bangs away.
"What the Pink Floyd do electrically, we
do acoustically. Steve improvises and I'mlearning to improvise. Through playingso
much. I don't claim to beaguitarist, but I've

got flaminghands and bleedingfingers.
[steer theguitar like a ship, and sing withmy eyes closed. When I'm bopping it feels
great. But I can't see what I'm doing and themicrophoneoften falls into the hole in theguitar. I like having myeyesclosedi likewatching the pictures. I used to watch wholefilms in bed under the sheets. Theyare better
than dreams. The truedream is living."
Apart from dreams, what are Marc's moretangible achievements at the moment?
"Our next LP is finished and the next
single is going to be 'One Inch Rock' with
'Salamanda Palaganda. 'One Inch Rock' isabout a man who meets a woman who takes
him home and strips off for him. She
offers him a drink. It makes him one
inch tall and she puts him in anotherbottle with anothergirl. Theyget
INCII ROCK'bored and do a dance.
"No, I shouldn't think the rockers
will dig it! It will only hang them up.
The only relation we have with thepast and rock is energy. All we areabout is energy, and soft emotions.
I am now getting much moreire

"I feel like a star now"
educing... John Peel proteges Tyrannosaurus Rex. "Weahout energy and soft emotions," says the duo's tousled frontman.

MM JULY"I

CANT REALLY GET hung up

on the pop ego thing. God isa good thing and if I started tobelieve I was a splinter of God's
head, I'd be zapped, and mown
down with lightning. And what good wouldthat be? I'd never get in the chart then!"
One half ofTyran nosaurus Rex talking. Marc
Bolan, black, curly hair. Smiles a lot. Hides

under bedsheets and imagines Technicolor
movies. Marc, aged 20, seems 15, and in a timeof growingcomplexity in the name of pop
progression, injects simplicity into themainstream of events.
From the West Coast to London, groups areattackingourconsciousness with heavyarmaments ranging from Mellotrons to eight track recording machines. Marc is offering
acoustic guitar, while his mate, Steve Peregrin
Took, "bangs away on a drum". Their music

often sounds like a Buddy Holly demo disc. Yet
it is charming thousands of hippies, selling LPs,
and the tiny duo have already been invited totourAmerica in the autumn.
Marc is tasting success for the first time. In
the past he has been involved in pop groups

where he was unhappyand unfulfilled. Nowhe
has hit on a formula so simple, many must be
kicking themselves for not

fulfilment out ofwriting thanperforming. I'm olderand I'mmaturing -like cheese orsomething.
"I can't stop writing. I wrote four
poems last night. I can get a streamof inspiration and my hand writes away, andthe words don't always make sense. They fit
like an abstract painting. I spell very badly andmy handwrit ing is childish, but I enjoy writing
and getting words and music together. I get
giggly and knocked out."
Does Marc's dream world get threatened byviolence? How does he cope with the nasties?
"The only unpleasantnesswe had was in theearly days at Tiles Club, when John (Peel] wasdoing a Perfumed Garden thing. All the heavies
were there. Sad thuggies who wanted to beatJohn up."
Is Marc afraid of the violence in America?
"Well, I lived in Tooting forfouryears. No, I'm notafraid. There's violence
everywhere. I went to ahaving thought of it before.
Bolan appeared for our
talk wearing a red -and -black
I get giggly andstriped school blazer, withGreek restaurant and twoholes in the elbows, thatpeople said, 'Is that a boy
had belonged to his firstor a girl? No, it's an animal.'girlfriend. He seemed about
It was said with such
four feet high, but has probably a few more
bitterness. It's sad, because kids are influenced
inches than that. Hewas peering up at a copy ofby that sort of comment.
his album, displayed in a record storewindow.
"I can't really believe anybodycan be called"I feel like a star now," he said, as we adjourned
a pop star. There is no such thing. You might
for refreshment.
exist as one on a photograph, but it's neveryou.
How did Marc feel about his"Violence doesn't bug me. When I was a kid it
measure of success? "Never think
was always rough. I just believe in strength ofabout it really. It's funny. Initiallythe spirit. If somebody wants to have a knuckle
Tyrannosaurus Rexwas a five -piecewith you, it's theirscene. You get lots of nasties.
electric group fora week. But it neverYou can be a gangster, and be cool about it.
got properly rehearsed. I couldn't
Rogues are very good. Scavengers are very bad."Original question.. Would success spoil Marc
amass enough energy to turn themall on to what I wanted. With Steve,
Bolan?"' f I get hit I'm changing my name toit's veryeasy because he thinks theZinc Alloy and wearing an aluminium suit.""I enjoy writing.
knocked out"Canned Heat, September 9.1968:(clockwise from right) Honr y
Vestine. Bob Hitt, Larry Taylor,
Fito d la Parra and Al Wilson

prostitutes"
0 -one is happy about

MM NOV 9

ul the new Hendrix LP.
THE JIMI HENDRIX Experience's new
album, Electric Ladyland. has beenbanned from a number of record
shops in Britain. The shops are in various
provincial towns, including Hull andBristol. The album, which features a colour
photograph of 21 nude girls, was released
last week and has sold over £80,000 ofrecords since the release. Other leading
record stockists, including Boots and WH
Smith, have said that they will stock thealbum but will not display it and will sell it ina brown paper cover. The cover for thealbum was taken by photographer David
Montgomery. This week, Jimi Hendrix

The glamour is nice"
NME AUG 31 introducing... the Bear, Sunflower and LA's Canned Heat.
CNNED HEArs"mR BASSMAN", thepleasant and forthright LarryTaylor,came on the phone from LA and said
did I think I could speak up a little; he couldn't
hear me. I said the reason for this was I hadn't
said anything yet. Thus began an informative
little chat in which we had a laugh and somemoments of serious information, and theonly trouble was that occasionally it sounded
as if there were Russian tanks on the line. Or
maybe it was just the Heat.
Anyway, it transpires that far from the coolcommented from California, "I don't know
anything about it. I don't decide which
pictures will be used on my records. In theStates, this album had photographs ofNoel, Mitch and me on the cover."
FROM MM'S "RAVER" COLUMN

blues scene he's on now, Larry was a real dyedin-the-wool rocker back in 1958.1 was in Jerry
Lee Lewis' backing group in Australia," he told
me. "Do you remember Jerry Lee Lewis? I also

Jimi Hendrix's new LP cover, as all theworld now knows, features a number of
attractive and stark naked young ladies.
That is to say. they are NUDE, with noclothing on. They have no underwear on.
They are exposed for all to see. Well,
ANYWAY, Reina Sutcliffe, one of theyoung ladies on the cover, is not happy
about the photograph. She told your
Raver: "It makes us look like a load of old"Say, 'On The Road Again' was a sleeper here,

prostitutes. It's rotten. Everyone looked
great, but the pictures make us look old
and tired. We were trying to look sexy, but
it hasn't worked out."

worked in South America with him, and thenleft and I started to play in small clubs in LA."too"... sound of tanks and a man rubbing
sandpaper up and down the line... "Our next
single is 'Gone To TheCountry'.
"We've got a nice bunch of guys in Canned
I 'eat. There's Henry, the Sunflower. He just
LOOKS like a sunflower. He also plays guitar.
Then there's the Bear, who was born under thename Bob Hite. The Bear is a big fat guy witha beard. A real jolly type. Bear is lead singer.
We also have Fito de la Parra, who is a little
tight Mexican guy, and Al Wilson, who is the
I ntellectual. As for me, well, I don't say too

much, I'm pretty adaptable, though."

Talking about Canned Heat in general, Larry
informed me that most of the group's musicalscene centred on old blues material -that
although Bear does most of the vocals, it'sIntellectualAl who givesout the canned heat on"On The RoadAgain", that the group has so far
appeared in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Hawaii,
and is now waiting in hot anticipation of its visit
to Britain next week -and that Bob the Bearand
Henry the Sunflower love collecting old records.
According to Larry -and he says the others
feel the same -he's personally more interested
in what he's playing than in fame and success.
"The glamour and glitter thing is nice, sure. But
there's no substitute for doing what you likebest." Canned Heat plays mostly on the college
circuit, he adds, and it does a good fewgigs inold-style folk clubs and occasionally at theFillmore. Finally, an insight into the group's
next LP: it will be basically blues but "different"
and will, in fact, consist of two albums in one
set. "One track will be 40 minutes long," said
Larry with some satisfaction.
There was then an interruption
from a lady in LAwho was having

troublegetting through to theparty at the other end, theoperatorand Larry andI said, "Goodbye till !seeyou in England," and hewent off to get Canned
again. Alan Smith"I love the idea of playing live again"
MM SEPT 14
THE BEATLES ARE PLANNING a live TV show - and may even appear in concert. Paul

McCartney told the MM this week: "The idea of singing live is much more appealing now - weare beginning to miss it. We will be doing a live TV show later in the year. I don't know about aconcert but it might lead to that. I love the idea of playing live again - and I know the others feelthe same way." The Beatles recorded a special film clip last week to be shown on Top Of The Pops
tonight (Thursday). Said Paul: "We recorded both 'Hey Jude' and 'Revolution'. We decided to doclips this time instead of zany films and that sort of thing. We all really enjoyed doing it.""Hey Jude" is at No 1 in the Pop 30 for the second week, and in America sales have topped two
million. The Beatles hope to complete their new LP, as yet untitled, by the end of this month. Press
officer Tony Barrow said: "It will probably be out in time to catch the pre -Christmas sales rush."

MelodyMaker

Jagger is
mad overLP sleeve
ban

RILES
PLAY

TO
A

"People werestarting toabuse us"fears
his band "becoming

the US version ofDave Dee". So heand the Experienceembrace America's

freedoms, and its
recording studios, tostretch out on what
will become Electric
Ladyland. But all will
not be well for long.

MELODY MAKER

THE ELECTRIFIED HAIR has been shortened somewhat, but it was
unmistakably still Jimi Hendrix. He loped into his manager's Gerrard
Street office, grinned shyly, shook hands all round, fastened onto thelatest copy of MM, accepted a stick of chewing gum and settled
comfortably into an office chair.
Magical limi, purveyor of excitement and mind-expanding music, wasback in town, if only briefly. "I'm flying back to NewYork tonight," he said. "I left somerecordings there that will make our next single and an album - no. a double album -andI've got to listen to them again and remix several oft hem."
I lendrix flewback to Britain from the States specially for the MM's Woburn Festival Of
Music ("It was really only a jam, we hadn't played for so long," he said) and was also due
to visit Majorca ("It'd better be a gig or I'm not going"), but we managed to pin him down
longenough to catch up with the world of the man of Experience. And the immediateworld, as far as Jimi, one of the most ferocious-lookingyet benign of men, was thegroup's
next single. He hopes to have it ready for releasewithin the next two weeks- a welcome
piece of news for Experience fans who've had to wait a long time since their last album,
Axis Bold As Love.

But the delay has been deliberate. They felt the group was becom ing too pop orientated. "People were starting to take usfor
it was that
S68m

JimiHendrisin

1968:"Iwantth
newtracksto
beheardbefore
wechange"

PIM

111 11110111111

lei 3

what -cornflakes -for -breakfast scene. Pop slavery.
involved in racial or political matters. I know I'm lucky
really. I felt we were in danger of becoming thethat ! can do that... lots of people can't."
American version of Dave Dee- nothing wrong with
He does, however, have an awareness of the
UP FROM THE SKIES
that, but it's just not our scene. We decided we had toproblems and a wish to help. He sent a cheque forend that sceneand get into our own thing. I was tired$5,000 to the Martin Luther King memorial fundof the attitude of fans that they've bought you a house
because he thought that this was the best way heand a car and now expect you to work the way they
could help. He was busy working and thought vaguelywant you to for the rest of your life.
that active participation could do thecause harm rather than good in an"But we couldn't just say, screw them, because they have their rights
inverted way, because of his pop music connection.11e expressed regret
too, so we decided the best way was to just cool the recording scene
at the news that The Cream had decided to break up at theend of the year.
until we were ready with something that we wanted everyone to hear.
But he expressed no fears about his own group doing the same.
I want people to hear us, what we're doin' now, and try to appreciate what
"We were lucky. When we started, we were thrown together, but wewe're at."managed to create a personal scene, as well as a musical appreciation.
What Jimi, Mitch and Noel want everyone to hear are the tracks they
But if someone did leave, there'd be no hang-ups, it would be amicable.
have recorded at a New York studio. "It's the 12 -track Record Plant, a new
Because it's like a family. If Noel or Mitch quit I'd wish him well because
studio. It's new and we're all learningat the same time."
it'd be like a brothergoingon to better things. I'd be pleased for him. The
The tracks include three from which the new single will be chosen. One
only hard feelings would be in the minds of the selfish fans.
is titled "Crosstown Traffic", another is "House Burning Down", eitherof"I'd like to see Mitch and Noel getting into the things that make themwhich could be a single. The Experience have also recorded enoughhappy. Noel is on the English pop and hard -rock scene and iswritingsome
material fora double album. It will probably be called TheElectric Lady
good songs these days. Mitch is becominga little monster on thedrums.
Land, which will have a total of about 17 pieces rather than numbers on
He's involved in his Elvin Jones thing.lie's the one I'd worryabout losing.
two albums. "AII the tracks are very personal... they're us. That's why weHe's becoming so heavy behind me that he frightens me." Alan Walshwant to get them out as soon as possible, because this is how we are...
Now! I want them to be heard before we change."
NME ILI LY 27
The album will kick off with a 90 -second "painting", which Jimi said
is an attempt to give a sound picture of the heavens. "It 's different to!MI HENDRIX LITERALLY brought the roof down on thewhat we've everdone before. I know it's the thing people will jump on
opening night at his manager's club, Sergeant Pepper's into criticise, so we're putting it right at the beginning to get it over with."
Majorca, by the simple expedient of ramming the neck of his
The track is called "And The Gods Make Love" -it's typifying whatguitar up through the low ceiling tiles. Amid thunderous applause,
happens when the gods make love ("or whatever they spend their timethe Experience exited in a shower of plaster and debris after a serieson", said )imi).
of brilliantly electronic histrionics!
"The album is so personal because, apart from some help from a few
Even managerChas Chandler, somewhat ruefully surveying thepeople like Stevie Winwood and Buddy Miles ofThe Electric Flag, it's all
ventilated ceiling in his brand-new club, observed, "No matter how many
done by us. We wrote the songs, recorded and produced it. I don't say it's
times I see them, they always knock me out!"
great, but it's the Experience. It has a rough, hard feel on some of the
The group were introduced by Flowerpot Man Neil Landon (travellingtracks. Some of the things on it are hungry."with our party in the companyof Noel Redding, with whom he is involved
It's a source of discontent amongcertain Experience fans that thegroupin a songwriting partnership). He requested that all those on the
spend so much time in America. But Jimi doesn't agree. "I'm American,"dancefloor sit down, reiterating with Hilterian emphasis: "You vill sit
he says simply. "I want people there to see me. I also wanted to see
down or you vill be shot!" Immediately there was much sitting down,
whet her we could make it back in the States. I dig Britain, but I haven't
especiallyamong the German contingent: "For what you are about toreally got a home anywhere. The Earth's my home; I've never had a housereceive may the Lord make you truly thankful!"
here. I don't want to put down roots in case I get restless and want to move
On stage walked drummer Mitch Mitchell (known now to a select few
on. I'll only get into the house thing when I'm certain ! won't want to moveas "the JulieAndrews of the group"), bass guitarist Noel Reddingand theon again.
man with the guitar that whips the flesh"The other reason for working in theas well as the soul.
States is that we make 20 times more
The Experience rolls along themoney there. And there's no harm in that...
motorways of the mind and the airways
We have to eat like everyone else. Americaof the imagination. For the first two
is so large, too; when you work regularly innumbers their own amplification fought
Britain, you end up going back to the samea "wattathon" with the club's PA system
places. That doesn't happen in America."
before Chas finally gave the group's
wR13\1lnok,
He doesn't feel it is ironic that he hadsystem best and let them loose on theircome to England to get success in America.
own gear. Each of the group has
He says that England was first because
something to say through "Hey Joe",-"kthat's where his managers Chas Chandler"Burning OfThe Midnight Lamp",
UDITOR141,2i
and Mike Jeffery thought it would be best
"Purple Haze" and "The Wind Cries
to start. "I want to be known everywhere,"
Mary", but Hendrix is the supreme
he said.
conversationalist on the guitar.
Jimi is, however, a native-born American,
Mitch attacks a hundred drums withthough he doesn't, he says, identify closely
a dozen hands and feet, while Noelwith that country's problems. "I just wantpounds his bass through the electric
to do what I'm doing without getting
storm on his right raised by the Odi n of-%o

'I felt
dangerthe U.S

we were inbecoming
ye Dee-JIMI HENDRIX-

tipuwithe guitar. In-between the squealing
static, the flailingand the wailing and theerotic gestures, the Black Prince muttersover the amplifiers and finallyarrives atthe song he calls "our national anthem"-"Wild Thing" -which wraps everything
and everyone up.
We have just been the victims of oneof
those all -too -rare appearances ofThe
Jimi Hendrix Experience, who now
average about $30,000 a concert in the US.

M

F STII AL
PENTANGLE.

JIMI HENDRIX

E_XPEENCE
CPC,Xtbs."1"c'

DONOV-It was:Arany onlya jam.
WO hadn't played for to

ANETVCOD

FLE
MfiC
JOHN MAYALL

long-, Hendrix returns

fromtheStatstoappear
at thWoburn RockFirstival,B.dfordshirre"What really knocked me out is that the boys offered to do this one for me,
free," said Chas. "I'm going to give them the gate money anyway, but they
asked me if they could open the club themselves."
Pepper's is a revolutionary newclub for the "Now" generation in
Majorca. Neatly situated off the Plaza Gomilla (lovingly renamed "thePlastic Gorilla" by Noel) where most people meet in Terino in the evening,it has an air-conditioning plant second to none, which provides a welcome
relief from the still -hot Spanish nights, and a good beat group, The Z-66,
with a vocalist who worked himself into a grease spot every night.
There is a first-class light show, getting betterevery night, as the allAmerican Bob gets more machinery. Chas spends much of his time
chargingabout like an enraged water buffalo, correcting minor defects instaff and controls. He worries about the club and the club worries about
Chas. It isworriers like Chas who will make Sgt Pepper's into the little
goldmine it undoubtedly is to be.
I arrived in Palma on Sundaywith Noel (limi and Mitch did theirfamous plane -missing trick) and that evening
we watched one of the most exciting bullfights
I have ever seen, with the famous El Cordobes inbrilliant form, beingawarded both ears of thebull (the highest honour) by El Presidente.
That eveningwe ate in a Terino restaurant
which was formerly a boutique owned by Chas.
There Noel treated us to an impersonation of
the yet -to -arrive Mitch. Bouncing up the

JULY 6+7

Mondaysaw the arrival of the othermembers of the group, and walking
down the street in glorious multicolour they made an entrance into thePlaza Gomilla akin to the impact of the bad men riding into town in awestern epic. You could hear the hubbub ofcomment around the packed
square before you saw the big three. Noel ca me over to our table to say
hello to footballer George Best, with whom he became quite friendly, andlimi stopped by to exchange insultswith me, our way of passing the time!
His favourite dart on this holidaywas to refer to me as "t he little ol' electric
lobster", due to myoverenthusiastic crash course on a suntan.
Briefly limi and I discussed his lack of personal appearances in Britain.
"We're not deserting Britain oranything like that," said limi. "We arehoping to do some big city concerts in October. We'd like to have someone
like the Small Faces with us, but there are probably problems overwho
would top orsomethingsilly. There's an American group called the Spirit
right now that I would like to havewit h us."
Mitch made one clear point about why theymust playAmerica again soon. "Because that's
wherewe are treated best," he explained.
"Look, our most recent album has cost us$70,000 to produce. We've got to get thatmoney back before we can start showing
a profit, andAmerica is whereyou earn the
big money. There is still that feeling in Britain
when we play some places that theywant tomake moneyout of us and that's all. They treat
us like dirt -give us £1,000 and think they are
doing us a favour!"Meanwhile, Chas is having kittens about thevolume ofsound coming from the club from

"We make
20 times

restaurant stairs and creating the maximum
amount of noise, he darted about on his toes,
breezing, "Oh, sorry I'm late. What's going on?
Can I have some of that? 1 forgot my money. Can
you pay for it?" Collapse of some few who know
the ways of Mitch!

more money
working in
the States"

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 183

.

1968
liras rehearsal and keeps talkingaboutworry, doing this and that. But there are otherscenes we want to get into."
Jimi was delighted that his single "All Along
The Watchtower" was another hit for him in
Britain. "It's groovy but we had no say in the
choice of material that was released. But I'm
glad that people haven't forgotten us in Britain.
We deliberately held off releasinga single fora longtime, because they wanted people there
to appreciate what wewere doing when therecord did come out."
I asked Jimi when British fans could expect tosee him again, as there had been criticism of
him abandoning the fanswho gave him his firstbreak. "I hope to be back before Christmas. No,
man, I WILL be back byChristmas, if I have to swim. I can't wait to getback to England again, I can tell you that. But we haven't abandoned
anybody. We are just working here for the people here at the moment;
soon we'll be back in England for the fans there. It's just the way it
happens. We are planning a majorworld tour and this includesa sortof tour of England - not a tour really, just a fewselected gigs. These'll beeither before or just afterChristmas. But there are a lot of places wewant to be -we're gonna do Europe again and I want to go to Japan,
for example. In fact, I want the group to work all over the place.
"But we're not abandoning anyone. But we are here working andeveryone came. There wasn't anyone left behind to handle things like
fan mail. We're like a band of musical gypsies moving about everywhere,
but !can say that we'll definitely be back in England soon."
I asked li mi for a report on the stateof theAmerican scene at the
moment and he said there were a numberofnewgroups who could makeit big in the near future. "I'd like people in Britain to hear about them now,
before they happen, so they know what to expect. There's a group called
Lee Michaels and agroovy blues group called AB Skhy which is dynamite,and there's an outfit called the CTA which could blow a few minds in
England. And The Buddy Miles Express could be a very major sound in
the near future. Sly & The FamilyStone, too. And there's a new outfit
called Cat Mother which I've heard and are great."
Finally, I asked Jimi about the controversial coverof his new
British album "Electric Ladyland", which features the unclad
and not particularly erotic spectacle of a large clusterof
naked ladies. But he denied all knowledge.
"That album, when it was released overhere, had a picture ofmeand Noel and Mitch on the coverand about 30 nice newphotographs inside. But people have been asking me about thenglish coverand I don't knowanythingabout it. I didn't know
it wasgoing to be used. It's not my fault. I don't even know
what's the B-side to 'All Along The Watchtower'." Alan Walsh"We're likea band ofmusicalgypsiesmoving about""impending doom". He need not have worried.
The Guardia Civil were very civil about thewhole thing. George Best appeared mesmerisedby the Experience's performance on stage andthe whole even ing was an enormous success.
Tuesday saw a brief appearance of Hendrix
and co on our beach at Lauro Verde. There,
Jimi ventured into the sea for the first time ineight years. The spectacle of Mitch and Noel(theycame up whiter than white!) was toomuch for most of the amateur home -movie
exponents on the beach, who pointed whirring
machines at them. Noel and Mitch obligingly
gibbered about like subhumans and danced up
and down waving their arms. Jimi came out of the sea swearing his lungs
had collapsed"You wouldn't believe it but we'vegot Jimi insured fora million dollars,"said Chas. "And the doctor said hewas the fittest man he had everseen."
Chas broke off to address the frail figure of Redding in his bathing trunks.
"We've got to get you insured too," he said, "but I'm frightened to let you
take the medical!"
The highlight ofWednesday's activities wasa visit to the go-kart track-the first time for Hendrixand Noel. Mitch duly informed me hewas
buyinga Formula Onewith gears to race it seriously! Jimi really took to
the racingand was doing quite well, though he kept being driven off the
track byan innocent younggirl, ending up ignominiously amonga heapof rubber tyres.
"I kept trying to play it fairand not bump any of the othercars off the
track," he told me later. He was still there an hour after Mitch, Noel andI left.

The pay-off to this experiencewas next day when I met Jimi with a lumpout of his back and a badly grazed thigh. Apparently he was under the
impression that he was back in the paratroopers and had tried an ejector seat release from his go-kart, but the 'chute had not opened! We were all
sorry we missed that one.
That night, Jimi made an impromptu return to the club with Mitch andNoel and they let loose a never -to -be -forgotten
rock'n'roll session, including numbers like
"Lucille" and "Johnny B Goode". Jimi brokea stringon his guitar but played better on fivethan most do on six.
His final remark about the visit to Majorca
was to Chas: "I wish I had listened to you two
years ago about this place!" It was a highly
enjoyable working holiday and Majorca islikely to be seeing more of Hendrix at
Sergeant Pepper's. Keith Altham

I

May30,1968: (I-r)ThirMovit's

MM

IM1 HENDRIX IS to break up his

phenomenally successful Experience,
which features Mitch Mitchell on drums
and Noel Redding on guitar. Very soon, they
will be undertaking only occasional gigs
together as a group. This was the startling pop
news that Jimi I lendrix himself broke to me
when I phoned him last week in I Iollywood,
where he was having a short rest from onenighters to do some recording.
Jimi had just got up when I spoke to him. In
Hollywood, it was 5.30 pm, while in London
it was 1.30am, but Jimi bridged the time gap
and told me, "Mitch and Noel want to gettheirown thinggoing- not a group; producing
and managingotherartists, that's what theywant to do. So very soon, probably in the newyear, we'll be breaking the group apart fromselected dates."
Despite this disappointing news for fans ofHendrix and the Experience, it won't be the endof Jimi as a performer. "Oh, I'll be around, don't
84 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

Carl WayncStervie Winwoodof Traffic, Jimi,bluesmanJohn
MayallandThohlew Animals'

Eric BurdoninZurichfor the
Monsterkonzert TV special

May 30.1968:TheJimi
Hendrix Experience
onstageinZurich's
Hallenstadion"Fists were put to good use"
NME JUNE 8

nraves SWitzerialiu s musisteriwitzerL

EVER SEEN 18,000 frenzied fans arriving
at two pop concerts to find enjoyment
and some 200 armed police making surethey didn't? Nor had I until I flew to Zurich tocover the big event for the NME.
At first sight, the lineup of Jimi Hendrix,
Eric Burdon & The Animals, Traffic, Move,
Koobas and John Mayall seems harmlessenough. But mix in the police, the weather,a charter flight and assorted other alien
things, and the whole thing becomes anentirely different kettle of fish.
I flew out with The Koobas on Wednesday
last and learned that their record "The FirstCut Is The Deepest" has shot straight into the
Swiss chart after only one week. That, as itturned out, was to be almost exclusively the
only pleasant happening during the next threedays. The trouble really started when EMI
A&R man David Paramor and I, sharing a room,
were woken up at 2am by the constabulary
searching for females. They found none andleft, only to return half an hour later, searchingfor certain substances.
Foiled again, they left and produced theirpiece de resistance at 6.15am. Then men
reappeared in the shape of the local CID (or its
equivalent), examined our passports, warned
us that we were liable for deportation anddeparted. We're not quite sure what that little
episode was all about.
The rest of the cast arrived the following
Thursday afternoon, borne by one eight -doorand one six-doored limousine, two taxis and a
Bentley. The sight of a collection of British pop
people emerging en masse from the convoy
was too much for the hotel staff, who promptly
became efficient and ignored everyone foranything up to 20 minutes. This sort of action
does not bring out the best in musicians.
Later we trooped off to a massive indoor
sports stadium for the first two concerts. From
my vantage point seat it was like sitting on topof the London Hilton watching Pinky andPerky perform in Hyde Park.
A comical Swiss group who, it
seems, are highly thought ofout there, were followed by
The Koobas, who surprised
everyone with a nice selectionof all that is best in British andAmerican pop. John Mayall
turned up at the other endof the vast stage and worked
his way through some real
blues numbers.
His act, however, was interrupted by one
enterprising youth who managed to scale the
30 feet on to the stage and nick John's lighter.
John stopped playing until it was returned.
Meanwhile the youth was pursued around thewooden cycling track, which rings the stadium,caught and taken outside, where he was set on
in no uncertain manner by the police bullies.
Because groups had to play on different partsof the stage, there was a continual runningabout by the fans to see the action. This wasinterpreted by the police as rioting and fists

were put to good use. Traffic
were, once again, quite
superb. Complete again with
Dave Mason, they wave magic
spells which even kept the
stewards still. Chris Wood's
flute playing was nothing
short of amazing and Steveconfirmed what everyone
thought - he is a genius!
Now The Move's act isprecisely the kind of thingthat the Swiss police don't
like. It was OK until Carl
Wayne mounted his mic
stand and behaved like afrustrated witch whosers1.

broomstick wouldn't
take off. Rock'n'roll
a la Move, involving
violence at its fiercest,

started the mobs off
again and severe
clobberings were liberally
dealt out to all and sundry.

The Animals performanceremains a bit of a mystery to me. I failto see the appeal of a load of lights flashing
while smoke pours from hidden containers
and Eric Burdon, stripped to the waist, falls to
the floor and bangs his hands on the ground.
Still, it all went down very well.
It was noted that Jimi Hendrix played theguitar with his teeth, his elbow, his head andeven his hind -quarters. It is also rumouredthat at one stage his hands came into contact
with the strings. Be that as it may, he wasdeservedly top -of -the -bill and can make his
guitar say more things than Malcolm
Muggeridge on a good night.
The frivolity in the hotel that evening was
really not interfered with at all - which is to say
the police only entered our rooms twice. On
the first occasion, they pinched some of ourdrink and on the second
ejected the amiable Miss
Blanche, a Swiss EMI
representative who wastalking business withThe Koobas. On Friday
afternoon a most amazing
jazz session took place at
the concert hall. The
participants were Jimi,
Chris Ward, Stevie, Trevor
Burton on drums, Carl
Wayne on congo drums and Vic Bridges. Let
it be said that if ever the record companies
concerned could be persuaded to do so, theyshould let that sextet loose in a studio andrelease the ensuing LP!
It would be a lesson in harmony, freedom of
expression and a sock in the eye for thepundits who hold that pop stars can't play jazz.
The evening's entertainment was provided
largely by the police, who this time went into
the audience with added fervour. The damage
done by the police and rioting fans amounted

The police burst
into the club,pulled chairs fromunder artists andstarted fights

to several thousand
pounds and it took
until 4am the nextday, with the use of
HENDRIX
tear gas, to shift theHEW ARMERIC
BURDON&TNE
crowds away from
THE MOVE THE CRE
the front of the
N THE
THETRAfFIC AIISELO
stadium. Once
HALLENSTRD1011 30.Mfil 31.
moving they headed
fora building site andwreaked more havoc.
Perhaps encouraged by this, the police
descended on the Crazy Girl Club, where thecast had retired to entertain themselves. The
Swiss stormtroopers burst in, pulled chairsfrom underneath various artists and started
fights. Messrs Burdon, Briggs, Money, Altham
and Green, plus Mrs Burden and Animals
manager Terry Slater, immediately ceased
their rock'n'roll session and fled. Not so Kooba
Tony O'Reilly, who suffered a suspected
fractured right foot when a hobnail bootlanded on it with great force.
Saturday was departure day and autographhunters had a field day at the airport.
Fortunately, the plane was chartered solely forour party. so there was no need for remaining
in the seats and being quiet. Noel discovered
the location of the passenger address system
and immediately launched Radio Reddingby the simple method of plugging the mic
into a tape recorder full of rock music andinterrupting the programme now and again
with such comments as: "Will Buddy Holly
please report to the rear of the plane?"
Because of President De Gaulle's little
troubles, the plane had to detour Paris, so wewere airborne for three hours, during whichtime the bar ran dry and the air hostesses
became singers. Back in London, Jim Capaldi
and I spent a pleasant half hour trying to locate
our cases and Tony O'Reilly went off to hospitalfor treatment to his foot. Richard Green

Jim

DOW

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 185

'Iles1 part elDes
O'Connor if I'mon
the sametelorisien.hew.. him :Ray
Davies and The I( Inksat the BBC in5968

I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

THE KINKS"The lastofthe
renegades"
In collar and tie, and with typical wryness, RAY DAVIES
assesses his place in the scheme of things. After a big hit
with "Days", a new album may be the finest work yet by
The Kinks. "Everybody else is mad," he adds.

MELODY MAKER

41_10L1,31

L1

nAY DAVIES IS happy when he is alone.

But the loneliness is self-imposed
because it is when Ray is alone that
he finds it best for songwriting.
"When I'm alone I write certain
songs that will never get played,"says Ray. "1 write songs for the group for when
we get together. But just being isolated, that canbe a nice thing. When you're alone you can get intothings that are interesting which, with other people
around, you can't. Like today, I've tried to keep awayfrom everything, away from people, trying not to hearthem talking and forgetting buildings are around me."Ray's cloak of isolation, even when he is surrounded by people,
seems to be a kind of mental self-defence against what he observes ishappening to those around him. "I just get the impression that people are
getting more and more self-conscious. People are so scared. People have
got freedom now, more freedom than they ever had, but they seem scared
to use it.""A hundred years ago, people like me were pressed into the army to fightfor the Empire. Ordinary people have got a certain amount of freedom
which they seem to be frightened to use."
Ray thinks that people have reached a "critical stage. It's comingout inmusic, and comingout in everything. You know there's that song 'TheWorld Is Waiting For The Sunrise."
Talk turned in the group's recordings. Said Ray: "I'm happy the way therecordings are comingout. I'm gettingover to the group more. We'redoing what I think the group wants, although it's hard, sometimes, to feelthe same way. When we used to get together, I'd write one thing, then dosomethingelse and finish up getting about 10 things goingat once. When

we rehearsed, I'd play something, then somet h ing else, andend up playingso many things. There's this whole thing
about getting through.""With a lot of things, nothing registers. I'd playsomething months laterand they'd say, 'That's
great,' and I'd tell them I'd played it to them months
ago. It 's a matter of when the time is right."
OfThe Kinks' new single, "Days", which hasentered theMMTop 30, Ray said, "I like it. It's got
the right sound. You've got to be ready for it. You canput a lot of things on and then put this single on -but
you have to be ready for this."
Did Ray think it was still necessary for the group to
have hit singles?
"Yes, I think so. It helps to keep you on your toes," hereplied. "It's a pressure, in away. You've got to have that when
you make pop records. I can write other things when I get time off.
Later, these things develop into pop. It's funny, but that's the way things
work. I've written things two years ago that take that time to work into
the group."
Ray's songwriting isn't byany means limited to straightforward pop,
but he feels a strong identification with the pop idiom. 1 feel part of Des
O'Connor if I'm on the same television show as him. It's like different
languages except that we say the same things with different songs. Ifwe
are on Top OfThe Pops, we appeal to different ages, but we all sing thesame thing."
Although at times Ray feels that his music is sometimes ahead of whatis actually taking place, he is happyabout The Kinks' forthcoming
album, which he had originally intended to be a solo album. "It'ssomething I wanted to do two years ago, and I've got the feeling that itis going to work theway I want it to. It will be what I've always wanted.
It's just a matter of the things that are on it." Tony Wilson
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 187

1968
JUIr

SEPTEMBERNME
DOUGLAS DAVIES, as he now insists on beingreferred to, is one who excels in the unexpected and the slightly
bizarre. He is probably the least obvious person I know. He isa whimsical character who writes about life in an askew manner. You
are never quite sure whether he is serious or not. Sometimes he will say
RRAYMOND

extraordinary things like: 1 always work on the assumption that I am
indestructible and everyone else is not!"He told me he is currently concerned with writingabout birth. "Warmothers" fascinate him. He rejoices in the unusual and was recently
quite overwhelmed by a three -year -old girl he met, who informed him
gravely that her ambition was to grow up to be a horse.
"That was really wonderful," says Raymond Douglas Davies, andsmiles that little tight-lipped smile, which might once have been a selfconscious attempt to hide the small gap between his two front teeth andis nowan ingrained characteristic. "Days", the current hit, pleases him
quite greatly because it proves The Kinks could come back after a dud
single like "Wonderboy", of which he says, "It should never have beenreleased. I didn't want it released. We did it as a favour to someone!"
Raymond Douglas Davies would like to be a film producerand would
probably make a very good one. Among other things, he would like to doa documentary featureabout Elvis Presley. He is one of those artistic
people who have an uncanny knack of doing what is apparently wrong forthe times, but proves usually right. It only appearswrong because he is
the first to do it!
He is the type of person who starts a fashion and gives it up immediately
it becomes fashionable. He has a perverse dress sense, which isdisarminglyeffective. He manages to wear a turquoise jacket with a pink
shirt and striped tie and make it all look incredibly correct.
"I always made a point, when all my friends were rebelling and turning
up at Art School in army surplus blankets and open -neck shirts, ofwearing a collar and tie," he says.
He has a rare sense of humour. Duringan All
Star X1 charity football match, in which we %vere
both playing recently, I ingenuously cont rived
to barge a massive ex -Charlton player, with theformidable name of Malcolm Pike, off the ball.
I bounced off some 15 feet away, while Mr Pikeremained impassively rock -like just where hewas. Raymond Douglas Davies came over,picked me up and warned me severely to leave
Pike alone, as it was onlya friendly game!
Football is almost as important a part of hislife as music and hewill talk enthusiasticallyof
the supreme tactician of the ShowbusinessXI,
ex -Irish International Danny Blanchflower.
Ile was once asked to produce a record for"Footballer OfThe Year" George Best. Raymondnearlyalways backsArsenal for the FACup, but
declares that this year it looks like Everton. He isvery proud of the fact that last season he scored
two goals direct from corner kicks, no mean featfor should it be"feet"?), and plays the game
himself with poise and control, concentratingon skills rather than physical employment.
He only rarely loses his temper when somemisbegotten opponent thinks it might he fun to
go down in history as the player who fouled theKink, although quite recently he had occasion
to pick up one ginger -headed little soul andaddress him quite severelyon the pitch.
He is carrying his love ofsports indoors to his new Elstree home and has
already installed table tennis and has bar billiards on order. "I'd rather
have bar billiards than a snooker table, because everyone can play it," hesays reasonably.
He takes an almost paternal interest in the career of hisyounger brother
Dave and informs me he advised him to give up Scotch if he does not want
any more pains in his chest when he plays football. Of all the members of
the group, he finds Mick Avory the most amusingand is fond of reeling
Avorisms in that monotonal, deadpan manner which is the drummer's
speciality. "He's just bought a new house," said Ray. "Davewent down to
see it recently in West Molesey and M ickasked him if he would like to see

it. He said yes and Mick took him into the backgarden and pointed to the house across the way.
He's almost moved next door to himself'!"
Raymond Douglas Davies is a careful man withhis money. He usuallycarriesabout five shillings
and sixpencewith him -I've neverbeen able toascertain whether it is the same five shillings
and sixpence! I asked him howhe viewed theprospect of the "free concerts" beinggiven by
Traffic and other groups in places like Hyde Park.
Hewasgreatly in favour of all the fresh airand
general avoidance of"grotty theatres", but would
not seem to grasp the no -fee factor. "Of course it
would depend who asked us to do it," he said.
"I mean if the Electricity Board asked us to do it
I would not, because I don't like the Electricity Board... or theGas Board."
I le recently went to see a showing of the space -fiction film 2001:ASpace
Odyssey, and claims to have understood the story -a great deal more thanmost people did. He bought the album of the film's musical score in stereo.
There were also plans for him to produce and singon a solo LP of
his own, but these seem to have been shelved. "I've asked the group to
singand play on it with me and they have kindlyconsented," he said.
1 would like to make it clear that I've alwayswanted to do an LPwith
The Kinks anyway!"
Of the current hit parade, he does not like or understand the success of
Tommy lames &The Shondells, although he seems to think it might have

"I've asked thegroup to playon it and they
have kindlyconsented"

88 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

THE KINKS"Do You Remember Watterr There's a line in the

lyric -"People often change but memories ofpeople remain" -which sums up what this isabout. It's about the waywe try to hangon to thethings we like, even about people. Walter was afriend of mine, we used to play football together
every Saturday. Then I met him again recently
after about fiveyears and we found we justdidn't have anything to talk about.
"Picture Book" This is a paper hat, kiss -me quick song. There are two acoustic guitars

therewith electric guitar done afterwards. The
song is really self-explanatory.
"Johnny Thunder" There wasn't reallyan
original idea to this, it just came out. It's abouta rocker and I think it worked. I wrote it justafter The Wild Onewas released I in the UKI.
"The Last OfThe Steam Powered Trains" That's"Wearall for thatIActlooking back thing-: The
Kinks- (1-r)Dave nd
Ray Davies.Mick Avory
and Pete Quaife- on
Hampstead Hitath.19613

somethingto do with "Let's Dance". He does not care for the0C Smith
record and thinks it would not have been a hit three years ago, but thetiming was just right for this kind of record.
The most memorable aspect ofThe Kinks' last tour seems to have been
when everyone managed to get upon the stage and the group played astirring rendition of "You Are My Sunshine". And the most satisfactory
TV appearance of late was on Colour Me Pop.
"It's such agood show if you want to appear on it -and that's what it's
really all about anyway," says Raymond Douglas Davies. Keith Altham

MELODY MAKER
TIIE KINKSARE The Village Green Preservation Society is the titleof The Kinks' new, and easily their best, LP. All 15 tracks are Ray

Davies compositions and they seem to give enormous insight
into Ray Davies the man as well as Ray Davies the songwriter. I played
the album with Ray and took down his comments on each track. This
is what he said:"Village Green Preservation Society" This started out to be a solo LP for me

but somebody just mentioned to me
that The Kinks do try to preservethings -we are all for that looking
back thing. I thought it would be anice idea to try and sum it up in one
song. All the things in the song arethings I'd like to see preserved.

me playing harmonica. This was a case of theidea coming before the song. Again, like the"Walter" song it's really about not having
anything in common with people. Everybody
wanted to knowabout steam trains a couple ofyears ago, but they don't any more. It's about me
being the last of the renegades. All my friends
are middle-class now. They've all stopped
playing i n clubs. They've all made money andhave happy faces. Oddly enough, I never did
like steam trains much.
"Big Sky" No, it's not about God. It's just a big
sky. I wrote it in Cannes and almost all of it isfact. I was at the music festival in1anuaryand
there were all those people hustling, trying to
get their music published.
"Sitting By The Riverside" This is a fishing song.
I went fishing a lot when I was about eight. It
was nice.
"Animal Fenn"This was just me thinking
everybodyelse is mad and we are all animals
anyway -which is really the idea of thewholealbum. I'm just a citydropout, I suppose.
1111111.011181" That's a harpsichord. I think wealso used oboe, cello, violin and piccolo.
The arrangement is by David Whittaker andit's all verycamp, isn't it? This track was done
18 months ago and was originally going to be
the title for the album. I didn't have any

particular villagegreen in mind.
"Rudnick" The title and lyrics are self-explanatory. It's just somethingthat happens.
"Phenomenal Cat" It's like a nursery rhyme thing. I liked the idea of a catthat could fly. It's been to Kathmandu and I long Kong and discovered thesecret of life. So it decides to eat itself silly for the rest of its life.
"All My Friends Were Then" This has connectionswhh Melody Maker
It was an R&B concert and I had a temperature of 104 but they asked me
to do it because there was a contract. I had lots to drink and I thought, "Itdoesn't matter." The curtains opened and all my friends were sit ting in
the front row- including Chris Welch. It was a terrible night and I thought
I would write a song about it.
"Wicked Annabelle" This is rather a crazy track. I just wanted to get one tosound as horrible as it could. I wanted a rude sound -and I got it.
"UMW It's about a prostitute -and the BBC has played it.
"People Take Pictures Of People" People take pictures of each other justto prove they reallyexist. Originally it faded out into a trad front line
blowing with lots of echo. They wouldn't let me put it in because of

copyright problems. Bob Dawbarn

The loneliness of theWILSONBY TONYI

far sighted songwriter

After raving in the town, the
SMALL FACES are now enjoying
life in the country, at the homeof Jerome K Jerome. NME

joins them to talk new sounds
and to fly model aeroplanes.

StovoMarriottandmodel
Jenny Rylance shortly
aftertheir wedding on May

26.1968- picturedinthe
rentedhousain Marlow.
Buckinghamshire theyshare with two other Small

Facsandtheirpartners

NME
HAVINGN1PPEDSMARTLY into the No I bestsellingalbum slot with Ogden? Nut Gone Flake, the Small
Faces are now deservedly considered big wheels in
the progressive pop stakes. To see how they wereenjoying their new-found status, I journeyed to
Immediate control headquarters, where on a brightsunny afternoon there was only a skeleton crew holding fort andthings were strangely quiet.
Even the company's all-weathersuper-publicist", Paul Thomas, wason holiday! In a small inner office I met drummer Kenny Jones, decorated
by the lovely blonde, Jan Osbourne.
"It's likeTombstone City up here today," smiled Kenny. "Everyone's out
and some strangeyoung lady asked me who I was and what I was doing
here. I said I was just lookingaround!"Kenny is the Small Facewho is always a little backwards in coming
forwards, but he bears his anonymitywell and was highly amused at not
being recognised in his own office. He is in fact a very together little guy
who is quite prepared to watch the pop world whizz bywhile Steve andRonnie make the pace at interviews and keeps his own scene, quiet,
secluded and cool.
Anyway, at my special request Kenny had come forth (or was it fifth?) toreveal all, and no sooner had I expressed a desire to be anywhere but in ahot, confined office than "Jones the Genie" had transported us in his
magical Mini to St James' Park and there -upon a park bench amid "The
Universal" we chatted.
"Really this album is just the beginningof things," said Kenny. "We'renow free to do just what wewant and Ronnie and Steve are into different
things. We are not going to make the mistake ofgett ing in one bagand
gettingstuck there- that's what happened to groups like The Searchers!
"Beforewe were with Immediate, our albums used to turn out likesausages. They'd stick us up against the nearest brick wall and take aphoto for the cover. We never reallycould work up much pride into what
we were putting in it with that kind of system. We were standing still, andthat's howyou get stale. Like a loaf of bread -leave it in one place longenough and it goes stale. We are getting better lyrics togetherand better
ideas. On stage now we use six brass players- trumpets, saxophone andt rombones. We augment our previous hits like 'All or Nothing' and 'Tin
Soldier' and they sound new again.

FACES SHATTER
IdwIc ,MIIK sods sltap41y upon

the star of h.1 wagon piled h.gl,

clops
serf. howitward along the peaceful.

nth

hay

wink

Dobbin"When we go into a studio now we don't have to worry about wasting
half an hour and we recorded some of the tracks on Ogdens'perhaps 10times. You just keep improving, and sometimes you take the halfof one
song and join it with a half of another."We broke fora while and watched the "scraggy pigeons" -Kennyobserved one ruffled specimen needed a haircut and the cars continued
to speed down the road nearby in an endless stream. Kenny watchedthem with the same detached manner he watches the frenzied pace of the
pop aura about him.
He unashamedly confesses he likes beinga "punchy drummer" with
the Faces. He has no great ambitions to launch into a more technicallysatisfyingstrata with a jazzgroup, but is pleased to note that the imageof the drummer is being improved by people like The Shadows' Brian
Bennett, who has made his own album. One day, but a longtime fromnow, he thinks he might like to do the same.
"I don't saya lot at interviews and things because I don't like to butt in,"said Kenny. "Sometimes I saya few things and no-one prints them. I don't
mind -that's fine. But it's nicewhen someone asks especially to interview
me. I get my kicks out of things on the side, really. I mean, at the moment
it's machines. I've got fourcars: two Minis, the MG and the Zephyr- that's
really my Dad's now. I spend most of my time tinkering with them. I had
the sun roofand the stereo and the black windows put in the Lotus, andall those kind of things give me enjoyment."
Out of all the Faces, Kenny is probably the least obviously "wild", andalthough he is aware that recent events have given the group a somewhat
uncompromising image, he is not concerned ."It really depends on theway a thing is reported," said Kenny. "I can be just drinking a cup of tea
and someone could say I drank it 'sloppily' and give the impression I'm
a 'rough'. Well, I know I'm not a 'toerag' and that's good enough for me.
Anyway, I don't believe people want you to appeargood all the time. No
one is good all the time. The fans like someone with a bit of nerve. Perhaps
that's whywe're so popular. Did you know the kids pushed down a brickwall at ourconcert in Belfast to get at us?" he added, grinning.
Finallywe talked a little about the Faces' newsingle, "The Universal",another example of thegroup's refusal to come up with a traditional
follow-up to a hit like "Lazy Sunday". The fact that it sounds so different-and Steve's voice sounds very untypical -may be the reason for its slow
emergence. My advice is give it three listens and if you do not want to buy
it there may possibly be something wrong with your ears or mine!
"Steve acttia I lv did the vocal on his cassette machine in the backgardenof his house in I larlow," said Kenny. "That's
how you got his dogs barkingon it. He was justworkingout the song, but we figured it
sounded so great we kept the sound on the

CALM

hideaway
their
invaded by Kr ith Alth.u-nin

COUNTRYBucks

DENow" eiblyss.."rre.:.ar:Lribtr47.i

SMALL FACES

record. 'The Universal' is just t he world around us- the sky, the trees,
people, everything. Then there are references to things like 'salty bloater',which is the sea, and our mystery man, 'Mick': (Myguess is "Jagger" as
the name is dropped bya "named ropper" in the lyric.)
Then, as we were driving back into town after the interview, Kennymentioned that the Small Faces drum skin bearing the group's name had
recently been taken bya fan as a souvenir.
"I'm very attached to that skin," said Kenny. "It's been with us for years.
It's not worth much to anyone else, but I'd willinglygive a £10 reward for
its return and an autographed copy of our album!"
And so ended a very pleasant afternoon in the park -all interviews
should be like that. Keith Altham
NME AUGUST 10-

AN ELDERLY RUSTIC nods sleepily upon the seat of his
wagon, piled high with hay, while "Dobbin" clops slowly

homeward along the peaceful twisty lane in the heart of the
Buckinghamshire countryside. Then it happens!
Hurtlingaround the bend on onewheel of his brand-new machine
bearing a huge red "L" (like the shield of some intrepid Crusader), he
flashes past with long hair flowing in his slipstream and a hearty cryof"Hi Ho Honda" floats back along the breeze.
That was Steve Marriott, that was! And you have stumbled upon the
Small Faces' hideaway house, built some 100 years ago by Jerome K
Jerome, who wrote Three Men In A Boat, and is now inhabited by Lane andMarriott, who wrote "The Universal", and organist Ian McLagan.
The house has a number of interesting features, including a "rake eating fir tree" (more of that later), low -beamed ceilings, leaded

windows, rambling rosesand a sunken rambling garden surrounded byramblingfans. Theyare unlike any fans that Mr Marriott has come acrossbefore, and even when he stops to say "Hello" they just stare at him agog.
He has a theory that they are androids sent by the "Enemy".
Also resident in the house are Mrs Marriott (Jenny), Mrs Lane (Sue) andMrs McLagan (Sandy), who is a great favourite with the road managers
because she gets Ian well organised and packed
before his gigs abroad.
Resident in the upper right-hand drawer of the
kitchen unit is Murphy and his three kittens! Steve is
not too hot on sexingcats and a certain Toby also gavebirth recently, necessitating a name change. Murphy
is now more respectfully referred to by the entire
household as Mrs Murph, although one of her kittens
has been baptised Bonzo to confuse the issue.
"It's a steaming love farm down 'ere," says Ronnie
of all the new and expectant animal life about them.
SmellyArfur, a healthy black tom, is held to be themain culprit for the subsequent litters, although heis exonerated in the case of Lucy the alsatian,
who is expecting pups.
The other members of the Faces' private zoo
include a sleek, black bitch called Love and thetwo collies, Rufus (Ian's dog) and Seamus, whois the indisputable leader of the pack.
The huge upstairs lounge has a picture of
Napoleon on one wall, a picture of Georgie Fameon another and a large round clock with painted
Roman numerals. There you may find Sueweaving at her20th-century loom, beneath thewooden beams, and the Faces leaping about theroom, placing "sounds" upon the stereo fromthe copious selection of albums and singles
scattered about the room.
The main reason for the group's retreat into the country is that this iswhere it all comes naturally. They find they have room to breathewithoutanyone breathingdown their backs or wanting to pry into theirmarriages or hindering their composing.
Mac had an electric organ moved in downstairs, which is duly
borrowed by theother two, and guitars and recording cassettes are all
the music equipment they need forgetting new ideas together.
"'Universal' was really the most natural thing in the world," said Steve.
"I recorded it there in the garden with the dogs about me, and you caneven hear Jenny shouting 'Hello Steve' as she came back through the gatefrom shopping. The song was supposed to be called 'Hello The Universal',but it escaped before we could put that right. That would have given theimpression we wanted that thewhole idea of the song was a kind ()Mood
morning' to life. The secret of nearlyall our records now is that we arereally just being ourselves- that's what it's all about.
"Our biggest hang-up now may be trying to follow up an album like
Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake. If the next one does not go to No 1 then a lot of
peoplewill start crowing that it's not as good as the last one. You feela little musicallywashed out after puttingout as much effort as we did
into that album, but down here you soon come round.
"All the worries about the tax man and the bills don't seem to matter
down here, and then along comes an album from America like Dr John
And The Night Tripper I a friend brought it round the previous evening],
which gives us a tremendous boot up the backside!"Ronnie showed me another album called Music Front The Big Pink
House by Dylan's backing group, which is also giving them good
vibrations at present. On the back of it is an incredible painting by Bob
Dylan. Done in a simple, childish manner, it depicts an Indian playing
a bass, a sitar playerwith a bowl on his head and a musician playing his
piano the difficult way -over the top from thewrong side!An elephanthas also somehow got into the picture- fascinating.
Takinga metaphorical trip out in thewoods at the back of the housewith Ron, we talked about the group's reasons for still playing.
"We playbecause it makes us high," said Ron. "Not druggy-druggy high,but high! We enjoy it. We like what we are doing- the charts don't meana thing really. We would still be doing what weare if none of our records
made the charts.
"No-one really knows what we are going to do next, but I know it will benice. We want to do some thingswith a film company we are hoping to set
up with Alexis Kanner (Kanner played the fantastic "hippy" character inthe last episode of McGoohan's PrisonerTV series], who produced thefilm of 'The Universal' which was shown on Come Here Often."
We returned to the garden to indulge in flyingsome of the little model
aeroplanes which take up almost an entire room of the house. It's theFaces' new relaxing kick -there is one monster "Brabazon"-like model ofsome five feet in length which Steve has high hopesof getting off the ground. I chose a modest elastic band -driven effort and wound it experimentally.
"You know, we'd really like to do some of thosefree concerts in Hyde Park that the Traffic havebeen doing recently, but we'd get all 'toughies'
from Finchley who would come along to starta fight. I remember the last club appearance we
did at the Uppercut. I got a note passed to me thatsome bloke was going to shoot my legs off, halfway
through 'All Or Nothing'. I moved about very fast on
stage that night!"
Ronnie recalled some further memories of goodold days when he and Steve were "juice -heads"
playing in a group that he swears was called
Bog -Chain &The Plastics! "Wed line up twotreble scotches and down them before theperformance," said Ron. "Then we'd double
up and go on -we'd get through the first two
numbers alright, give the punters 'Farmer
John' and a blues thing, then it would be up!""All up!" agreed Steve. "Do you remember
when they threw us out after I kicked the
piano to bits?"
In my best Wright Brothers manner
I launched my Small Faces Mk II into the
Universal and was rewarded to see it climb toa height of approximately 14 feet before executinga double backflip andlodging itself in the top half of a fir tree.
"Ah, we've had a lot of trouble with that model," observed Steve. "And
that's the amazing rake -eating fir tree. We chucked a rake up there to get
one model down -it never came down again, and a broom and a..." Backto the drawing boards.
Finally, towards the end of the afternoon. Kennylones arrived in his
blacked -out mini Lotus with the newly inserted aeroplane seats andspent some time advising Ian on just howhe should fibreglass the frontof his Volkswagen, which needs some repairs. Kenny said very little -as is
his custom - smiled very much and went his way. Keith Althant"Dr John's
album gives
us a boot up
the backside!"

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 93

1968"I want tosing andstay out of

everybody'sway"

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE

/,1
MUM-

II

FIE FIRST FUSION ofpsychedelia and rhythm
and blues" is thedescription applied to
Sly& The Family Stone's
music, a sample of which
In the form of"Dance To The Music" Is currently
enjoying success in the MA /Top30."If It has to be
categorised, that's as close as it will come," said
Sly Stone, leader of t he group,when bespoke tome from New York last week. "About 95 percent

is ourown material and five percent othermaterial. I usually write everything and do ourarrangements and producing, but I he othermembers of the group are getting into that too."
Flow much imports nce did he attach to having
a British hit in view of the group's two Statesidehits,"DanceToThe Music" and "Life", and three

best-sellingalbums, WholeNewThing,Lifeand
DanceTo TheAfusit(everysong having been
written by Sly)?
"We've never been in Europe but we've heard
a lot about it. We knowofso many great acts,
we'rejust waiting to get there. It would be muchnicer to have four or five hits there," he added.

fae -agultarandsings,"although he can playany kindofinstrument from guitar to clarinet", said Sly,
9. IHISTORYOFFIM1968

so 4

eon

is
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Ir

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11

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/10.

So

r0 et
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t1.

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Sly leads t he group on organ, his sister Roseplayselectric piano, sings and dances, and theirbrother Freddie, nicknamed "Physics", plays

Ng._

'

PP

.a
wr

Sly&ThFamilyStonc(I-r)GregErrico.Rose
Stone,SlyStone.
CynthiaRobinson.

FreddiStone.Jerry
Hartini.LarryGraharn

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 1 93

GOI Unl
kies
wow
so
D

bass is in the hands of LarryGraham 1r. Greg
"Handfeet" Errico plays drums, Jerry Martini plays sax
but can also double on flute, accordion, piano, clarinet

The big thingabout the group seems to be their
togetherness both musically, vocally andchoreograph ically. The staid New York Times spokeof the "vocal games, instrumental power, rhythmic
overdrive and visual wildness that they can uncork".
An underground newspaper with the unlikely
name of RATsaid of the group: "On stage they
just generate rhythm, right up to the rooftop,
and theyare so together. They really shake up
an audience. Their material is equally fantastic
Bnit

and tambourine, and thegroup is completed bywhat isperhaps their unusual feature, Cynthia "Ecco" Robinson,

Ul

11111

11:11.141.1

described by Sly as "one of the most talented

trumpeters alive- and that includes guys!"
Sly, in hisearly twenties, started his musicalcareer at the age of fou r when he recorded a
religious song, "On The Battlefield For My Lord".
Asa record it was played in the locality ofBakersfield, California. In his senioryear at highschool, Sly, as a member of the group called The
Viscaynes, had another local hit with a song

"I've noticed
there's a better

response
here to whatcalled "Yellow Moon."
He studied music theory and composition incollege and led several groups, playing gu itarand bass around the San Francisco nightclub
circuit. "Then the topless dancers took overand !quit," said Sly. "Nobody cared about themusic." From there he joined Autumn Records
as a producer and songwriter, writingAmerican hits such as "The Swim"and "Mojo Man" and producing records for The Beau Brummels, Bobby
Freeman and The Mojo Men.
"After that, I went to a radio announcers' trainingschool for threemonths," continued Sly, "and a week after I finished the course I landed
ajob on a major station in a major time slot. I dug that."
On stage that group are all action. RAT, theAmerican undergroundnewspaper, says of them: "They just generate rhythm right up to therooftop and they are so together. Their material is equally fantasticbeaut iful, exciting, funny, just like them.""We don't rehearse any dance steps," said Sly. "What happens when
we're dancing is spontaneous- it's just whatever happens. Arranged
dance steps and routines become too showbiz and the music becomes
forgotten ifyou do too much of this. We just have to get up and dosomething if we feel like doing it." Tony Wilson

people play"

NME
TOPLESS DANCERS AND the resultant craze in San Francisco
became so too much fora young musician that he left his job,became a record producer and later formed a group called
Sly& The Family Stone. That was 18 months ago and now they findthemselves high in the NMEchart with a number called "Dance To
The Music".
Sly studied music theory and composition in college and then played
guitar and basswith several groups. Until the topless ladies took over.
"Nobodycared about the music, so I quit," he recalled. "I joined Autumn
Records as a producer and wrote 'The Swim', and 'Mojo Man', which wereboth hits, and produced for The Beau Brummels, Bobby Freeman and The
Mojo Men. After that, I went to radio announcers' training school for threemonths and landed a job on a major
station at peak listeningtime."
It was from there that Sly got
down to forming the group.
"Dance To The Music" and "Life"
were both hits for them in America,
and their albumsA Whole New
Thing, Dance To The Music and Life
all sold well. All the songs were,in fact, written by Sly himself.

stY and the Family Stones'

been called
in which theto have re dates.

NF

DROP
POPS
TOP OF THE
STONE
FAMILYSLY AND

promoter,
NME: " Sly_pecia1

In trueAmerican tradition, there issomething of the child prodigyabout Sly.
He said: "I recorded a church song, 'On The
Battlefield For My Lord', when I was four.
It was played in Bakersfield, Fresno and eightor nine other towns."
There was then a gap of some years before-while in his senioryear in high school -Slyrecorded "Yellow Moon" with The Viscaynes andit reached No 6 on the local pop radio station.
Sly& The Family Stoneoften hold impromptu jam sessions while
waiting around in dressing rooms in theatres and TVstudios. Sometimes
they just sing together without using instruments at all. Slydescribed therest of the family Stone.
"Rose, mysister, plays piano, organ and harmonica," he began. "She'sa featured vocalist and dancer, too. When she joined the group she had
to find her own way of fitting in because everybody else was doing
everyt h ing on stage. But she had no problem there. Not only is she as
beautiful as any woman around, who is as talented and as consistent as
any other musician anywhere."She sounds quite a bundle. Then on to brother Freddie, who Slysays is"funny". "He'll just make you laugh," he promised. "But he doesn't comeon strong with most people. He does so many things so well, I have towatch him or he'll explode. He can play any kind of instrument, fromguitar to clarinet. He writes songs and arranges, too.
"LarryGraham1r, the bass player, loves music. Hewrites and singsand can also play lead guitar and organ; he constantly adds the rightingredients of bass to oursound. Unless he'swith people he feels
comfortable with- he's very quiet. The drummer is Greg Errico and he's
always askingquestions. Sometimes he asks too manyquestions about
things, but before he makes any decision about anything, he'll know
everythingabout it. That's beautiful even if he bugs me sometimes. He's
also the world's fastest, funkiest drummer.
"Cynthia Robinson, our trumpeter, is quiet, for real and peaceful. She
is one of the most talented trumpeters alive, and that includes guys!
Sometimes she works too hard and I have to make her relax. We call her
SuperCynthia. The last member of the group is Jerry Martini on sax, flute,accordion, piano, clarinet and tambourine. He blows life through his sax.
He's very peaceful and loving."
But there's anot her member of the Stone family associated with thegroup. That's Sly's father, who is the road manager. "I'venever seen anyone dislike him," said Sly proudly. "That's
where he's at. He doesn't drink, smoke, swear or go to showseven. That's how I was raised."

SLY, STONETOUR SHOCK

to- beautiful, exciting, funny -just like them."

m D11 -

his organ,

stage with compromise,
ccepted byharks andhe turned
to camelThat sounds an interestingcombination of people. Alsointeresting is Sly's philosophy, which he says is: "I'd like torecord anything I want to record, singanything I want tosing, say just what I want to sayand stayout of everybody'sway." Richard GreenMELODY MAKER SEPTEMBER 21
si Y &THE Family Stone, still a chart force with "Dancei ()The Music", were supposed to appear on BBC TV'sivOfThe Pops last week. But their spot on the show
was cancelled. Why? According to a spokesman for the
BBC's publicity department it was because one of the group
was charged the previous day with a drug offence.
The spokesman told MM: "In the light of the circumstances
which occurred at LondonAirport the day before the show,
Johnnie Stewart [the producer] did not want to have them on

September 11,1968:

Sly & TheFamily Ston
shortly after theirarrival inLondonfor
their first overseastour
But thearrest of Larry

Graham(bottomleft):4=

the programme." So theywere out of Britain's pop show because bass
guitarist and vocalist Larry Graham Jr was charged with possessing
cannabis and remanded on bail until later this month.
Surprisingly, Sly Stone, leaderof the group and an ex -West Coast radio
announcer, treated the whole thingcalmly. "I'm not bitter about it," hesaid. "In fact, in the circumstances, I'd probably have done the samemyself. I just hope that the people concerned with the show change theirmind when they find out that the whole incident is stupid. I'd still like todo the show, it'd be groovy. And I've no resentment about being banned."
Despite the hang-up of the arrest, Slywas reallyenjoying his first trip to
London -and looking forward to his appearances for British fans. "I'vespent the last day or so out shopping -I really digyour shops. And yourway of life," he said. "The people are beautiful... nicer than they are in theStates. The situation back home is gettingbetter, but it's still so bad that
it'll take a longtime to really improve. Here, in the short time I've been
here, I've realised that the folks are more down-home. They don't express
so much rejection as theydo inAmerica.
"If they don't understand a thing -like long hair- theycome up and say,
'I don't understand whyyou have your hair like that -why don't you
explain it to me.' In America there is just rejection without questioning.
I've also noticed that there's a better response hereto what people play
- the kids are much hipper."Sly, who digs The Beatles ("They are really number one and I'd love tomeet them while I'm here"), Bob Dylan, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin,
said that thegroup put a lot of emphasis in their act on their visual appeal- t heyarea fun group, with lots of action on stage. "But there is not moreemphasis on the movement than on the music," he said.
The success of "DanceTo The Music" has been of great importance toSly. "It's been like a boost. We'd been successful in the States in the year

at London Airport oncannabischargesandother problemswill
cut the visit shortand a half since we formed up. But to make it over here- it's likehaving a part of you away from home. It's been groovy that the record's
been accepted."
They hope, too, that the fans who bought "Dance..." will go for theirfollow-up single, "M'Lady", which has a similar feel about it. Sly, who
studied music theory and composition in college, went into radio after
a course at a radio announcers' training school -and landed a job ona major West Coast station a week after he left the course. He also went
into record production until he formed Sly& The FamilyStone 18 months
ago. But he retains an interest in radio and has been listening to the RadioOne sounds here.
"I think I'd like to be in radio here. You playa lot of different sounds
and get into the music more. It'd be a lot more fun than in the States."
Alan WalshNME SEPTEMBER 21

SI Y &THE Family Stones' British tour has been called off after,i week in which the group is alleged to have refused to play any
dates. A spokesman for the promoter, Don Arden, told the NM[::"Sly insisted on having special amplifying equipment for his organ,
and would not go on stage without it. We offered him a compromise,
which has been accepted by people like Ray Charles and the Small
Faces, but he turned it down. So we had to cancel the tour on Tuesday."
The group's visit has been fraught with t rouble since its arrival. Oneof the group was charged with a drugoffence, the entire group was
warned about gesticulating to motorists outside a London club, Sly
failed to turn up for two prearranged press conferences and then theEtour was cancelled.
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 197

(slarrlint, Lam)

SMALL FACES

fyrar.'r.. dal! tatty

it is, but it sounds like the theme
music from a bad rebel film. Could
you please make it go away?
Moody Blues Voices In The Sky(DERAM)Sounds like a Chinese Move.
Wrong again. Curses. I wascheating by looking at the label,
but that never gets me anywhere.
It's a nice record. Moodies?
I'll have this one at home. But
they probably need somethinga bit more dynamic to get
across again.
Peter Thorogood"Could you please make it
go away?": Keith Moon

"A goolooning r

politelydeclinesanotherauraltreat while taking theMaker's Blind Datetest

Gerry Marsden & Derek Nimmo

It's the Tradlads. I'm not listening.
I'm asleep. It's obviously a show
tune. I suppose hundreds ofLiverpuddlians will be dancing inthe streets to this. Unfortunately
I can't really see it happening.
Amazing, ennit?

JULY 6 Keith Moon reviews

the singles. "It must be American.
Dem bones, dem bones..."SINGLES
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich,

(FONTANA)John Entwistle bassline. Is it aHoward-Blaikley song? So it must
be Dave Dee. Do I get that one?
I prefer this to the Hungarianbeer chants they usually do. No
sounds of tankards clashing to
the background of stomping
boots. Yeah, I think that'll be a hit.
Kinks

Memoirs of Ray Davies. No, it's
the first time I've heard this. ThisSounds like his teeth are fallingout. Very Christmas carol-ish.
A Mickie Most production? Alan
Bow n. is it? It could be anyone. Is
that a violin? It's so hidden I canhardly tell. I think pop violinists
have had their day. No- not a hit.

sounds very much like a demo
with Ray on acoustic guitar. I justheard a bass drum, so Mick Avory
must be on it as well. So it's The
Kinks. Sounds pretty dated, likeone of the songs Pete keeps
under his sink. I dig what The
Kinks do, but I've never thoughtof them as a group.
Small Faces

Amen Corner(DERAM)

Is it The Foundations? Not
a Notting Hill group? Yes, British,
I would say. The sort of thing
American groups do so muchbetter. Who is it? Nice fellows.
A remote hit.
Chris Montez Let's uance (LONDON)(IMMEDIATE)

Well that's nice. It sounds like theFaces on a sunny day. Great.
Great brass. This is a side of theFaces we saw in Australia on our
tour together. That was the mostenjoyable tour
we have everdone. I'm sure
the Faces werelaughing when
they made this.
I laughed when
I listened,anyway. It's
bound to bea smash. Morestrength totheir elbows.
This should
be a hit.

h In The Sky

Magistrates ]ere Come The Judgerii

Oh, very freaky. Yeah, it's a goodlooning record. I'm liking too
many of them today. Something
must have gone wrong. Sockit tome again. It must be
American. Dem bones, dembones. Yeah, the end was thebest bit. I should think it'll
get airplays from groovy
DJs, but it won't be a hit here.
Tony Newman Soul Thine

Is this "The Wibbly Wobbly
Way" by The Leaping
Duodenals I've heard somuch about? I've no idea who

Oh, twist again! (After first bars)
Is this a re-release of Chris
Montez? This is like playing theslot machines in the old caff
again. There must be a multi revival on. I used to like this, but

11.-111111

it's absurd. It's like us re-releasing"Can't Explain". Sounds like a Kit
Lambert production. I used tolike The Everly Brothers andBeach Boys, but this was nevermore than background music in
the dancehall. The best thingwith re-releases is to havedifferent artists on each side forcollectors' items. All my old
records are scratched away.
Alan Price(DECCA)

I'll have to be chained down.
I don't think I've ever listened toso many records all at once. Thisis a friendly record. No idea who
it is. It's another street musician.
I have visions of a geezer pullinga handcart full of musicians down
the street, with cash registers on
the side. Who was it? Oh dear.

-rdlike to har hr shout-:
publicity shot of Paul
McCartney signing Mary

HopkintoAppleRecords"I said, 'This isApple Records here ,MM SEPTEMBER 14 Paul McCartney explains how he discovered Mary hopkin.

66

He's been doing some weird
things. I should have known it
was Alan Price. I can't imagine
anybody else I know doing that.
Bobby Goldsboro Anton D ARTISTS)I

Is it Bobby Goldberg? I suppose
he's going through the alphabetof girls' names. His last one was"Honey" and I suppose this isabout Iona or Irene. A Family
Favourites kitchen -sink hit. He
sounds like he's singing to a photoof his missus - pipe and slippers.
Giles, Giles & Fripp
A M191911(DERAM)

Another record? Will they neverend? This is a John Sebastian
type tune. There are hundredsof these songs with the samebacking and slightly altered
words. The violins are in thebathroom. Good riddance to that.
-

HEARD OF MARY first in Liverpool. Justin

and Twiggy had come up in their new car...
showing off again, you know how it is.
Well, we were eating our pudding later that evening
and we talked about Opportunity Knocks anddiscovery shows generally and I wondered if anyone
ever got discovered, I mean really discovered, on
discovery shows.
"Then Twiggy said she had seen a great girl on
Opportunity Knocks and (luckily as it turned out) thiswas the time when we were looki ng a round for singers
for Apple Records. When I got back to London next day
several other people mentioned her to me, so it began
to look as if Mary was something. Twiggy's not soft. So
I got her phone number from the television company
and rang her at her home in Ponta rdawe, somewhere
i n Wales. This beautiful little Welsh voice came on thephone and I said, 'This is Apple Records here; would
you be interested in coming down to record for us?'"She said, 'Well, er, would you like to speak to mymother?' and then her mother came on the I i ne and we
had a chat and two further telephone conversations,and later that week Mary a nd her mum came to
London. We had a nice lunch and went to Dick James'
studios in Oxford Street and I thought she was great.
But at the same time I thought she was very Joan Baez-a lot ofloan's influence showed. However, Mary said
she could do other things, and I agreed that there wasno limit to her possibilities. There couldn't be a limit
because she was very together.
"Well, a long time earlier, maybe a couple of yea rsago, I'd heard 'Those Were The Days' when Gene

[Raskin! and Francesca, American singers, sangit in the Blue Angel in London -and I'd always
remembered it. I'd tried to get someone to record it
because it was so good. I'd hoped The Moody Blues
might do it, but it didn't reallywork out and later, inIndia, I played it to Donovan, who loved it but didn't
get around to doing it.
"We rang Essex Music, the publishers of the song,
but they didn't know anything about it other thanthat they owned the song. They had no lead -sheets,
no demos. But David Platz of Essex, nice man, sent to
America and got the demo and everything. I showed
Mary how I thought the song should be done and she
picked it up very easily- as if she'd known it for years.
At first she was singing it as if she didn't mean it, which
was strange for Mary, very strange. But it was her firsttime in the studio and it can be frightening. After a few
takes, I kept showing her the way she should sing it
and generally worked on it, and suddenly she got it.
We just put a tambourine on it and went home.
"She really is like that girl next door- the real thing:kind and quiet and she blushes and smiles shyly. It's
like when she says, 'Yes I go out with boys, but it's justkissing.' Great. It's due to her background. Normal.
Her parents are good, solid Welsh parents; her father
works for the local council and her mother is a very
intelligent woman, so we are going to look after Maryand make sure no harm comes to her. Work starts on
her album soon and we are going in all kinds of
directions as she's capable of singing anything. I'd liketo hear her shout. That would be really good. To hear
her really shout. I know she can. Everyone can.
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 99

19684"Theres A
no hardsettimup shop. Clothes, films
electronics, music... thi
THE BEATLESApple starts strongly wit!
hits by Mary Hopkin an{
their own "Hey Jude".
"We're family grocers,"
says Paul McCartney.

"You want toghurt, wegive it to you."
100 HISTORY OF ROCK 1969sell"

May14,1968.

Americana Hotel.
NewYork City:
Paul McCartney(obscuring John
Lennon) announces
the formation ofApple Corps

HISTORY OF ROCK 1969 1101

MELODY MAKER UNE1_
APPLE, THE BEATLES' artistic mindchild,is a feeling, an effort and a purpose. It'sa feeling of frustration with the existingstate of music and the visual arts; aneffort, backed with the financial

resources, prestige and communicative
power of The Beatles, to change the status quo; and its
purpose is to open the way to artistic fulfilment to writers,
musicians, singers, painters who hitherto have not beenable to find acceptance in the commercial world.
That's the idea, from the prolific mindsofThe Beatles. It's anattempt to put back into the world what they have taken inabundance -and, of course, to make a profit and have a little
fun along the way. It is in short an ambitious and far-reachingattempt to create a British cultural revolution that has
nothing to do with Uncle Mao's Little Red Book.
No-one can predict whether it will be a successors failure.
So, to try to find out whet her Apple has a chance of upsetting
our present pop balance, the MMpaid a visit to theheadquarters of the company in London's Wigmore Street.
The headquarters are housed on the fifth floor of a fairly
ordinary office building, and apart from a large and rather
lovely blow-up of an apple in full colour beaming down fromthe wall, it's pretty much like any other modern office suite.
But that is an illusion. Because Apple has assembled
a staff of sympathisers from various directions to
run its component projects. The executives arefrom widely different backgrounds, but all share anutter devotion to the aims ofApple. And John, Paul,
George and Ringo hold the reins -and they have abuilt-in commerciality. In fact, their devot ion toApple as an idea has imposed on them a discipline
which few ot her activities could. Paul spends mostPU. 71 ME trnD YKTIOW::

of every working day in the offices, arriving ea rly
and leaving late. John usually arrives after lunch
and stays late too, while George and Ringo work at
the office on average every other day. There is an airof quiet industry about the place.The Beatles have

July 8.1968: The Beatles with John Lennon present
only as a cardboard cut.out-etend press screeningof Yellow Submarine at the
Bowater House Cinema in

tried, by careful selection, to create an atmosphere
Knightsbridge. Londonof camaraderie about the project. Employees feel
involved and Derek Taylor, who gave up a lucrative
business as a publicist in Beverly Hills, California
100 INUITS DOI WO(clients included The Beach Boys and Herb Alpert)
world, it wasn't worth fighting for"). The other, at
to join the company, in fact stated: "The whole thingpresent undergoing alterations, is Apple Tailoring,
wouldn't work at all if it wasn't for the atmosphere ofwith premises in Chelsea's King's Road.
togetherness. Without that we'd split. We're notApple Electronics is headed by Alexis ("Magic Alex")
getting fabulous five -figure salaries, no-one is, we don't need them."
Mardas, a Greek electronics expert. The company are wary of discussing
In fact, Taylor, a former national newspaper writer and one-time
his work too closely. Says John Lennon: "We have learned in this happy
personal assistant to Brian Epstein and Beatles publicist, revealed thatbusiness world that spies in brown raincoats and sunglasses go aroundthe whole of t he Apple project to date has cost less that f 100,000- a usefuland you can't say anything about a product until it's out."
su m, but much less than was speculated in the music industry.
Anot her activity of t he project will be the Apple Foundation Off he Arts,
The whole of the project is called Apple Corps (get the pun?), with Neilwhich will be established for the encouragement of unknown talents in
Aspinall, formerly The Beatles' road manager, as managing director.
the literary, graphic and performing arts. Taylor summed this up: "WhatApple Corps is the holding company and its component parts are:
we are trying to create is a situation where an unknown can walk throughApple Films, headed by Dennis O'Dell and Brian Lewis, which alreadyour door, be welcomed and talk ideas, work projects over with, say, a Beat le.
has set deals on four feature films, includinga film based on John
If t hey are good, he'll be backed and given artistic freedom for his work."
Lennon's two books In His Own Write a nd
Said Paul McCartney: "We want to give
A Spaniard In The Works.
young people a chance to get started without
going on their knees to the boss of some giantApple Records, headed by an American, Ron
Kass, former director of overseas operations forcompany." So far a lot has been fed into the
Liberty Records. The company has issued noApple pipeline- ideas, capital, and creativity.
discs yet, but Peter Asher- an A&R man -said
Not too much has come out of the other end.
they hoped their first release would be in July.
But Apple saywa it and see -judge us on results.
Apple Music Publishing, one of the first projects
The point to remember is that the power forApple is generated by The Beatles ("Without
they set up, which will handle all musicalcompositions acquired by the organisation.
them it wouldn't carryon" says Taylor) andApple Merchandising at present runs two Westthey haven't notched up many actual failures
End shops. One, in Baker Street, is already well
five-year career. But whether Apple is
known because of its wall mural, which theya huge success or mere pie -in -the -sky, they are
were forced to obliterate because of neighbours'
at least attempting a new deal for young people
complaints ("John said with all the trouble in thein a world geared to middle age. Alan Walsh"We want togive young
people achance to getstarted"102

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

in their.

THE BEATLES

NME
TI

II.BEATLES MET the press- a veryrare occurrence these days- after ashowing of the Apple -presented, King
Features -produced full-length cartoon film
Yellow Submarine, which I found colourful,
sometimes ingenious, but overall rather
boring. One Beatle was missing, John Lennon,
whose yen these days is even more eastern

than India.

good songs for her. No, ! won't write them. There
are plenty of good old ones. Yes, she'll be big.
We've got to be positive about that."
Speaking about himself -and he was looking
verycheerful -he said, "I am alright but I could
be better." But he got angry when he heard"a worryingcat, a German, on TVranting about
all kids takingdrugs". He refuted the idea that
all the kids did this and said such statements
made him see red. He also thought that rockand current pop music was more serious thanpeople think it is. He said that so-calledclassical music, when he listened to it, hadn't
got all that much to it. "Suddenly we realisewe
can do it too," he concluded.
And his partingshot was that Dylan's lyrics have infinitely more

"Some people
want us to goon until wevanish up ourown B-sides "So Paul (in pale -mauve jacket, light trousers,
pinky shirt, summery tie -quite the best
dressed), George and Ringo posed besidea cardboard effigy ofJohn. Paul took up a
position in front and was full of life. Ringo looked pleasant and George,with more hair than ever, looked thoughtful.
After the pictures, I was able to corner George, who told me that the
Yellow Submarine ca noon depiction ofThe Beatles "isn't us". "There's notrue image of us. You press people have given us an image which isn't useither." George, in dark suit and yellow frilled shirt, said they hadchanged a lot (I noticed all three were much more sober and quiet andto -the -point now) and were half businessmen, half recording artists.
"It appears we are doing less, but we're doing more, but the public don't
see it. When we toured we were seen on stage and gett ing on and off
aeroplanes. Now we do our work in private, in offices and studios. l havewritten 10 songs for the new LP. We have about 40 in all and we don't know
yet which ones we'll use. We hope to do the LP quicker."
I remarked that now that George was clean shaven, wesaw more of his
face than we had for a longtime. He looked younger. How did it feel to be
so bare? "Great. If I cut my hairoff more I'd look younger still and maybe!could join the Small Faces," joked George.
Ringo, in a red -with -white -dots shirt and darksuit and still sporting asmall moustache, told me that Yellow Submarinewas a thing for thechildren. Like George, he hadn't seen the whole film through. "Kids are
the most important people in the world today. Theyare the future," hesaid. "We do things forchildren. The cartoons illustrate some of oursongs, that's all."I asked him what he thought of the actors who had spoken their voices.
"I thought they all sounded like me -and we all have very different voices,y'know. It's not just a Liverpool accent." Ringo told me he had alreadyrecorded his song for the next album. "It has two titles, so I can't say what
it will be called yet." This was a tactful way of saying he can't give out thetitle yet. Ringo told me he had given up his building business because"nobody bought houseswhere we put them up! And he had given up
meditation because he couldn't find the time for it, except in the car.
"When I'm driving I sometimes close myeyes and meditate," he drawled.
Wasn't that dangerous, I asked?
"Oh, my chauffeurdrives me," he quickly added, recallingone of the few
times he had taken over with a "Move over, son" and got
nicked for speeding. "The speed cop didn't know me,
I'm sure. Richard Starkey is the name on my licence. I got
11"-done for 18. So 'son' drives me now," he concluded.
As always, Paul had plenty to say. He was pleased withthe progress of the LP but admitted, "We get new ideas
everyday, but I hope it will be made quicker than the
Pepperalbum." They want it out long before the Yellow
SubmarineLP comes out at Christmas, with four rather
inconsequential songs specially written for the film.
"Weare familygrocers," Paul went on. "You want yoghurt,
we give you it. You want cornflakes, we have that too. Mums
and dads can't takesomeofouralbum stuff, so we make it
simple for them on singles." I asked him about Mary Hopkin,the singer from
Wales whom hehas signed and
BEATLES
who has been on
het oak
Hugh ie Green's

worthwhile poetry about them than the nauseating words ofsongs that
Sinatra sings: "I used to think they were great, but now they are so much
"And he used a word more in common use in France than here.
Andy Gray

MELODY MAKER SEPTEMBER 14---

II ERE SEEMSTO be a big cloud of anti-Beatle matter

hanging around at the moment," said Paul McCartney. "Butit usually works itself out -and the fact that the record hasgone to No 1 proves it."
We were discussing the seven -minute "Hey Jude", which despite asomewhat guarded reaction from critics had reached the No I in the MM
Pop 30 within three days of release. The chief criticisms seem to be that
this represents a backwards step forThe Beatles and that the endinggoes
on much too long. I asked Paul if he thought thesewere valid points.
"Steps back are fine," he retorted. "If we can make a record as good as'Great Balls Of Fire' then we will be delighted. It's only phoneyintellectuals who want to step forward all the time. We felt it was time tostep backbecause that was what wewanted to do. You can still make goodmusic without going forward. Some people want us to go on until wevanish up ourown B-sides.
"As far as the ending is concerned, wewere faced with the choice offading it out early, which was the obvious thing to do. I know people
think we'rea bit thick, but we do know that if you are to make a record
commercially successful, you must make it nice and short. But we liked
the end -we liked it goingon. The DJs can always fade it down if t hey want
to- like a TV programme. If you get fed up with it, you can always turnover. You don't have to sit through it, although a lot of people enjoy every
second of the end, and there isn't really that much repetition to it."
I asked how the newalbum was going. "We should finish it off next
month," Paul told me. "A lot of the t racks are done and we always speed up
towards the end, doing tracks in a day or so." .

THE

Opportunity Knocks.

"She sings toomuch like JoanBaez. We'll alter
that. And get some-That's what the
Beatles areplanning with thisAre there any unusual tracks? "There will be a couple that people willtalkabout," heagreed. "People seem to think that everything we say anddo and sing is a political statement, but it isn't. In the end it is always onlya song. One or two of the tracks will make some people wonder what
we're doing, but what we are doing is just singing songs. This businessof people takingeverything we sayas an important pronouncement
sometimes gets me down. Then I realise it doesn't really matter at all and!don't really mind.
"The knockers don't really upset us. Once you go to No 1, you can't go
any higher. You are only faced with the possibility of comingdown. That
sort of t h ing doesn't worry me- though I suppose it could. I remember
Brian Matthew reviewed 'She Loves You' and said it was utter drivel andthe worst record we had ever made. He said it would never be a hit. It wasa fantasticallyanti- review, and we were all worried about it. Of course it
turned out to be one of the biggest ever. The reviewers have been proved
wrong so often, we don't worry any more. "Paul said noth ingwas happeningyet about the projected third Beatles
feature film. Asked about Apple, he commented: "Things are going a lot
better nowthan they have done. And we have got two hits -ours and Mary
Hopkin's." I wondered if he was interested in the American undergroundscene and if he might seeThe Doors orlefferson Airplane while theywere

in London. "I might," he said. "I don't plan these things really! like thatscene and I saw JeffersonAirplane in San Francisco. They are nice people.
But really I'd rathersee Elvis. I've never seen him and that would be nice.
I sawa great TV show he did with lotsof rock things in it.
"You knowwhat I'd love to do? I'd love to
produce an album for Elvis. His albums haven't
been produced very well and as I am a fan of his
I think I'd be able to produce him well. I'd try
and get the same feel as the first couple of hisalbums. It would be great!" Bob Dawbarn

NME-

TH ROUGH RAIN, TEM PEST and flood,
George Harrison drove up to London
this week to join his mate Jackie Lomax
for a cuppa tea and a chat. I sat with them in
the new Apple offices in Savile Row, in comfort
and style beneath the white angels and theavery posh and awe-inspiring and -had I not been in the company ofsuch normal people - I suspect I might easily have succumbed toillusions of grandeur complaining about the terrible servant problem
one gets in London these days.
We talked mainly around the theme of"Sour M ilk Sea", that boom boom kick -in -the -stomach rocker which George wrote and produced
and which Jackie sings on hisApple single released two or threeweeks
ago. The idea oft hem getting together emerged somewhere around 1963,
but The Beatles suddenly had a fewother matters to attend to. Jackie left
The Undertakers, kicked around, went toAmerica and came backagain,
and only noware he and George getting the time to work out ideas.
I told George it had been a bit ofa surprise to find him writingand
producing this big rocking number, considering t he aura of Indian
influence he'd built up over the last couple of years. Was it a deliberateattempt to smash his image? George: "This is the problem; you see I'vegot
my Wonderwall album coming out in a couple ofweeks, and that's very
Indian -influenced. But the thing with that is, I recorded it in December oflast yearand January 1968.Istill like it, I still think it's very good. But it's
not me. I'm back to beinga rocker now... for a bit, at least!
"You go through so manychanges and realisations, and so often you
come right back where you started. I've realised another thing, that you
can write a melody and it can be absolutelyanythingyou like. It canbecome a jazz song, a folk song, a rock'n'roll song- it can be anything.
It just depends howyou treat it. For instance, you could sing "LongTall
Sally" verysweet, or you could even do it as an Indian song if you wanted
to. It's really a matterof concept.
"I'll tell you one of the things that influenced
me in music in the last few months... around
June ! went toAmerica because I'd promised to
do a little part in this film of Ravi Shankar's. Andaround that time I had my sitar and something
happened whereby we never got the flight backfrom Los Angeles, and we ended up going to
NewYork for two nights. Well, the general
influence of the music... just to go toAmerica...

"To become arock'n'roll
guitarist, I've
got to neglect
Indian music"

cherubs frolicking on the ceiling in Georgian
splendour. And as we talked, our chairs sank deep
into the green Wilton that stretched miles towards
the vast white walls of the beautiful room. It was all

it has an effect. If I was to go to the States now,

thisweek, I'd pickup something of the vibrationof what 's going on. What I got over there lasttime was like the thing of Electric Flagand allthat. That's what's goingon over there."
I said some people might feel what was a

Beatledoingsaying he was still greatly
influenced by the pop music of ot hers, when it
was generally felt that The Beatles werethemselves the leaders of influence. George
didn't see it that way. Said he: "We are only
WM= de 1411.
a collection of all the things we've ever been
influenced by. We don't copy, of course. But thefeel of the music in the Stateswas heavy, andI happen to like that, and it just happened thatwhen I got to New York there were people there
Tike Jimi Hendrixand all of them and I really likewhat they're doing. After that I felt, well, to go
into one thing, you've got to neglect somethingelse. For me to go into rock'n'roll and become a rock'n'roll
guitarist as I want to, I've got to neglect Indian music.
"As for meworkingon the rock scene with Jackie, ourgeneral idea is just to do a lot of tracks to seewhat comesout next. We're mainlydoing Jackie's compositions at
the moment, not mine. It's a funny thing, but I wrote'Sour Milk Sea' in Rishikesh in 10 minutes. !didn't havea guitar, but was always playing it and therewas only
about 10 minutes or half an hour, say, of an evening when

George H arrison andJackie Lomax. whose

first single for Apple,"Sour Milk Sea". is asong Harrisonwroto
in Rishikesh, India-but always imagined

as rock'n'roll"I borrowed his guitarand wrote that song.""Even though I was in India, I always imagined the songas rock'n'roll. That was the intention."
And with sales of 'Sour Milk Sea' gathering momentum
and Jackie's record lookingas if it could do verywell for
itself if it doesn't watch out - how doesGeorge rate its
chances?Answer: "I don't think it's an obvious hit, but
I think it's avery good record. The whole thing of it is very
good, although I think that, in away, it goes above theheads of some people. It's not the type of record yourmums and dads and all those type of people
would buy -like a Mary Hopkin record.
"The thingis, you either have the choice oftrying to make a hit or trying to do what you want
to do. And we made that choice. Jackie's wholething is rock'n'roll, and we both like that heavy,tight sound. We're thinkingof all those people
who like rock'n'roll music- and there's a hell ofa lot of people who just want to hear that boom boom sort of thing."
Now he's on this rock kick, however, how does
George feel about some of his earlier, Indian influenced work -"The Inner Light", for exa mple?
He gives a grin. "That was one of my precocious
things. Very precocious, lam -when I get going."
Alan Smith

MM EPTEMBER 28-

SAVILE ROW IS a rather dull side street

running parallel to the curved eleganceof Regent Street. The buildings are
grimed with layers of London dirt - all except
Number 3. The brilliant white front stands
out like a newly capped tooth in a mouthfulof moulding molars. Inside, workmen are
putting the finishing touches to various rooms.
In one they work in the presence of a huge blue,
pin-striped suit that lays spread out on the floor
as if the wearer, a man of immense girth, hassuddenly shrivelled up and blown away, leaving
his suit as a fond memory.

May15-18.1968:theAppleBoutique on
London's Baker Street isrepainted on the orders

It was in another room, white with a green
carpet stretching from wall to wall I ike a bowlinggreen, that I met George Harrison last week. Prior
to meetingGeorge I chatted to Jackie Lomax,
whose "Sour Milk Sea", one of the first four singles on theApple label,
was produced by George, who is head on acoustic guitar on the record,
as is Ringo, Nicky Hopkins and the phantom "Eddie Clayton".
Jackie is the former memberof a group who were called The
Undertakers. They were part of Liverpool's two-fisted assault on the pop
world five years ago. "We didn't really have much success," recalled
Jackie. "As I remember, we were starving and sleepingon a studio floor."
Jackie managed to keep himself involved with the music world andwhen he returned from the United States with his own group, The Lomax
Alliance, the late Brian Epstein wanted him to go solo.
The two American members of lackie's group eventually returned to
the US and he tried his hand with a solo single, "Genuine Imitation Life",
which, said Jackie, was a flop. Then he went to seeApple man Terry
Doran about songs he had written and things happened from there.
George and Jackie are friends from the Liverpool scene days.
"I walked in and said, 'Hi Jackie, I'm off to
India'; now I'm back and herewe are," said
George, zoomingacross the green carpet to join
us at the table by the window. Jackie's single
appears to have been lost in the rush for"Hey
Jude" and Mary Hopkin's "Those Were The
Days". A pity because it is a very good record
with a nice, rocking sound.
"It's a glorified jam session, like the Stones
record," said George. "It's a pity that everybody
hasn't got into it. I was pleased with the way
it came out, although it's not everybody's cupof meat."
Added George, "There's no hang-up about
recording his own stuff. Whetheryou want a hit
or not, good things don't have to be commercial.
But it definitely is a good record."
This is the aim of Apple and Jackie -to makegood recordswithout worrying about them beingcommercial ent ities. There is no hurry, no desire
to hard -sell into record markets or to build stars
overnight. Jackie and George are concentrating onof Westminstr City
Council.oblitrating the-mural designed by Dutch
collec tis,e The Fool

recording; the live appearances will come later as a part of the overall
venture. Jackieeventuallywants a band that can produce a "Sour Milk
Sea" sound. George, currently splitting time between the new Beatles
album and Jackie's first album, said, "By the time the album is finishedthere'll be a band, and then it'll be hit the road, Jackie.""When people heard that I was on theApple label theysaid, 'You've got
it made,'" said Jackie. "But I'm not reallyconnected with The Beatles,
just with George as an individual." George took the point further. "Thethingis, Jackie is with me, I am in The Beatles, and Apple is owned by
The Beatles. There's a whole big myth about The Beatles. We have to beconnected with people. You get the good side and the bad side, really,
just as in any normal relationship with people.
"But, you know, when we started Apple we thought that even if we don't
have a hit, as long as every record is good, that's all that matters. We neverthinkof anything asA- or B-sides. We just try to make them all very goodwith what's around us, with the musicians, and the studios."
Record production is one of George Harrison's
main activities and he seems to derive a great
deal of satisfaction from it. "I'm getting more
and more into it now," he said. "It's another side
to the music. It's the idea of getting it all
together, t rying to get everybody to do theirbest. It's psychologically trying to get people todo their best without imposingon them, andwithout letting them freak out. I've learnt a lot
from it. Also, it makes you aware of themusicians around the scene. You get to know
who is best in their field, whether it's guitar,organ, bass or drums. Like Nicky Hopkins, whoplays as if he is not a session musician."
It has been said that The Beatles are thinking
about doinglive performances. Howdid George
feel about goingon the road again? "The idea of
coming out is appealing. On the other hand, somepeople wouldn't like what we'd play and otherpeople would. I'd like to be resident in a club withthe amps there all the time so you could just walkon stage and plug in." Tony Wilson"Production isabout trying to
get people todo their best"

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 1103

a
a

r:

4.

p

I

groups- two of the most vital and Influential in America -make

THE BIGGEST FREAK -OUT since Babylon is likely to erupt at
London's Roundhouse next weekend if advance reports on
The Doors and Jefferson Airplane are anything to go by. These

AUGUST 31 -"Sex isjust oneof thefactors", PIP orrival in the UK of
THE DOORS
play with_Jefferson AirpIP nhugely anticipated.
MM stokes the flames a1968

July-0E10ER

and on. Then Jim Morrison walks on stage in his blacksnakeskin pants
with his chest bared and wearing a hat screwed down right over his eyes.
He'll stand and look at the audience forwhat seems minutes. It's almost
a sexual thing he has goingwith them. And when he ends with 'The
Unknown Soldier', where he appears to leap 15 feet in theair and die on
stage, all hell breaks loose. The Doors grossed $85,000 at the Hollywood
Bowl and were sold out on the strength of one advert."
Adds Roger Vorce, American agent for The Doors and Jefferson
Airplane, who talked to the MMabout the Coming0flim: "There's amystique about Jim Morrison that communicates itself to his audience ina manner that recalls James Dean. His personality tends to dominate The
Doors, as opposed to the 'group' personality of the JeffersonAirplane.
Though hereyou have two singers in Marty Balin and Grace Slick.
"The Jeffersons have a complete light -and -sound show. I don't imagine
you've seen anything in Britain quite like it before. There's an absolute
pattern of synchronisation between colour and sound on stage. They use
a bigscreen with rear projection. Altogether, there is five tons of light andsound equipment."
In a somewhat ecstatic analysis of "The New Rock- music that's
hooked t he whole vibrating world", America's Life magazine wrote:"The Jefferson Airplane flies the runways of the mind and the airwaysof the imagination. It arrives and departs at will, exploring surrealist
landscapes. The Doors open and close everywhere and nowhere. Behind,
there are passageways: a moon -lit drive to the edge of the night, a swim to
the moon, awalk down streets of all-night movies. Sharingemptinesswith the clothes -less hanger is Jim Morrison..."Quite a prospect in store for the crowds who'll soon be flocking to
the somewhat prosaic environs of the Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, anddoubtless an eye-opener for the extra police already drafted to keep
control. Laurie Henshaw
MM

CC

F THE UNDERGROUND is givingthat if someone isstanding up singing
and playing an

instrument, what
has this to do withviolence?"
But what about"The Unknown
Soldier", with its

traumatic firing squad sequence?
Again Morrison
denied any
violence in thisparticular songand stated that it
was a love song.
"The violence isMorrison: -There's amystique about him,"says Th Doorsagont

just a metaphor.
It'sabout sexual intercourse. The firing squad is just a metaphor
for what's goingon."
As well as the songs, The Doors' set features Jim Morrison's poetry.
"The organ, drums and guitar improvise, and I do the same withwords and voice," he said. Morrison is the focal point of the group.
Their leader and sex symbol, often pictured naked to the waist or inleather. Long, dark -brown hair curls down to his shoulders andframes his almost good-looking face. He has been accused of being
deliberately sexy on stage, and in Newhaven, Connecticut occurred
the now historical arrest of Morrison on stage at the end of the show.
As a policeman approached Morrison,
Jim calmly held the mic toward him
and said, "Sayyour thing, man." A minor
riot ensued and police arrested people
almost indiscriminately.
Morrison himselfwas charged withbreach of the peace, indecent and immoral
exhibition and resistingarrest. He was placed
under a bail of $1,000. Later, however, thecharges were dropped.
Offstage he is slightly distant. He precedes
answers with a great amount of thought and is
not verbose in replying. He has a tremendous
self-assurance and coolness. Occasionally one
gets the impression he is sending up the questions with his answers, but it
is not obvious.
At the ICA reception he stood amidst a crowd of reporters, cameramen
and film technicians controlling thingswith ease. The bustle frayedother people's nerves but he maintained his cool. There were no signsof irritation at the showerof questions about his sexiness, the group's
political or revolutionary position, or what he thought of British groups.
If anything, he was bored by thewhole carry -on. He certainly
confounded reports that he was rude or unapproachable. Reportswhichat their harshest said of him that "he thinks he is Christ". Tony Wilson"We have aform... I guess
I don't like it if
people laugh"away money, not earning money,
then we are not underground. We
run our own scene. I guess we qualify as
businessmen," said Doors lead singer Jim
Morrison in London last week. He wasreplying to a question about whether thegroup considered themselves part of the"underground" at a press reception at theInstitute Of Contemporary Arts.
The Doors, as far as America is concerned, are very much above
ground. They don't appear for less than $20,000 a night and nowappear
on average four nights a month. Their royalties for records have passed
the million -dollar mark. Very good business indeed. In 1967, "Light My
Fire" topped the US charts and their latest single, "Hello, I Love You",
which apparently they don't like too much, has just slipped downfrom No 1 in the States. Their three albums, The Doors, St range Days
and Waiting For The Sun, have been best-sellers and all have solda million, as did "Light My Fire", which makes them the Elektra label'shottest property.
In Britain they haveyet to make the charts, although "Hello, I Love You",the seventh single to be released on the British market, looks like shaping
up to be the first chart entry in Britain for The Doors. Although they are
not part of the free -concert scene in the States, The Doors' individual
members- Morrison, Ray Manzarek, organ, John Densmore, drums,
and Bobby Krieger, guitar -sit in with othergroups.
"There's a lot of room to improvise," said
Morrison, when the group paid avisit to theRoundhouse last week. "We have a form that
we are very familiar with, and we know it wellenough to vary it. It's always ditterent. I guess!don't like it if people laugh. If somebody yells
out in a dramatic moment, it breaks the moodand it's hard to get it back."
The Doors' music often seems to carry

NME EPTENibLti 21
DURING THE SHORT t ime The Doors spent in London notlong ago, Jim Morrison managed to get himself a reputationof being "difficult" with the press. NMEcolleagues werereturning with strange tales of Morrison's
behaviour. Add to that his record company's
claim that Jim can be extremely civil, evenerudite, one day and be gross (or as he says
"primitive") the next, and you will understandwhy it was with much apprehension that I
journeyed to see the much -publicised Morrison
towards the end of his British stay.

undercurrents of violence and strongsexual
overtones. Morrison denies this; in fact, "They a re

At Polydor, I was shown to a small room on
the third floor where a good impression ofa madhousewas being effected. Various ladies

love songs," he insisted. "I know there is a lot ofviolence about, but I haven't seen much apart fromwhat I've seen on television and movies. I thinkand gentlemen were weaving backwards andforwards; Doors organist Ray Manzarek sat at
a table covered in handouts; drummer John

108 HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

err,

p

This DoorsinGermany in
1968: (I -r) Robbie Krieger,
John Densmore, Jim
Morrisonand Ray Manzarok

Densmore was sittingcolourfullycross-legged on a chair and next to him
guitarist Bobby Krieger, behind dark glasses, surveyed the whole scene
with a look of utter boredom.
Surrounded by people, but still dominating the room, was Morrison
himself, tight black leather jeans and all. To add to the melee, a three-man
camera crew, who had been religiously following thegroup throughout
its stay, was filming the whole affair for posterity, orGranada, or whatever.
I was sat down in front of a door that kept openingand told there was to bea press conference. Presently a young man came over, said we hadn't met
before, introduced himself as part of thecamera crew, and promptly
asked (there is another word for it) fora cigarette. My reply was short.
Several minutes elapsed. No signs of conferences starting. So I asked if
I could speak to Jim Morrison. Impossible, I was informed, even though
everybodyelse seemed to be doing just that. Instead I chatted with DoorsJohn and Bobby, which was made difficult by the television camera
which suddenly appeared in the proximityof my left ear and by the
gentleman, keeping out of camera view, who was crawlingalong the floor
and poking a mic up into our faces. "Yes, it is a bit offputting," agreed
Bobby, who had obviouslyseen it all before. And, yes, they had actuallyfollowed one of them to the loo.
When it became obvious there was to be no conference, I gave up
waiting and approached the supposedly unapproachable Jim Morrison,
whose reputation of being d ifficult was, I discovered, either falsehood or
one of his extremes on the wrongday. He was, in fact, quite a nice guy. Mr
Morrison is, of course, someth ingof a poet and is an intense young man
given to periods of deep thought (accompanied by closed eyes andintense expression) and searching answers (accompanied by intense
glances skyward).
There is also about him, a hint, just a hint, that he does not take himself
seriously much of the time -a trace of an inward smile on the dark,handsome features which will often be there to greet you if you lookup
from transposing his thoughts to paper.
What did he hope to see on his short visit? "I'd like to see Stonehenge,
fire-eaters and all that sort of thing. And ruins -1 like ruins. I understandyou can still see bomb damage in some suburbs. And I'd like to see
Madame Tussauds."
He was generous in praise of the Roundhouse audiences at the DoorsJeffersonAirplane concerts. "The audience was one of the best we've everhad. Everyone seemed to take it soeasy. It was different because in theStates they are there as much to
enjoy themselves as to hear you.
Whereas at the Roundhouse,
everyone was there to listen. It
was like goingback to the roots
again and it stimulated us to doa good performance.
"They really took me bysurprise.
!expected them to be a little
resistant, a little reserved, butthey were fantastic. That's all!can say. I enjoyed playingat theRoundhouse more than any
other date for years."
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1them and not one of their earlier,much better singles- he replied that it was the "economic system, record
company, style and sound.
"Like, 'Light My Fire' was one of the biggest selling records of all time
but it didn't even make a dent here. I don't know. Sure, 'Hello, I Love You'
isn't one ofour best songs, but I am not ashamed of it.
"Really, I like the other side better; I was hoping they would flip it andplay that, but theyhaven't. But now that we have got our foot in the door,
perhaps they will listen a bit more."
In his record -company biography, Morrison cites Presley, alongwith Frank Sinatra, as one of his favourite singers. How much was heinfluenced by Elvis?"Along with many of the early rock singers- Little
Richard, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent - he had an
influence on me because of the music and the fact that I heard them at
an agewhen I was kinda ready for an influence. It was a strong influenceand they just seemed to open up a whole new world to me. They werevery exciting and presented a strong. intense landscape that I had only
vaguely glimpsed before."
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 1109

1968
JULY

- SOWER

Had there been any later or current influences? " I am much too
involved in the music to pay much attention to other influences now.
I couldn't be influenced like that again. I suppose the influences arewhat I see and read. And airplanes, especially the take -off."
As for other groups, he commented: "Everyone is so good at the
moment. It is really boring. Sometimes I wish a really bad group would
come along."
Morrison was courteous enough, though he gavea slight impressionof aloofness, but a glimpse of his primitive self came out at thequestioningof one persistent reporter. He was asked about Jagger
comparisons. "I have always thought comparisonswere useless and ugly.
It is a short cut to thinking," he countered.
About politics in his writing?"I don't thinks° far politics have been amajor theme in my songs. It is in there in a few songs, but it is a very minor
theme. Politics is people and their interaction with other people, so you
cannot really separate it from anything."
He seemed not to like answeringquestions on whyThe Doors had notstayed longer in Britain and was then asked how he saw the group. He
fell into deep thought, eyes down, and finally replied: "How do you
see yourself?"
His questioner pressed for an answer. Moredeep thought. "That's a rhetorical question andI have given you a rhetorical answer. You might
as well ask me howdo I see my left palm."
In such surroundings and on so short an
encounter, it was difficult to get any further
than the surface of Morrison's character.
Perhaps on the next time round, when Jim said
he'd be pleased to do a longer, quieter interview,
I maybe able to get a little deeper. If I can catchthe right extreme, that is. Nick Logan

He also expressed a wish to see Terry Reid a nd The Beatles. I asked
Bobby about the moods of lim Morrison. "It depends which day of theweek you get him on. He used to beworse, but I think he is getting used to
it now. It is just the way he is. It's nothingto do with the group oranything
like that. I think I understand him as well as anybody through being withhim for three years, but I still don't understand him completely."
We got back to "Hello. I Love You". Bobby com mented, "Well, I think it'sa good record. A lot of people have said it is similar to the Kinks record, but
we didn't think that when we made it. We cut it a yearago and thenchanged it afterwards so it would not sound like it, but I guess it still does."
On the appeal ofThe Doors' stage act, Bobby expressed t he view thatthe sex angle was secondary but that was what people picked up on
because it was the sensational thing- a view that was echoed by Jim
Morrison a few minutes later.
"Sex. It is just one oft he factors," said Jim. "There area lot of otherfactors. It is important, I guess, but I don't think it is the main thing,although all music is a very nature -based thing. So they can't be

separated. The sex thinghas been picked out because that's one of thethings that sell papers. They just jump on that."
Nowback in the States, the group will beworkingon its first feature film, which Morrison
is directing. He was vague about the outline of
the film. "It is just developingas it goes along. On
one level it is a portrait ofAmerican society
today, contemporaryAmerican reality.
"American society is undergoing a lot ofinteresting changes, really. A lot of people there
are waking up to the fact that they live in a wholeworld; not just one country. It is a veryexciting"Everyone isso good at the
moment. It's
really boring"

NME

THE DOORS CAME. The Doors went - leaving in their wake thedisappointed, the disgusted and the newly devoted to fight it
out for dominance. At this stage in the proceedings, the new
devoted have gone well ahead on points, taking the first round by
putting "Hello, I Love You" into the singles chart and the second
by getting Waiting For The Sun a well -deserved nibble at thealbums chart.
So the day ofThe Doors has arrived, which it had to intime, for a group that can appeal to those who wantmore from their pop than mere musical candy floss-and at the same time to those who ask for nothing
more than good, solid group pop and faces toscream at -could not be overlooked forever.
I spoke to two of the group during theireventful
British visit. First a fewwords with the group's wiry haired guitarist Bobby Krieger. He was as baffled as
Jim Morrison and the legions of British Doors fansthat the group had made it herewith "Hello, I Love
You" when all their earlier, better things like "Light My
Fire" (now re-released as a single) and "Love Me Two
Times" had been passed by. "Why so long?! just don't know.
'Hello, I Love You' is nice, but if they didn't pickup on a thing like
'Light My Fire' it seems strange," said Bobby.
"It could be a combination of things. The record company changing to
Polydor here. Or maybe a nationalistic thing. Like Traffic and Pink Floyd
hasn't really done it in the States."
Traffic, said Bobby, were among his favourite British groups. He also
liked Jimi Hendrix and during the stay had been to see The Nice, whowere very good, and Tim Rose, who used to play concert dates withThe Doors in the States.

...A ND.

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coming to him expectinghim to teach them

how to live. "I get incredible letters," he replied,"but they teach me how to live rather than me teach them. They are very
intelligent youngsters, very sensitive, very philosophical."The Doors had their beginnings in the spring of 1965 in a band called
Rick & The Ravens, which contained the three Manzarek brothers, Ray
singing, Rick on piano and Jim on guitar.
Ray Manzarek, nowThe Doors' organ man, had studied Tchaikovsky
but followed the blues players on Chicago's South Side. During
the summer of '65, Raywas living in Venice when he met Jim
Morrison. "He said he had been writingsome songs, so we
sat on the beach and I asked him to singsomeof them.
The first thing he tried was 'Moonlight Drive. Whenhe sang those first lines -"Let 'sswim to the moon/
Let 's climb through the tide/ Penetrate them/ening,That the citysleeps to hide" -I said that 's it.
"I'd never heard lyrics to a rock song like that
before. We talked a while before we decided to geta group togetherand make a million dollars."Morrison and a college room -mate had alreadyjoked about forminga rock duo called The Doors:
Open And Closed. It came from a phrase of William
Blake's -"There are things that are known and things thatare unknown, and in between there are doors." It seemed
appropriate for the group.

So first therewas Jim and Ray and then drummerlohn Densmore cameinto the picture. Raywas attending one of the meditation centres of theMaharishi in Los Angeles when he met John in his class. Bobby Krieger
also met with the other Doors through the meditation school and he andDensmore are still active disciples of the Maharishi's teaching.
As four, The Doors began playingat a small, now -defunct club on
Hollywood's Sunset Strip called the "London Fog". On the last night of
their four -month stay theywere seen by thebooker for the famed WhiskeyA Go Go and given
the house residency there. At the Whiskey they
played second billing to everybody until one
evening Jac Holzman, president of Elektra
Records, was talked into going to see them. The
result was the hugelysuccessful pairingofThe
Doors/Elekt ra that paved the way to so manytriumphs and now looks like repeating thestory here -and not before time. Nick Loganpeoplesome
Jim Morrison,
toenoughare unkind
Christ'ishesay, 'thinks
Is Zs
dos fro icemen we.

place in which to live."
I asked him if he found the group's fans

waked

W
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hums We elmosi *arid.

Itills.ra"This wasfun, This
was t he place for us**:The Doors at North
London's Round house,
September 6/7,1968"Their precision and timing are quite remarkable"'''''`MM SEPTEMBER 14 he Middle Earth club achieves the imoossible by hosting The floors and Jefferson Airplane.
THE RUMOURS were flying. Doors
drummer John Densmore was missing.
The groups were arguing as to who
would go on first. There was some speculation
as to whether they would go on at all. The
Friday -night Doors/Jefferson Airplaneconcert was scheduled to start at 9.3opm.
The audience, over 2,000 of them, had been
sitting patiently since 7.3o and they had to waita further two hours before the action began.
DJ Jeff Dexter kept thing moving with records
and Pete Drummond gave him a hand.
Then the stage darkened and the audiencecheered as dim figures appeared and took up
positions behind drums, organ and on guitar.
The stage lights went up and John Densmore,
Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger launched
into "Back Door Man" to herald the arrival of
the front Doors man, Jim Morrison. He walked
majestically on stage clad in a tight blackleather suit, white shirt and brown shoes. The
crowd applauded him and Morrison, taking up
a stance at the mic, smiled briefly and belted
into his first song.
His singing is every bit as powerful as The
Doors' albums suggest, while the backing trioof organist Manzarek, drummer Densmore
and Krieger, guitar, are really together andplay with precision and timing that are quite
remarkable. Wasting little time, Morrison
went on to "Break On Through", "When The
Music's Over", the Brecht -Weill "Whisky Bar","Hello, I Love You" and "Natural Child"breaking into a knockout version of "Money".
For the ritualistic "The End", Morrison asked
for the lights to be put out. Eventually, after

pleading and finally shouting, he got the lights
off and The Doors became vague, shadowy
figures with a backdrop of red dots formed by
the bank of lights on the group's amplifiers.
The song began and a dramatic effect wasbuilding up when a spotlight suddenly cameon, killing the whole thing. Understandably,
Morrison walked off but the group kept on
playing. The light went out and Morrison
returned to finish the song.
During "Light My Fire" he leapt down into
the fenced -off space between the stage andthe audience, which was being used as a TV
camera run. This caused
confusion, with thecameraman becoming
tangled up in Morrison's mic
awire. Morrison screamed
into the mic and then held it
into the audience for girls to
scream into. ""The Unknown
Soldier" became a real
production number, with
Morrison acting out the part of the prisoner
facing the firing squad. Densmore played a rolland then Morrison crashed to the floor "dead".
He lay on the floor and it seemed as though he
had knocked himself out, but then he leapt up
and finished the song with its triumphant "thewar is over!" last line.
The Doors are undoubtedly one of the mostprofessional groups on the scene anywhere.
Everything held together well and there isan underlying feel of calculation. Their
presentation projects their music to its full.
Densmore, Manzarek, Krieger and Morrison,with his great showmanship and stage
sense, provide a dynamic presence. At theRoundhouse, he said: "This was fun. This is theplace for us." After the show on Saturday, hecommented, ""This is the greatest audience. It
was just like starting again."
The six -strong Jefferson Airplane, secondon Saturday, lost some impact because thevocals were often inaudible against the strong
backing. Like The Doors, the programme foreach of their four sets followed pretty muchthe same lines each time. The Airplane's
presentation is looser and more casual, but
any lack in visual effect wasmore than made up by theiramazing light show.
The Airplane were
swamped in colour as slides
and film clips created a
restless, soothing backdrop
to their music. Two guitars,
bass and drums built up
layers of sounds against thehard vocal work of Grace Slick, Marty Balin
and Paul Kantner. Lead guitarist Jorma
Kaukonen plays thoughtful, well -constructedsolos and doesn't rely on speed for effect.
Bassist Jack Cassady and drummer Spencer
Dryden underpin the whole thing very well.
Dryden is a particularly fine drummer who
drives things on well on the faster numbers.
It's been said that it is impossible to get
The Doors and Jefferson Airplane together
on the same stage in the USA. Last weekend,
Middle Earth achieved the impossible.

Densmore playedroll and thenMorrison crashedto the floor "dead"Tony Wilson

HISTORY OF ROCK 190 1111

THE ROLLING STONES"We shouldbe free toexpress ourthing the way
From his London office,
MICK JAGGEI holds

court on censorship, theunderground scene andhis role in Performance("I make love to Anita
Pallenberg in it a few
times..."). "The only
obscenity," he says ofmoral campaigners,"is in the minds ofpeople who think it."we see it"
MELODY MAKER SEPTEMBER 21-

ICK JAGGER IS genuinely knocked out by MM readers who
voted The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" top British
single of the year. "That's pretty fantastic. It's very nice ofeverybody who voted for the record. I didn't think anyone
liked it at all."imdlh.m.
The poll result came as cheering news for Mick after a year ofhassles, the latest being the displeasure of Decca over the Stones' proposed album
cover, which shows a toilet wall covered in graffiti -style sleeve notes.
"If I thought that was really objectionable I could understand their not wanting touse it. I could understand that the parody of the Lord's Prayer t hat Andrew Oldham didfor the Small Faces' record could be considered objectionable, but anybody who found
our sleeve design objectionable would not be in a record shop buying Rolling Stones
records anyway.
"It's bad enough having to make records for one section of the public only, let alone
having to worry what some mohair -suited distributor in Texas thinks."
Mick was answering questions at his offices in Mayfair, London, a veritable hive ofactivity, with Keith Richard st riding from room to room, secretaries answering endlessphone calls, journalists queuing in ante -rooms and minions minioning.
Jagger was wearing a green suit and green shoes, refusing cigarettes and digging
Meade Lux Lewis, Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons on the record player. "Good .
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 1113

1968
JULY

SOW

interviewing music," explained Mick, jigging gently from one footto another.
How does Mick, elder statesman of the pop scene, view t he latest
manifestation of social and musical significance, the so-called"underground movement"?What are his views on medicine, religion,
philosophy, crime, disease, the class struggle and the influence ofChristian ityon the natives of Polynesia? "Oh, what? Own up! Just groove.
Playanother record and don't worryabout a thing."
Er, yes, but what's all this about the u nderground, Mick?
"Underground? What's that all about?! don't reallylisten to The Doors
and Jefferson Airplane, to be brutally honest. ! went to see The Doors in
America and they were very hospitable and nice people, but they did
tend to go on rather too long. I saw them at the Hollywood Bowl andan hourand a half is too long for anybody. I've neverseen Jefferson
Airplane, I'm afraid.
"I don't really groove on groups so much now. There was a period when
I went to see them all. But I must say I like the seriousness and enthusiasmof the underground. Sure, I know the people and International Timesc'mon. But as far as the music is concerned I don't really knowwhat
underground music is. Sometimes I don't want to go and listen toanything, although I did see Doors.
"The underground seems to be a series of flashes, but nobody cansustain anything. As soon as anybodygets successful they are no longer
underground anyway. It's all rock'n'roll, man, as soon as anyone gets a hit
and are dropped by the elite. A couple of groups have come out of thatscene that are groovy, like The Crazy World OfArthur Brown, but you
couldn't call the Black Dyke Mills Band or Mary I lopkin 'underground'.
"What am I talking about? Just groove. Play another record! Really, one
shouldn't get into the habit of talking about music in categories. I suppose
people think they know what theyare talkingabout if they say, 'Oh, he's
blues, and he's jazzand this bloke's classical.' But usuallythey don't knowwhat theyare talkingabout. It's all a nicegame for people to play."
But seriously, what are Mick's views on mediation, cybernetics, thepapal encyclical and the role of thewaterdiviner in an ever -shrinking
world? "Just groove. Playa record!" Chris Welch
NME SEPTEMBER 21-

INTO THAT INVERTED coffin with the iron grill which Rolling
Stones Inc are disposed to call a lift and up to the top floor where
it stops with a shuddering crash, having apparently come into
contact with some obstruction in the roof, I went. This is the groupheadquarters, known to a few as "burglar's roost" as they have alreadybeen done over three times (note to future housebreakers: the officehas been recently mined) and in which another in our exciting World
Series, "The Stones Versus Assorted Reporters", is being staged.
The first contestant is already in the ringas I arrive but comes reelingout of an outer office, clutching his ears and muttering, "He's in good
form t his week," as he stumbles dazedly out of the door. Jagger espies it'sme next wicker down and smiles carnivorously (in spite of recent visits toCranks vegetarian restaurant), rather like thewolf at Red Riding Hood. "What a big taperecorderyou have there, my dear. All the betterto see you with!"
Into the conference room, where M Jagger's
second is K Richard and a silent publicist,
Mr D Sandison, with lowered sideboards, sits
adjudicating. I set up my equipment and M
Jagger treats me to a spirited version of" Hey
Jude" before leading with his left. "I thought The
Beatleswere awfully niceon telly last night,
didn't you, Keith? Did you like John's hair?""I thought it was lovely and fluffy," agrees

For those of you who like to collect thecolours of the contestants, M Jagger was

wearing his green trousers, open -chested
white silk shirt with a brilliant green, yellow
and red Indian scarf and small curved
scimitar on a chain about his neck. His hair
had been toned a darker brown for his rolein his first feature film, Performance, andhe appeared to have stitches over one
eyebrow. I commented on the nastycut.
"That's not a cut," snarled MJ, defending
vigorously. "That's where the nice makeup
lady was dyeing my hair, slapped herd isc
and spilt some of the liquid on my eyebrow-gaily laughing."
We take up the subject of the Stones'
controversial album sleeve- the now
notorious lavatory wall -and more
importantly thewhole aspect ofcensorship. "What really worries me isthe principle of beingdictated to overour
product by our distributors. The quest ion
ofwho decides what we can produce.
They're t rying very hard now to get copiesof the songs; it's not terribly important whatcolour wrapperyou put on the thing, but it
is important that we should be free toexpress our thing the way we see it.
"I am opposed to all forms ofcensorship. The only censorsh ip one
can have is bythe artists themselves,
which we do subconsciously anyway.
For example, I'm not being told not toswearduring this interviewbut I'm
not being told not to.
"Neither do 1 agreewith the ideathat children should be protectedagainst certain knowledge children are innocent. The only
obscenity is really in the minds ofthe peoplewho think it. Ifyou thinksomething is dirtyor obscene- thatis your interpretation of it. For
example, the Indian religions use a numberof phallic symbolswhich areconsidered obscene by many western eyes. We tried to keep the album
within the bounds of good taste- it's not really toilet graffiti."
MI has kindlysent a book on thissubject to Decca chiefSir Edward Lewis,
who has promised to read it. On the question ofcertain songs like "Street
Fighting Man" being "subversive", Keith was into the fray. "We're moresubversive when we go on stage," said Keith, "yet they still want us to makelive appearances. Ifyou really want us to cause
trouble, we could do a few stage appearances."
Is there really anychance of that? "Oh yes,
we'll be troublinga few rabblesshortly," said
Mick, who glanced down at a copy of Cashboxon the table and added, "I see Elvis has a new"As soon as

anybody gets
success they
are no longer

Keith. "Yes, I like The Beatles," adds Mick.

underground""Great record."
Adopting Floyd Patterson's famous peek-aboo stance, I enquire mildly whether we might
see the Stones shortlyon "live" TV. "We're always doingit," jabs M Jagger. "We've never stopped doing that Top
Of The Whatsits. Anyway, I don't thinkThe Beatles were
live. I noticed the picture slidingat the beginningof
theirclip and that's something that only happens on
a videotape. So 1 sussed it, not that it matters!"
114 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

DECCA

album out - lesAlmost Love orsomething."
Would the solut ion to a lot of their difficulties
be to have their own label like '1'he Beatles'
Apple?"TheApple label is still really EMI," said
Mick. "I mean, they distribute forApple, and if
The Beatles wanted something out which they
did not approve of, no doubt it could be stopped.
That doesn't really interest me."What does interest Mick?"Making music

interests me, but unfortunatelyyou can't buy
it at the moment, which is a pity becausewe'dlike to get on with making the next album."
Doesn't making money interest him? "Not really,"
uppercuts MJ.
Perhaps Mick would like to tell us something about
what is on the newalbum, should we be lucky enoughto hear it. "Well, there's a samba," said MickSYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL

October 29.1968:Jagger
as Turner in Performance-Ina scene filmed using
John Lennon'serhite
Phantom V Rolls-Royce

reflectively. "It's called 'Sympathy For The Devil' and that's my personal
favourite, and my favourite ballad is 'No Expectations', and then there isa country lament with latter inserts called 'Dear Doctor'."Perhaps Mick would like to tell us something about his new movie,
Performance, on which he has just begun work. "I make love to Anita
Pallenberg in it a few times, of course -she's my leading light in the film.
Fm not going to tell you any more about it because it doesn't come out till
next year."
What kind of a story is it? "A love story!"
What role does Mick play? "A lover!"And that wasall Michael Philip Jaggerwas sayingthistime! KeithAltham
NME NOVEMBER 9_

THE INTRIGUING POSSIBILITY of catching Jagger with his

pants down while involved in a passionate love scene with
Anita Von Pallenberg, or his nude bath scene with James Fox,
wilt me scurrying down to the film set of Lowndes Square last Friday,
to catch the Rolling Stone in action.
The house itself was full of filmingequipment. Electric cables trailed
everywhere and upright arc lamps stood like blind sentinels in eachcornerof the room. Acast of thousands sprawled on the settee upstairs-I spoke to him!
"Mick still on set?" I enquired. "Mick who?" he asked, and then pointed
in the general direction of the cellars. I stumbled on under the stuffedstags' heads on the walls and down the steps to the basement, where I fellover a little man in a grubbywhite overall fixinga cable.
"I've an appointment to see Mick Jagger," I explained. "He's bleedin'gorn home," sniffed the little man, vexedly.
"Will he be back onset later?" I enquired. "Hmm -couldn't act his way
out of a toffee bag," retorted the little man, scramblingabout on the floor.
I finallyfound a phone and rang theStones' personal secretary, Jo
Bergman. "I'm on set, but he's gorn," I said. "That's 'cos he's sit ting right next
tome," she replied. "Sorryabout that -perhaps you'd like to talk to him.""We're doingan expectant father a week in NMEand I'd like you to be
the first in the series," I addressed Mick. "Vacate yoursel f from the aMemo from Jagger
NME Oct 19
What is your new movie
with the Stones going to
be about?
It's a family film with Keith,
Brian, Anita [Pallenberg],
all of us. It will be made in
Africa later this year. We
want to get out of thecountry when it's cold.

ICK JAGGER is verymuch in the news,

with his impending
parenthood with Marianne
Faithfull and his no -marriage for -me stand against
convention. He has also
been answering some otherquestions for Keith Altham
which we print below:

Will you write music for
the film?

What do you think of thecontroversial Jim Morrisonof The Doors?

Yes, but it's not a musical.
It's a mad film.

I've only met him once, so it's
not really fair to judge. He's anice cat - nice guy -very groovy,
but whew! (And 1.1J blew
through his teeth, indicating
I knew not what.)

Have you seen Marianne inGirl On A Motorcycle?
I never go to the pictures.
There's a very good whipping
scene in it you shouldn't miss.

How do you go for

Canned Heat?
They're a goodblues band. Big
Brother & The

COMMENTS

Holding Company
are a good newgroup, but I readthat Janis Joplin

BY

MICK

was leaving.

JAGGERI ICK JAGGFR is very much in thenity..1.1,w11h.hiA, impe

1968
Juty

-ROW

immediatevicinity," said Mick (or something to that effect). "It servesyerright -come up to the office."
One taxi later, I arrived at the office to find Mick doing much business on
the phone, secretary Maggie on the phone about Keith's Egyptian frieze(yes, he does want to keep it, folks), TV director Michael Lindsayllogg,
with cigar, doing an impression of Bertram Mills, and old Uncle Tom
Keylock and all (the all-weather road manager) nursing five -week oldbaby Keylock. While Mickdid his business, I did a little enquiring as to thehealth and wellbeingof the other Stones. It appears that me old mate
Brian, now happily back in the social circulation, took a great fancy to the
10 -foot -high cut-out ofTiny Tim at the PlayboyClub reception.
So taken with it was Brian that he took it with him when he left and on
to a partyat photographer David Bailey's next evening, where it wasapparentlya great success. What Brian was doing with it at four in themorning in the middle of Parliament Fields is slightly obscure, but I feelit does illustrate that he is once more enjoying life, and that can only be
a verygood thing.
"Charlie was in the office all dayyesterday," volunteered Maggie.
"He's a lovely fella to have around, always
happyand amusing.""I've always wanted to buysomething
for Charlie," said Tom. "He's so difficult,though. I mean, things like LPs and such
don't mean anything, and then I saw thishandsome horse carved out of one solid

piece of wood. I gave it to him yesterday. I've never seen
anyone so knocked out."
Mick, I ascertained, had not had much time for anythingwith hisearlycalls on the film set these last weeks, but was
experiment ing with a "Moogsynthesizer" and had seen The
Mothers Of Invention's recent concert. Mick flitted briefly
into t he outer office where we were assembled.
"I've been three months shut up inside houses. I've got to getsome fresh air," he said, adding, "It's the makeup that gets me
down," before disappearing into the ladies' toilet. I should
hastilyadd at this point that the gents' was not working. I wasable to ascertain during his absence that a new plaque has
appeared on the Stones' office wall bearing these words: "Goplacidly amidst the noise and haste and remember whatpeace there maybe in silence." It is apparently from a script
found in Old Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore -1692.
At M ick's reappearance ! enquired whether we might sit
down for 15 minutes to do our famous idiot -reporterinterviews -famous -pop -star routine. "Beginnow," commanded Mick, settling in an easy
chair, running his finger thoughtfullyalong his
cheekbone and fixing me with his mostcooperative smile. It was obviously going to bedifficult. The non-appearanceof the album,
Beggars Banquet...
"I've lost interest in that situation. It's been
a complete waste ofenergy. We agreed to them--1.)11///y/le/l';'7? Wit/
usinga different sleeve in the end and it still
hasn't been released yet. They change theirminds all the time about it - come and go. Now
that I've finished on the film, we're going backinto the recording studio to get a new single out
by Christmas. I haven't written anythingyet,
but we'll do it the usual way bygetting it
together in the studio at the time."
Would Mick be using his "Moog synthesizer"?"Maybe- I haven't had
IKEEP CHANGING my mind abouttime to do much with it yet. It's really a machine for makingelectrical
Beggars Banquet, which is The Rollingmusical sounds- I saw someone in LA using it and decided to buyone."
Stones' new album, in the sleeve which
Was he satisfied with his own performance in Performance? "Yes."
has now been passed fit for human
Had he seen any of the rushes yet? "No."consumption. The first time I heard it four
Is Jimmy Miller still to be their record producer on the next single? "Yes."
weeks ago, Mick took the precaution of
Did you enjoy the Mothers Of Invention concert? "Yes."
getting me "stoned" before I listened to it, thus
FortunatelyTom broke up the "yes -no" interlude at this point by
ensuring I could remember little of it afterwards. At
bringing in his little offspring forexhibition.
that time, I thought it was great. Last night I thought it was just good.
"Is that yours?" asked Mick, smiling paternally. "Yes," said Tom.
This morning I thought it was better. One thing is certain - "Sympathy"How amazing," said Mick. They swapped a few words while I tried to
For The Devil" is a Stones classic - brilliant lyric and beautifully built.
think up some quest ions which he could not reply to by answeringyes"No Expectations" might be a cowboy song and all the critics areor no. The subject of what role Anita Pallenberg played in the science going to trip merrily over one another referring to the country &fiction film Barbarella was brought up and someone suggested "David
western influence - "a country lament with latter inserts", as Mick
Hemmings" but was not taken seriously.
describes "Dear Doctor". All those who have been "outcasts all their
Did Mick feel that with all the stark nudity and emphasis on bringing
lives" have produced "Jigsaw Puzzle", which Jimi Hendrix and Dylan
home the true horror of warand violence in films, we might eventually
will enjoy, amongst others. Pearls before swine, indeed.
get a reaction which would take us back to films like thoseAnna Neagle
Danny The Red's theme song starts the second side, "Street
and Michael Wilding used to make? "Who wereAnna Neagle andFighting Man", with the most metallic guitar in the world grinding on
Michael Wilding? No, I don't thinks°. People alwayswanted to see
and Jagger putting words to a time. But maybe you were not in San
Christians eaten by lions -people always go to films like Barbarella;Francisco or Chicago or Paris or Prague or Berlin, and maybe you
they love being d isgusted. Some people even watch those Palladium TV
think the students are just a coincidence anyway. What do you meanshows. I was brought up with a bellyful of the tellyand now I don't watch it
you can't hear the words? Can't you feel it in the air?
at all. l hardlyevergo to the pictures, because I can't stand sitting in all
Ramblin' Mick Jagger turns up on "Prodigal Son" and the Incrediblethat cigarette smoke or queueing to watch a lot of flickering images."
String Jagger on "Stray Cat". Someone has not been listening to theDoes his own film make any moral statements? "Oh yes- moral
words again. I'm gladstatement a line, Keith!"to say.
What was Mick's reaction to the discovery that their gold discs awarded
Finally, Mick Jagger,for over the million sales by Decca when played revealed they were
his orchestra andalbums by country& western star Ferlin Husky (not Jim Reeves, as one
chorus play a vocal
paper reported), Buddy Holly and The Tales ofHypotenuse Dirtle (nottribute to Sir Edward
Bantbi, as reported in the same paper). "More tinsel, Keith- plastic
Lewis with "Salt Of
awards. They're a load of old silly billies up here in the office!"
The Earth". Now I'm
Any reaction at all to his first crack at act ing? "What really bugs me is theback to believing the
makeup," says Mick. "That's what really bugs me."album is great; it's
Further reparteewas prevented by the telex machine, which appeared
getting better all theto be having the equivalent of a nervous breakdown and was relayingall
time. Keith Althorn
AndrewOldham's (their ex -manager's) messages to theiroffice and(Jaarty 'AM',"Getting better
all the time"

is

11

171

C

=t

v

I

p

'

Early hoursof Decmber12.
1968: the Stones -with Rocky
Chidiornu on percussion perform live on the set of
the Rock AndRoil Circus

at Intrtel TV Studio inWembley, North London

informing us that CHRIS JAGGER'S MONEY IS
AVAILABLEAT KATMANDU BANK.

Mick staggered brokenlyback to the inneroffice on reading this and phoned Keith
Richard. "Hello, Keith. Yes, I'm alright. I'm
havinga lovely time- havinga maniac
afternoon at the office. Yes- I've spoken to them;
theydon't know what they're doing, either. It's
all get t ing a bit beyond me..." Keith Altham

MM DECEMBER 21

play with Dave Holland, Miles Davis' bass
player, and I'm doingan LP with Larry Coryell.
There are a lot of strange things happening.
"There a ren't any categories in music -butthere are routes. It's like being an actor who canplay several roles. A musician can take several
routes in the blues or jazz.
"Yeah, it would be nice to record this group.
But super sessions are a bit pretentious. They
tend to be ego trips with everybody trying toout -blow each other. They can be so artificial.
We're openinga club in NewYork in March,which will be a studio as well, where groups canrecord in a natural environment."
In the main studio, gentle chaos ensued with a tiger dozing fitfully in its
cage, the odd dwarf or two wandering about in top hats and huge bowties, and the stars of stage, screen and gasworks looking d read fully bored,with the exception of Keith Moon, as always enjoying himself heartily.
Keith was attempt ing to play his drums encased inside a glittering
clown's suit, completewith pointed hat and white makeup. He looked
pretty terrifying, but it didn't stop him kicking up a storm as The Who
thundered into "Mini Opera", theircontribution to the Circus.
Jethro Tull were also on hand, upsetting photographers by saying, "We
don't pose, man," to which a photographer later muttered," I don't wantthem to start juggling -just stand still." And the Tull also mimed to somefine music, their infectious and highlygroovy"Song For Jeffrey",
featuring Ian Anderson on flute and legs.
The clowns practised some dry -stick- that's slapstick without any slap
-Miss Marianne Faithfullwandered about looking frail, Lennon, Yoko
and Julian were heavily photographed, a horse called Triggercantered inand a group of workmen muttered darklyabout letting the tiger out to getat some of the dignitaries.
The Circus, when it is completed, bought and screened by the lucky
purchaser, will bean hour of group hi-jinks and music, carryingon thespirit of the old Ready, Steady, Go!show. As well as theTull and Who, there
will be knife throwing, trapeze sets and fire eating.
During the first-day rehearsal, which began at midday, there were 17
items to run through. By fiveo'clockonly three or four acts had been dealt
with. If the superstars aren't knifed, scorched, slapsticked or eaten by
mistake, the Rock And Roll Circus looks like a winner. Chris Welch"I hardly evergo to thepictures... allthat smoke"

IT WAS A group fan's dream, when thegiants of pop held a three-hour jam session, while rehearsing for
The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus last week. Eric Clapton andJohn Lennon on guitars, Mitch Mitchell on drums and Mick Jagger
adding a few vocals, formed a supergroup that would rock mostpropagators of rhythm into a cocked hat. "This is so like the Stones used
to sound," said a road manager as the sounds of "Sweet Little Sixteen"
boomed through the corridors of I ntertel Studios, Wembley.
The rockingand boomingbegan to be a bit too much for the office
workers of Intertel, however.A posse of tea ladies brought tidings that work
was being interrupted by the strains of "PeggySue" and the supergroup
had to up amplifiers and drums and move downstairs to another room.
Cans of beer were laid on and Eric steamed into far different blues
playing from The Cream. Less pressurised, he seemed to be playing far
more interesting ideas in the relaxed surroundings. But the group wanted
to be left in peace to rehearse for their spot on the Circus and discouraged
any kind of audience. "I don't think they want anybody in with them," said
Jagger as he dashed about getting the show together and trying to find
Keith Richard, who hadn't showed up and was supposed to be on bass.
A reporter who had been in the room and happened to be carrying his
interviewing tape recorder was hustled out and his recorder checked tosee if he had dared record any of the music. Let's face it -a piece of tapelike that would be worth all of 12s 6d down the market.
Mitch Mitchell was in a more communicative mood than most of thesuperstars, and even proferred a can of beer, which was gratefully
accepted. "Coming back from the States, you miss all the chances to jam
you have over there, which makes this get-together so great. Where else
can you play over here? In the States, everybody plays together. I had a

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 1117

ItILM Utttlib
001S!

THE WHO, THE HOLLIES,JULIE DRISCOLL, THE
CREAM & MORE

"I neverthought I'd
get a band

together"
MELODY MAKER OCTOBER 12.

"...ds his New

Yardbirds". Or, as we will shortly
know them, Led Zeppelin.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO The

Yardbirds? One of the great mysteriesof our time, ranking with the Devil's
footprints, the Mary Celeste and the Five
Penny Post, is the disappearance of agroup once hailed as the most progressive
in Britain.
When one thinks back, the group that starred
Keith Relfand had such distinguished alumni as
Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page on

guitars were tryingexperimental pop long before
today's underground groups. But unfortunately
they were either too early or lacked the drive tocarry their breakaway from the original blues
formula through to the public. They found, as
have so many British groups, more responsive
audiences and better money in America.
Once, they had an enormous following here,
but this naturally dwindled with so few
appearances and even fewer records, but prior
to their departure to the States they had a periodof vacillat ion. The departure of Eric, first fora round -the -world hitchhike (or something),
seemed a serious blow to the group. Keith hailed
the arrival otleff Beck with much excitement,
describing him as "The Guv'nor. Jeffs gu itarwork had tremendous commercial appeal andnumbers like "Jeff's Boogie" raised the group to
its highest status- they even started getting hits.
But there were management problems Paul Samwell-Smith (bass guitarist) left to
118 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

361

'It'thlus.batically"
L ad 1.ppelins' lint

WV

phoio session for

Atlantic Records in
London strut -(I-r)John
Paul Jones. Jimmy Page.
Robed Plant and John

Banham.Dcemb.r 1968

4.2
arc

HISTORY Of ROCK 19681 119

1968
OCTOBER-DECEMBER

concentrate on production, never to be heardof agai n. Jeffgot fed up and wanted to quit.
Keith went through a period of infatuation
with Bob Lind and released a solo single, "MrZero". Nobody quite seemed to know what The
Yardbirds were doing. If you asked them, there
would be a lot of shouting, denials, grumbles

and bold plans announced. Then leffleft toform his own group. Now, sadly, even Keith Relf,
Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty have left, leaving"new boy" Jimmy Page to form a NewYardbirds.
Jimmy is well spoken, good-looking and goodnatured. He was once one of Britai n's youngest
session guitarists, his ability to read and his feelaaafor modern pop making him much in demand.
He gave up the security of the studios to hit theroad and play his own solos. Now Page tells his
Ya rdbirds story and describes his new group.
"We didn't do any gigs in England for two
years, so no wonder we lost popularity. But justbefore we split, we did a couple of colleges thatwere really fantastic. We were a happy groupand used to get on well socially until we got on
stage and Keith lost all enthusiasm. I used tosay, 'Come on, let's make an effort,' but it had allgone. When they split, I don't think Jim wanted
us to leave, but Keith was depressed. I think it
did us all a favour, because the new chaps are
only about 19 and full of enthusiasm. It was
getting a bit of a trial in the old group."
The lineup ofilmmy's new band (and he's not
sure whether to call them Yardbirds or not)includes John Paul Jones (organ and bass),
Robert Plant (vocals) and John Bonham(drums). They made their debut in Denmark.
"It's blues, basically, but not Fleetwood Mac style. I hate that phrase, 'progressive blues. It
sounds like hype, but it's more or less what The
Yardbirds were playing at the end, but nobody
knew about it because they never saw us. We'restarting work on an LP and we're going to theStates in November. Robert can get up and singagainst anybody. He gets up and sings against
Terry Reid! Those two are like brothers together.
"I thought I'd never get a band together. I've
always shied off leadership in the past becauseof all that ego thing. I knowold Eric wanted toget a thing together with Stevie, but neither ofthem like leading. I didn't want The Yardbirds
to breakup, but in the end it was too much of aheadache. I just wanted to play guitar, basically,
but Keith always had this thing of being overshadowed by Jeff, which was nonsense. It was
great when we had the two lead guitars."
Jimmy says all this with a smile and no ill feeling. And he is far too excited about the
future to worry about the past. "It's refreshingto know that todayyou can go out and forma
group to play the music you like and people will
listen. It's what musicians have been wanting
for20years." Chris Welch

Only Jimmy!

left to form
the new
Yardbirdq"He fellback withhis head
bleeding"
OCTOBER 12 The MM

Pollwinner lets fly.

John Baldry's legs (this was back in the Steam
Packet days). So I just grabbed the mic andthrew it at this fellow's head. He fell back withhis head all bleeding.
"This trouble wasn't caused by those whocame to hear the music. It was just a bunch ofyobbos who wanted to make a nuisance ofthemselves. It's because of scenes like this thatsome promoters tend to treat groups like dirt.
Not so much when they have become a chart
name, but it has happened because somegroups have wrecked the band rooms andbehaved like vandals and hooligans. Really,
they weren't cut out to be musical groups in
the first place. But they
have tended to spoil thingsfor other people."a
The broadminded
Miss Driscoll is not likely to
In fact, Julie, by her own
admission, would do moreblush if the conversationonthan that. And did, in fact,
gets a trifle earthy in her
presence. "In generaltake pretty positive action
on one occasion.
conversation, with things"I used to get in terriblethat don't concern merages when we first went
personally, I don't care. For
instance, the fellows talkon the road," she recalls.
"I remember one time -when I'd never been
about all sorts of things. Like girls in the nudeand strip clubs. I don't object to nudity. But
on stage. These five geezers came aroundbackstage and said they wanted somethere's an obscene way of displaying thesouvenirs. I didn't like their attitude, andhuman body, and a very beautiful way.
wouldn't give them any. So they tried to get"I wouldn't object to strip clubs. But if I went
my bag. I really got riled at this. I went on stage
to one and saw a girl standing there with hugein a terrible temper. Then they tried to grab atboobies, it wouldn't mean a thing to me. I'd
my legs, and hooked an umbrella around Long
probably laugh. But I feel sorry for those

MISSJULIE DRISCOLL has
occasionally caused a mild furore
when she has forcibly expressed
herself on such subjects as pre -marital sex,
nudity, underwear and the state of British pop.
It is statements like these -often laced witha few colourful expletives - that have givenrise to beliefs that her vocabulary might havea London docker covering his ears.
Certainly, Jools is not one to mince words.
One could hardly imagine her resisting theadvances of an over -ardent admirer in thestilted language of a heroine in a Victorian
melodrama. As Brian Auger puts it: "If fellows
were to pester her, she'd
probably tell them in verybroad cockney where to
get off.""It really is rat

race. One minute
you're
top andeveryone wants toknow you..."A HIT in EnctunaI

now A SMASH HERE!

crAitit

DRiscou,- Tt.*: Tizi`inv-THIS WHEELS on RRENCI

OM

things out for myself. As"Although I only went to that
far as relationships withpsychiatrist for a short time, he
men were concerned.
taught me how to relax. Nowadays,
I learned not to become
I read lots of books on the art ofrelaxation. Like Relax And Live andtoo emotionallyinvolved. So that if I did
books on yoga. I don't go to extremes
not see them again, I wason this, but I clothe stretching
never bothered. I didn't want to feel
exercises and the various postures.
too much affection for people.
I find them very helpful. And so are"My work was the most importantthe books on diet, like Gayelord
thing for me. This comes first. If
Hauser's The New Diet Does It. Diet issomebody tries to shove it second,
terribly important to me. It enables
then I just don't want to know.
me to cope with the sort of things I"The only thing I don't like about
have to cope with. I've become much
this business is the insincerity. It reallymore relaxed than I used to be. And
is a rat race. One minute you're onmuch more tolerant, too."
top, and everyone wants to know you.
With Jools the cynosure of all eyes.
The next minute, you may be right
was there any feeling of jealousy inout. And then nobody give a damn.
the Brian Auger camp? "We did have
Imagine what it's like to be rejected!
second thoughts about adding a girlIt's not happened to me, but it must
to the group back in the Steam Packet
be horrible.
days," said Brian.
"I intend to be"After all, it can bein this business forpretty difficult on
a long time. I don't
the road fora girl.
want to get married
We didn't knowaahow it would workat the moment but I might changeout. But it has been
my mind in a few
fine. Jools isyears' time. I thinkinterested in the
differently now
sort of thing we'refrom the way I used
doing and we treat
to. Maybe I'll settle
her like a sister."down and have
And Brian ischildren, but at present there's toolavish in his praise for the 'image'
much to do.
projected by Jools."It has allowed us"I don' think that far ahead. I'm notmuch more freedom to do what wevery religious. Religion doesn'tlike musically," says Brian.
bother me unless people take things"We've had our success with Jools
to extremes. But even then, if people
more in the pop field, but now I can dowant to be like that, who's to saythings like out new LP, and feel it willwhether they're right or wrong. I don't
be acceptable." Supposing she left?
agree with the Pope's attitude on"Well, she's already had offers andbirth control. It's a bit old-fashioned.
turned them down. She'll only do
But I don't get all steamed up about it.
things that really interest her. She was
What's the good of getting
offered a part in a film opposite Mick
steamed up? You only hurt yourself.
Jagger but didn't take it because she
Like when you're sitting in a car andthought it was a load of tripe.
a guy starts beeping his horn
"Of course, we'd miss Jools
behind you. Most people
if she ever left the band,
get uptight, which
but it wouldn't be ameans they're
disaster. We'd neverusing up all their
try to replace her.
energies. More
Maybe we'dsensible toaugment thethink, 'That guy
band. Maybe we'dbehind me is
go in another45ark
the one who's
direction."% C. C.06.01/
tirades
all uptight.'
Law-wHenshaw"She was offeredpart infilm

opposite Mick
Jagger but

didn't take it"

Julie Driscoll,whose
hip-wigglingversion
of BobDylanand RickDanko's-ThisWheers

On Fire"withBrian
Auger & Tho Trinity hits
UK No sinJuno1968,

4fellows who repeatedly go to strip
clubs. I just think they can't getenough. They must feel pretty lonely
if they just want to watch girls undress.
"What I don't like is a person
to behave coarsely towards me
personally. Relations between two
people should be a personal thing.
But some seem to think it is alrightfor them to be necking for all to see.
This sort of thing turns me as cold asa cucumber and turns me rightagainst them.
"Of course, I've had romantic
disappointments in my time. There
was a stage when I just didn't want
to go with anybody. I'd get hung up
on different relationships and findmyself backing away from people.
I wanted to hide in a corner and work-

59$011 A

598011

1968
ROAD TO CAIROalt./

JULIE DRISCOLL. BRIAN AUGER
AND THE TRINITY
Pre .ctd tity Glettele Gast '0,). It is now confirmedthat Scott Walker willstar in his own BBC1
series in the new year,with transmission
probably starting inMarch. He will star insix half-hour shows
to be screened ata peak hour,with
big -name guests
featured in each
edition. NMENOV2)- The Beatlesare
to give three live
concerts in London
next month, Mary
Hopkin and Jackie
Lomax will also
appear. Venue for the

performances will be
London's Chalk FarmRoundhouse forthree nights starting
December15 or16.
The shows will benefit
charity anda one hour TV spectacular
may be built aroundthe shows. Apple
executive Jeremy
Bankstold theNME,"The concerts will
bea mind bender!"NME NOV 9-

11' SAVE RAVE!

111101 MILLMAN

Graham Nash,afounder memberof The Hollies, plays
his last "live" datewith the group thisSunday at the Save
Rave charity showat the London
Palladium. Tony
Hicks told the MM
on Monday: "Wehaven't yet founda replacement for
Graham." MM DEC 7

The marriage ofPeter Noone Herman of Herman's
Hermits -andMireille Strasser
takes place next
Tuesday (8) on his
21st birthday. The

ceremony will beheld at the Church
Of Immaculate
Conception, Farm St.
Mayfair at 4.30pm

ON MEN, MARRIAGE
AND MUSICNMENOV2Co*,

4So I just grabbed theI

P.ittri11.

dun? SVC.

amt.&

Ira
fs1,1
11..f greMeli

NtAt.%Itit

on
I

di
on,.

..p so..01

here's an obscene way of

titt

A.rth
old

,1
-

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 I 121

THE HOLLIES"We othrough alove/hate

thin"

After several profitable years, by 1968 IHE HOLLIES
are torn. The path favoured by Allan Clarke promises
a greatest -hits album, Sweden ("good money, goodeverything") and the cabaret circuit. The other, very
tempting to Graham Nash, leads to America, David
Crosby and Stephen Stills. Can The Hollies survive?

-

1

NME MAY 16-

HAVE QUITE A job setting up this interview. First of all, it's raining. Then I end up
with a loser taxi driver who doesn't know where the address is, and who keeps
stopping at florists and chemists for advice, then coming back to the cab and giving
me a thumbs -up sign and saying, "Don't worry, mate, we're on our way." Then wearrive at our destination (a deserted mews with the rain belting down and nowhereto shelter), and I hammer at the door without reply.

After this, I stagger miles to the nearest phone box, wait whilst a lady allows her poodle to havea conversation down the line with some unknown friend, make a call and find I had the rightmews but the wrong number, stagger back, and then ! can't find the house anyway.
The monsoons have come, I am cringing against a wall very wet and cold and lost andlonely, when from somewhere above I hear a distant voice crying, "Oi, Smivvy. Over
'ere!" I lookup and around this deserted mews, but find my vision restricted by giant
drops of rain hammering down onto the windowpanes of my glasses. Then, suddenly,i
I see him, y'actual Hollie, y'actual Graham Nash, waving from the upper -storey warmthof a house cunningly disguised as a Post Office garage.
Within moments I am inside, warm, sipping hot black tea -and involved in one of themost intriguing interviews I've had since the one I had recently wit h Ringo Starr.
There must be those who now, frankly, find an element of tedium in the doings andsayings of Mr Nash. (He admits to the possibility; he says he knows he's egotistical.) But
on the eve ofThe Hollies' major spring tour with The Scaffold and Paul Jones, few of his
critics could deny that what Graham Nash says often makes a heck of a lot of sense.

PALACE THEATRE - mANagsTER
0.4-

IIIIMMPIONI.

SUNDAY, 19th MAY at SAS and LIS p.ta.

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 1123

1968
When we met, he sat there lookinglike an amiable present-day
D'Artagnan: buckle shoes, black trousers, deep -blue shirt, hair lightenedby The Hollies' recent visit to the Land OfThe RisingSun. He speaks
quickly, articulately, and you get the impression that everycomment isliterally a new thought being spoken aloud.
He told me, "I believe in a completely different musical direction tothat in which The Hollies are going, and right now, I feel as if I'm letting
myself down not doing as I want. I also need to be alone a lot to get thebest out of myself as a songwriter... It's very stimulating for me, and it's
something I enjoy.
"I can't say if I'll be leavingThe Hollies soon. I can't answer that. All I
know is that last year I came close to it twice, and it could happen at any
time again."
What it boils down to, says Graham, is that the rest ofThe Hollies havevalid musical beliefs and so has he... Most of them now happen to bedifferent, that's all. He says hewasn't happywith the last album by thegroup -there were mistakes and things he didn't want, but there camea point when he shrugged his shoulders a nd accepted them. He doesn't
want to have to do this in the future, and this is why hefeels it might be better if he thought about carvingout
a solo career -both asa songwriter and as a performer.
"That way," Graham told me, "I answer to myself
and to the public. At the moment, I'm just gettingbored with the recording scene. lt'sselfishness on mypart, and I know it. I want to do everything. I want towrite songs and sing them and produce them andmix them and have a say in the cover. This is because
I think I'm right. Songwriting is nowoneof thebiggest things in my life. I could be consumed
completely in the fire of writing songs."
Apart from this deep-rooted urge to fulfil himself
within h is own solo recording scene, Graham's
wish (with or without The Hollies) is to be part ofa recordingoperation where he will no longer
have to rub shoulderswith "small -mindedness".

He talks bitterlyof artist's difficulties -up
against the brick wall of their record companies

as happy -admits to beinga bigspender-and"We stillhappily tells of an old astrology book (he'sAquarius) that depicted his character withfrightening accuracy.
Bearing in mind that The Hollies once
announced the end of their connection with the
pop -package business, tasked Graham if he had
any comments on this upcoming series of dates
with The Scaffold and Paul Jones.
"I lookat it this way," he said -"it's a halfway
stage. And it's a damn good show, a bit like anold-timevariety ball. There's a good straightsinger, a comedy act and then us as a larger
musical item!You could even have someone comingon with a card
marked 'Act No 3'. People want entertainment these days. They're fed up
with 10 group guys and a million amplifiers and noise."Ever blunt, ever honest, dedicated to good, but probably getting a few
backs up in the process. That's Graham Nash. But I'm sorry -1 can't help
li king h im. Alan Smith

irritate each

-and sadly of the fact that people like him sooften end up fighting the wrong people.
"We have to fight record companies foralbum covers, man," he says, "and journalists
to make them tell people what we reallysaid.
It shouldn't be."How about his relationship with Allan Clarke,
his friend, his buddy before and since theadvent of The Hollies? Graham smiled a wry smile and walked from one
side of the room to the other looking out at the rains as he spoke.
"Allan depends on me to a certain degree," he said, "as I depend on him.
For instance, I sing far better with him. And the rapport between us isfantastic. I think we go through a kind of love -hate thing, although I'm
not too keen on him at the moment!
"But mostly, I thinkAllan is now searching forsomething I was
searchingfor nine months ago and which I have now found. I now havestrong religious beliefs. I believe in God, very much... God is the spark oflife in everything... in us, in animals, in wood, in things.""I now never kill anything. I remember that even when I was a kid
I would apologise if I killed anything, like a fly. Now I am beginning todevelop a complete respect for every form of life- I was in Spain fora few
days and therewere some ants on a log I put on the fire. But I got all ofthem off."
This complex and self -analytical Graham Nash frankly admits
that he doesn't know his own mind when it comes to his futurewith
The Hollies-he might leave, but then perhaps he could continue torecord with the group and asa solo artist -says that spending therest of his days performing in a small folk club would make him justother, a lot, ofcourse..."-NME SEPTEMBER 14

ITWASA nice day, so to round it off I went out to St John's Wood
Recording Studios to find The Hollies putting their finishing
touches to another Top Fiver, before adjourning to a nearby tavern.
Graham Nash didn't join us because he was driven off in a big car tosee his doctor, prior to the group going to the States before the next
Scandinavian visit.
In the pub, I sat down with Bernie Calvert (TheQuiet) andAllan Clarke(The Chat), and within droolingdistanceofAllan's plate of ham andtomato! placed my faithfultape recorder to catch a conversation that wasmost ly happy, but always honest. One
understandably good reason for The
Hollies being happy at the moment isthat theyhavean LP standingat No2 in
the NMEalbum chart without having
had toworkon it at all -it'sa stringof all theirold smashes like

OUT!
SORTEDHOLLIESwent out to St.

IT was a nice day, so to round it offfind the Mollies putI

"Bus Stop" and "On A Carousel".

John's Wood recording studios to Top Fiver before adting the finishing touches to anotherjoin uNashdidn'tGrahamnearbytavern.
journing to ahis doctor
big
car
to
see
off
in
a
.because he was driven
before the nex,theStatesgoing
tothe group

prior .to-

Said Allan, with purpose in his voice
and a piece of ham in his mouth, "In

PARADE

THE HOLLIES

TheHolliosinI968:(1-r)AllanClarke,
BobbyElliott,Graham
Nash,BarnardCalvart
and Tony Hicks

The Hollies we've sorted a lot of things out in the past few months. We
know each other even better than weever did. We still irritate each other,a lot, of course. But no, ourarguments have nevercome to physicalviolence. Never. It couldn't, because we're too good with words, all of us.
Another thing is that if I'm havingan argument with Bern and I'm wrong,
the others will back him up.And then I realise in the end."
I mentioned that when I was in Sweden with The Hollies last year I
noticed that Allan was living hard -up late, out of bed early. Was he st ill
flogging himself?Answer:"Ah, well that was onlyonce. Usually Sweden
is very easy. You do two folk parks a night. You finish the last one by
midnight and you usuallystay in the town where you finish. So you get
to bed by one, and you don't have to start again till three o'clock the next
afternoon. So what with the fabulous weather in the summer, it's great,
beautiful. I'd go there anytime. Good money, good everything."
As The Hollies are now aiming themselves more at the cabaret scene,
I drewAllan's attention to that "cabaret is the graveyard of failed pop
groups" remark from The Moody Blues. He thought about it, and then hesaid, "I agreewith it to a certain extent. You see, when groups havefinished getting hit records, right, they never get booked for tours. So thenext thing they can go to is to play the clubs. Right?So theycan go to theclubs, and theycan playa thousand clubs in England and still earn bread.
"That's where The Moody Blues have got the thought from. But what hedoesn't realise is that there's nowhere for a name group to play in England
except the good clubs. The pop tours are dying, so where else in England
are you going to play? In the ballrooms... are you going to get satisfaction
out of ballrooms?
"The thing is to go to a club, get five grand a week, and why argue with
that?And you're going to do what you want to do, and you're going to

educateand entertain them. So where's the rub?
"And what about some of those cabaret places. Talk OfTheTown? Whisky
A Go Go in the States, the BatleyVarietyClub? So they're graveyards? Not
likely," concluded Allan, thinkingofThe Hollies' mighty successat Batley,
where t hey topped Louis Armstrong's business! Alan SmithNME

To THE MOSCOW Road, London W2, where Mr Graham Nash
had news and views and also the company of Mr David Crosby
and Mr Stephen Stills, who sat in the light of a gas fire and joined
hi in in new songs they love to sing. The ex -Holly and the ex -Byrd andthe ex -Buffalo Springfield have formed a group which is not

a "group" - more, they say, a gathering of friends who will
come together to sing and play from time to time.
Their music is magnificent, their hopes are high, and theyknow what they're up against, their ideals are ideal, I wish them
luckand when they happen (as they will) I trust these rebels witha musical clause will continue to be as individual as they are.
"What's happening," says Graham, "is that there have been anawful lot of musicians who have been obvious 'individuals'
within groups, wanting to go a different way than the major bodyof the group. It's been true in my case, it's true in Stephen's case,in Sebastian ofThe Lovin' Spoonful's case, Mama Cass, theCream -you know, with Clapton, etcetera- Buddy Miles. You
name 'em...Traffic broke up... all of them trying to 'make music'
without having hang-ups about the business side.""What we've done, Steve and Dave and I, is sung together fromtime to timeover the last year. Twicewhen I was with The Hollies,
and four times on myown since. I've crossed theAtlantic fourtimes just to sing with these two people. The affinity between us isa strongone. But we don't want to be a group, just individuals, nocollective name or anything. That would brand us. The first thingis that wecan all perform together if we wish, because there are nocontractual hang-ups... although there are in the recording side.
We havea situation inAmerica where Stephen is onAtlantic, lamon CBS, and David -wise old David -is completely free."Wise old David smiled and plucked his guitar and said it had
taken him a whole year to get that way, deliberately degrading
himself by telling people he was not worth it and was not goingto make records any more anyway. Graham added that sinceleavingThe Hollies he had found his faith in two people
particularly fortified.
"One of them is Ron Richards, The Hollies' producer. He kept
hisword in that when I decided to leave The Hollies, !decided toleave my publishing firm, too, because I no longer wanted to be tied up in
business with Allan and Tony. Ron said fine and checked with Dick James,
who was also just great and said, 'Fine, go your way,' and wished me luck.
As far as songwriting is concerned, I'm just going to sit around at the
moment. It'sa bit hazy but I envisage that what I'll do in the future is to be part of amother company with the others, but still with ourown individualcompanies inside it.
"If everyone has theirown company," he alleged, "then you don't get
the hang-up that I went through, which waswhen we had a three-way
partnership and a lot of the time only onewrote and the other two werecopping two-thirds of the bread. Now the progression of businessfreedom is utter mental freedom."
The three of them argued mildly for a moment about the where andwhen of their first public appearance, then realised t hey were sounding"just like a group" and said, "Say, would you like to hear our music?"
I said I would and I'm glad I did, because they were sensitive things like
"Lady OfThe Islands" and urgent -yet -gentle songs like the Nash original"Marrakesh Express".
God help me from sounding
pretentious, but the Nash,
Crosby, Stills coming-toget her
brings forth music to care for.
They have a beautiful and utterly
distinctive sound.
Right nowthis group which
is not a group is feeling its way,

not too sure about its plans but
only too happy to make music.
I watched them as they sang elated in the act, consumed by
the rhythms and in the words.
Upstairs I was shown amagnificent recording studioin which they tryout their work
before going elsewhere. The
facilities are superb. Everythingis right and going for Nash,
Crosby and Stills, and now
I stand back and wait in hope.

Alan Smith

GrahamNash:singing
wither-ByrdDavidCrosby

andenBuffaloSpringfield
StephenStills-twicewhern

lwaswithTheHollis4'-

H S* TO
r

)h

1

1968

OCTOBER -DECEMBER

Fobruaryt.196tt:
carlysighting of the
McCartney thumbsup
promptssomo perplexity
during productionof
Yellow Submarine"It's definitely about my dog"
NME NOVEMBER 30 Paul Mc1-f9ey explains the origins of his songs on the new Beatles
pAUL McCARTN EY HAS been talking
about The Beatles' new double album
and he is understandably and humanely
chuffed at the cover versions of his songs.
He appreciates that "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
is currently the fave rave, but I've a feeling he
has reservations about the numberof versions
and whether this could affect the hit chancesof one or the other. (And why shouldn't heworry about things like that; is there shamein success?)

There is now no secrecy over the realcomposingcredits for various Lennon McCartney numbers. Paul is obviously"Ob-La-Di" and he also admits to tracks like"Martha My Dear". "It's definitely about my dog
Martha," he says, "but that's only because thethought happened to comeinto my head when I was
writing t he song. You
see, I never usually

The BEATLES

write a songand think, 'Right, now this isgoing
to be about somethingspecific.' It's just that thewords happen. I never try to make any serious
social point. Just words to go with the music and you can read anythingyou like into it."know how he does it. But he justwrites, and people who do create

one minute and this the next. When we
played in Hamburg we didn't just playrock'n'roll all evening because we had thesefat old businessmen as well -and saying, "Playus a mambo ora rumba." So we had to get into
this kind of stuff.
I WiN: This is prettysmoochy stuff. We have to
do it. That's why there's a great varietyon thisLP and in everything we do. We just haven't got
one bag, The Beatles. On one hand you'll get"I Will" and then you'll get "Why Don't We Do
It I n The Road?". It's me feeling both of them,the same feller, and I wrote both of them. I can't
explain it but there we are."Birthday:The Girl Can't Help It was on
television. Fats Domino, Gene Vincent andEddie Cochran were in it, and we wanted to see
it, so we started recording at five o'clock andjust did a backing track, a very simple 12 -barblues thing with a few bits here and there. We
had no ideawhat it was going to be. We'd just say
12 bars in A then we'll change to D then we'll do

and writedo it like that. It justflows into their heads and theninto their hands."
Of his other compositions, orpart compositions, he said on
Radio Luxembourg last week:

a few beats in C. Just like that. We went back to
my house and watched the film, and then backto the studio and made up the words. It's one of
my favourites because it was instantaneous. It'sa good one to dance to.
Hefter Skelter: I read a review of a record

Biadthird: This is just one of thosepick -and -singsongs. It doesn't
need anything else in the backing
because as a song there's nothing to it.
We added a blackbird sound at the end,
but that 's all.

which said that the group reallygoes wildwith echo and screamingand everythingand
I thought, "That's a pity, I would have liked to dosomethinglike that." Then ! heard it and it wasnothing like; it was straight and sophisticated.

Both he and John began work on the songson the newalbum in India. "Rocky Raccoon,"for instance, was composed on a roof at theMaharishi's place. Says Paul, "I was with Johnon this roof, and wewere just sitting aroundplaying guitar and wewere with Donovan andjust enjoyingourselves. I started playing thechords and originally the title was 'Rocky
Sassoon'. And then the threeof us started
making up the words and theycame very
quickly and eventually it became 'Raccoon'
because that was more like a 'cow-ie'.
"The way thewords just come into your headis like John writing his books... I don't
know how he does it, and he doesn't

Why Don't We Do It In The Road?: We've

always been a rock group, The Beatles.
It's just that we're not completely

rock'n'roll. That's why we do "Ob-La-Di"

So we did this. I like noise.
Honey Pie: My dad's always played fruity old
songs like this and I like them. I would have
liked to have been a 1920s writer, because I likethat top -hat -and -tails thing. Alan SmithALBUMStaken to irritating lengths, while
the playing with stereo tracks tobring winds, whispers and wails
from speaker to speaker is novel
but only superficially satisfying.
If the term "acid rock" means
anything, this is indeed theacid test for such disembodied
experiments; one that mightsatisfy those looking for spiritual
depth in a strip of magnetic
recording tape, but will disappoint
those who hunger for true musicalis a pleasure to listen to them:
they really know how to play andcomplement each other so well.

experience Chris Welch (mm NOV 9)

After two average albums, theThe Byrds
Of The RI(CBS)

Quite a lot of musical talent went

ALBUMS
Jimi Hendrix Experience
Lives(TRACK)"Voodoo Chile" is the stand -outtrack from a vast acreage of soundfrom the Experience in a mixedup, muddled, monstrous andmenacing two -album package,
which may be the last we shallhear of them in their present
form. Jimi produced and directed,
and whether his work in thecontrol booth is a success is amatter of opinion. To many people
the essence of Hendrix is his
natural blues guitar playing,sensuality and onstage
showmanship that madethe Experience, withbrilliant young
British drummer
Mitch Mitchelland bassist
Noel
Redding,
one of themostexciting
events on thegroup scene

exploded in early1967. Whentheir musical emotionalism - mosteffectively presented in short,spontaneous bursts- is spreadover long sessions, without any
apparent arrangements andinjected with interesting but
mindless electronics, thenimpact is lost and attention isliable to wander. "Voodoo Chile"
is superb, with an electric
atmosphere and a guest -starorganist who sounds remarkably
like Stevie Winwood, plus animaginative, decidedly nonrock'n'roll-like drum solo. Apartfrom Bob Dylan's "All Along The
Watchtower" there are few
memorable compositions, andthe general impression isthat the trio and friends
went to the studios
totally unpreparedand just blew to
see what would
happen. The
guitar isoften heavily

distorted, useof the "wahwah" pedal isinto this one - the full lineup isRoger McGuinn, Gram Parsons,
Lloyd Green, John Hartford, Jay
Dee Maness andClarence J White(gtrs), Chris Hillman(bass gtr, mandolin),
Roy Huskey (bass),

Other titles: "In Time", "Triad","Star Track", "Share A Little
Joke","Chushingura","If You
Feel", "Crown Of Creation", "IceCream Phoenix", "Greasy Heart","The House At Pooneil Corners".
(NME DEC14)

Electric Prunes
Ul M1 UaLil (REPRISE)

Prunes almost faded out. Thenthey teamed with composer/
arranger David Axelrod, who on
their last album, Mass In F Minor,
turned them to a vastly different
field. This superb new album isa progression from that, with theEarl P Ball (pno),
Kevin Kelley and Jon
Corneal (drs). The
result is an averagesort of country -flavoured set
complete withvarious guitarists
doubling banjos.
Not typical Byrds
music, which is rather
a pity. Tracks include:"You Ain't Going
Nowhere"."I Am
A Pilgrim", "TheChristian Life" and"Life In Prison".
(MMOCT 12)

Jefferson Airplane(RCA VICTOR)

In the past, I've

expected greatthings from Airplane, one of thebiggest American groups, but
their albums have been a mixtureof good and bad material. At last,
they really take off in this new
album. Abandoning thepretentious abstract music of
their last effort, the Airplane havegone back to the style of a year
ago and sound all the better for it.
The album opens with "Lather",a weird, slightly menacing sound,full of atmosphere, reminiscent of"White Rabbit", a single released
about a year ago which shouldhave been bought by the million
but wasn't. Once again Grace
Slick, the beautiful lead singer
and writer, puts everything into
this song. Each track is full ofinterest. This in one of those rarealbums where every song comes
off. The rest of the group backGrace's singing perfectly and itgroup incorporated into a dullclassical orchestra (in fact, thetitle is the only place the Prunes
are mentioned on the sleeve), but
I assume they are still led by Jim
Lowe, lead vocal and rhythm

guitar. Although every track is
excellent, "Kol Nidre" stands
out. It is a Jewish hymn, withthe orchestra blending with thePrunes' electric guitars, and isfull of atmosphere and emotion.
The other tracks are along thesame lines, each a well-balanced
combination of classical andmodern music. One of the year's
best records for anyone wanting
to sit down to a completely
different sound. Other titles:"Holy Are You", "General
Confessional","Individual
Confessional", "Our Father Our
King", "The Adoration", "Closing
Hymn".
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 1127

1968

4

R

"We weregoing tocome upagainsttrouble"THE JIMI HENDRIXEXPERIENCENOVEMBER 16-

IT WASTHE man they call "the walking hill"- burly ex -Animal Chas Chandler -whotransformed the unknown guitarist playing
at theCafe Wha? in New York's Greenwich
Village into the superstar that he is today.
Chas feels that he has now done all hecan
for the Hendrix Experience and hassoid his
interest in thegroup to his partner Mike Jeffery,

but he still looksback with justifiable pride at theaccomplishments he helped engineer for what mustbeoneof the most unlikely idols of our age.

l

NME about the dreams
I

I

ROA

I

It was Linda Keith -at that time Roiling Stone Keith

Richard'sgirlfriend- who first bought limi to theattention ofChas, who was playi ng out his last fourweeks wit h The Animals in America.
She recommended Chas see and talk to limi In
NewYork Village."' was half convinced to sign up
before I even heard him play,"Chas told me."We had
a talk in a little restau rant beforeheplayed at I he club

-I remember thinking,'ThiscaEswildenough to
upset more people than Jagger!'"By thetime I heard himplay'WildThingiand'Like A Roiling Stone; I wascertainand when he
LTA 11B7aRY OF IECK MSSSMarch 20967:manager

ChasChandlerwithJimi

Ns.

Hendrix during a private
performance at London's
Marquee clubalongside
The Who for GermanTVshow Beat ClubHISTORY OF ROCK 19fc 129

1968
OCTOBER-DECEMBER

did aversion of 'Hey Joe'- a number I was planning to record as my firstindependent venture from TheAnimals with another artist -thatclinched it. As soon as I convinced Jimi that he could buyamplifiers in
England -he seemed to be under the impression we were all still using
gas over here- he was all for coming to London."Chas eventually took all theotherAnimals down to see Jimi, andalthough they raved about his musical ability, none could see thecommercial potential. Undeterred, Chas took his manager Mike Jeffery
down to see him and he agreed to come in as a co -manager. In September
1966 Jimi arrived at London Airport and was nearly put on the first planeback when the immigration officers discovered he had no work permit.
"We had already had trouble getting Jimi his passport and birthcertificate as he had lost his parents somewhere and this was nearly theend," said Chas. "I was fortunatelyable to rustle up a one -weekprovisional visa and later we got it extended to three months."
Chas schemed to promote Jimi as the giant bogeyman of all time andfollowing a photo session they selected all the more gruesome shots of
Jimi which made him look like a big nasty!
But before he could be launched, a group had to be formed to back him
who were almost asway-out as Jimi and musicallysound. "When Jimi
was playing in NewYork he had a trio, but I felt the drummer was not goodenough, and he had a brilliant guitarist -a boy called RandyCalifornia
who is now makinga big name for himselfwith an American group called
the Spirit -who was only 16.
"Back in England I had been approached by Noel Redding, who wanted
to join the newly formed Animals as he had heard there was a vacancy
for a lead guitarist. I told him that the vacancy had not been filled but
I was looking for a bass player for Jimi. I took Noel round to a hall where
Jimi was rehearsingand lent him mybass. When I came back an hourlater he was 'in'."
Chas had also heard that Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames had broken
up and about a new and brilliant young drummer they had called Mitch
Mitchell. Along with a fewother hopefuls, Mitch played drums for Jimi,
who was so impressed with his bass -drum work that he was immediately
signed up as the other member. "Things began happening incredibly fast
after that," recalled Chas. Jimi sat in one night with Brian Auger at Blaises
and French pop starJohnny Hallydaywas in the audience. "He wanted usfora short French tour which finished up at the Paris Olympia -one of thebiggest theatres in the world. That was to be our first gig."
The wild man of pop, as he was becoming known to the musical tradepress, was already makinga big noise and drawing plaudits fromestablished "in" musicians like Eric Clapton. The Experience did a week
in Germanywhere Chas advised Jimi what to keep in the act and what toleave out. It was time for the big bad guitarman to meet the British press.
"There was obviously going to be a confusion when the press met him
face to face," admitted Chas. "In spite of the fact we had built him up asa villain hewas, by nature, a 'gentle' man and even contrived to lookrather handsome when we allowed him to smile. I stopped worrying
about it when I realised the press would be as confused by thecontradiction as everyone else and that it would give them something
to talk about. Jimi was nowan enigma -was he or wasn't he nasty?"
A press reception was organised at the BagO' Nails and those that Jimi
could not impresswith his incredible musicianship he managed to grabwith his guitarantics- playing with his teeth
and leaving the instruments still vibratingand
playing on stage. I remember thinking to myselfthat herewas a very talented man but could hebreak through the ten -by -eight glossy pin-up
barrier that pervaded popdom? I thought not
and made to leave shortly before Jimi's act
closed -I got halfway up the stairs out of the
BagO' Nails and heard "Wild Thing".
It brought me back to my seat and I, too,realised at that point Chas had something
more than just a cleverguitarist up his sleeve.
"I wanted the Harold Davison Agency to bookJimi," Chas told me, "so I invited Dick Katz down
to The Scotch Of St James one evening to hear

Jimi in a jam session. limi broke a stringon his first number, but still
managed an incredible set. I turned to Dick and said, 'He broke a string,
you know.' Dick was glued to the stage- he is a musician himself. 'That
had not escaped myattention', he said. 'I can't wait to hear him with six!'"Paul McCartney was also sittingat our table and leant over to say hehoped Dick and Jimi signed up as he would be a giant! After Jimi had
played 'Like A RollingStone' I noticed Kit Lambert get up the other sideof the club and almost knockovera table in his attempt to talk to me. He
wanted Jimi for his new, independentTrack label."Everything was geared for something sensational to break -themachineryand the men were in motion and Chas knew he had made thebreakthrough after the Experience played Hounslow Ricky that samenight as the press reception.
"Wewent on before the newAnimals," said Chas. "I'd neverseen an
audience like it -you could have heard a pin drop between numbers. They
were transfixed by Jimi and you could almost hear a quick intake of breath
when he came on stage, and make a slight movement backwards. They
were both frightened and excited, and that was exact ly what we wanted."
Apart from Jimi's playing therewas already considerable comment in
the musical press about the suggestive qualityof his act. "To me there has
never been anything wrong with his act," said Chas. "It was just goodclean healthysex! He was never vulgar but it was obvious that we weregoing to come up against trouble. On his first major tour with The Walker
Brotherswe had the Rank circuit up in arms over the act. Theysent down
investigators and when I knew they were there we toned down the act.
When theywent awaywe went back to normal. The first night we knew
we had to pull somethingsensational to get a good press reaction, and so
the guitar that burst into flames was contrived.
"Of course, we all maintained it was an accident and Jimi even wore
a bandage the second house to make it look good. In fact we soaked it inpetrol and deliberately set light to it -the organiserswere running roundin circles trying to find the culprit and examine the guitar which had
mysteriously disappeared. I distinctly remember Tito Burns wavinga fistat me and shouting, 'You can't get awaywith things like this, Chas- ifwefind that guitar I'll have you prosecuted.' Underneath his overcoat I could
just make out the charred end of an electric guitar!" KeithAltham
NME
WITH HIS FIRST three hit singles, "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze"and "The Wind Cries Mary", Chas Chandler, who produced
the records and managed The Jimi I lendrix Experience,
had established the enigma of "the gentle wildman" and Jimi himself
was looking around for fresh fields to conquer.
"Britain had been our first target and Europe was our second," Chas
told me. "It was in Munich in those few first experimental appearancesthat I realised his enormous visual attraction and there that the'smashing routine' really began byaccident. Jimi was pulled off stage bya few overenthusiastic fans and as he jumped backon the stage he threw
his guitar on before him. When he picked it up he saw that it had cracked
and several of the strings were broken- he just went barmy and smashedeverything in sight. The German audience loved it and we decided tokeep it in as a part of the act when therewas a good press about or theoccasion demanded it."

"Jim i wasnow anenigma - washe or wasn't
he nasty?"

It was in Sweden that Jimi finallyestablishedhimselfas a legend on theContinent, andfollowinga Beach Boys concert which attracted a
crowd of over 8,000 (a record for t hat venue), Jimi
brought in a staggeringat tendance of 17,000.

"I always maintained that Jim would be a hugecommercial success and an event like Sweden
confirmed myconviction that he would be thebiggest artist of his kind in theworld."
In the initial period of his success Chasencouraged Jimi to speak his mind with thepress and on more than one occasion Jimi said
that he thought he was the world's worst singer
and only really hoped to be appreciated for his
guitar work. "He used to plead

HENDRIX
JIMITHE
burly ex -Animal Chashillwalkingcall"thes the man theyplaying at theguitarist
theunknown
hndlor who transformed
&L ,
iClub
ttf.
.

y CHAS

with meat recordingsessions
to submerge his voice under
the track so that the musicHE MIIX MENEM"There was obviously going
to be confusion When they

met him face to fac-:(I-r)
M itch Mitchoill.Jimi Hendrix,
NottIRdding and C has
Chandler takequestions
From the Gorman press in

1116

Hamburg.March17,1967

Crosstown
Traffic

almost drowned him out. I never felt that he was as bad as he seemed tothink. It's not the range, pitch or techniques that are so important toa pop vocalist - it is the emotional communication and sincerity. Jimi
had plenty of bot h and, of course, the more he sang the better he became.
I think he's a good singer now."
After cleaning up in Britain and on the Continent there was one very
obvious field still to conquer -America. "There is nothing like success inyour own country," Chas admitted, "and Jimi, is after all, an American.
It was stage three in our operations to launch him in the States where weplanned an all-out attack on the album market. Singles were redundantas far as we were concerned -even The Beatles were turning theirattentions to the LP market.
"Somehowlimi was synonymous with stereo, and that was how we
had to project him in the US. People have often underestimated theimportance of stereo radio in the US, which is very good and receives
a lot of attention. Some stations, of course, do not play albums and so
we release singles over there for that 40 per cent who did not. Generally
pulling them off LPs."
One of the first encroaches into theAmerican market was when Jim irather incongruously appeared on the Monkees tour- rather like putt' ng
Count Dracula on with Snow White!
"An awful lot of people were against that move. I was against it inprinciple but we knew that putt ing Jimi on with The Monkees would get
him a blaze of publicity across America.And we had an agreement with
Dave Clark (theAmerican DJ) that Jimi could be pulled off after a few
days. When it was decided to take him off we concocted that story about
theAmerican Daughters Of Revolution objecting to his act and saying he
was obscene. That did the trick and we hit every newspaper in the
country with Jimi coming up with little gems about how he had been
replaced by Mickey Mouse!"
With this neat little publicity stunt Jimi captured the imagination of theunderground press and t hey were only too anxious to defend someone
who had affronted the dignity of the Establishment. Jimi was soon in with
the West Coast and the hippy element.
"The initial impact was made previouslywith Jimi's first appearance
on the Monterey Festival, which created quitea stir," said Chas.
I can vouch for that myself, as I was there when he brought a 10,000
capacity audience to its feet with his guitar antics and incredible
improvisation. "It was the albums that eventually brought Jimi's
incredible musical talent home to the American people, and at one time
we had three best-selling albums in the American charts," continued
Chas. "A certain element decided he was a part of the 'LSD thing' and we
encouraged that to make them happy. All kinds of weird and incorrect
significances were attached to the songs he wrote."
I asked Chas when it was that the realisation overtook the group thatthey were in the league of superstars.

"Everything seemed to move so fast, but
Gypsy Eyes
I think it was on their first major tour herewith The Move, which opened at the Royal
Albert Hall, that it really hit them," said Chas. "Noel and Mitch wereshaking like leaves and even Jimi was petrified to go on stage. They
realised that they were a part of something bigger than themselves andI had to get a bottle of Scotch in to restore some courage all round."I asked Chas iffimi was ever made to feel that he was more ofa circus
attraction than the talented musician he undoubtedly is. "Jimi is also ashowman and a bloody good one!" emphasised Chas. "I've never thoughtof him as a freak attraction and I'm sure he does not. Tiny Tim is a freak
attraction; Jimi is a phenomenon!"Travellingwith Jim i and the boys has been more than just an
Experience for Chas and he has more than one tale of the amazing scenesthat greet Jimi now at every concert, where he earns, on average, over
$30,000 a performance in the States.
In Connecticut recently Chas found himself in jail after a fracas withthe commissioner of police. "It was just prior to Jimi and the boys going on
stageand all the lights round the stadium were full on and glaring down.
It ruins an artist's entrance and the dramatics of the spectacle, so I asked
for them to be lowered. I was referred to another man -'It's up to him,'
they said.
"I walked up to this man who was not in uniform or anything andpolitely asked that the lights be lowered. 'Beat it, fatso,' was the reply I got.
Surprisingly enough, I did not get excited - I must have had a sixth sense
about him because! just said, 'Look, if you don't lower the lights the boys
don't go on -and then you will have a riot. I'm the group's manager.'"The next few minutes were a blur of uniforms and handcuffs and Chas
found himself sitting in the Bridgeport jail some hours later. Unbeknown
to Chas, the man he was addressing had been the local commissioner ofpolice. In view ofChas's decision to quit the Experience because of all thetravelling involved, I asked him whether the reports about Noel and
Mitch giving up were trueand the group splitting up altogether?
"I wouldn't blame any group giving up touring," said Chas, "but I can't
see the trio splitting up -they've come too far to go back. What willprobably happen is that Jimi will spend more time at home in America
and naturally Noel and Mitch will want to come back to England. They
may only get together for rare appearances and record sessions, but I'msure they will go on."What about the man who helped make Hendrix and took an importantpart in establishing what, at one time, was the third greatest group in theworld -The Animals. Will he stay in the business?
Chas smiled and threw up his hands. "It's all !know," he smiled. And
the smile was the smile on the face ofa tiger. Chas has achieved too much
now to be underestimated in the pop business s and it is certain we'll behearing a lot more from the big man. KeithAltham
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 1 131

1968
oc OB R

011"

InAminicawohaveto
findinstanthits":Pthe
TownsliendinGriffith
Park.LeAmgeles.
Felbrvary17.11148

THE WHO"Peoplethink

But THr WH( 's nextLP (provisionally called"Deaf Dumb And BlindBoy") will change allthat, says Roger Daltrey.
Pete Townshend explains

its rudiments. Keith
Moon supplies mirthand the backgroundto singles like "Dogs"
and "Magic Bus".
Live, the band unveil asensational new show("all seats, all prices")in Walthamstow.

he's allmouth"MELODY MAKER MEMBER 9-

HAT'S A NASTY letter. What's that allabout?" enquired a menacing, dramatically
dressed Roger Daltrey, clutching a copy of
the MMand noting a communication byreader D Hutchinson of Edinburgh
expressing the opinion The Who had "soldout" and "the Yanks can have 'em".
Rogerlooked as though he might rip the MMin half at any instant,dash out into the street and institute a personal search for the author"11

and possibly strangle him with the silverchain he habituallywears at
this throat. Instead he contented himselfwit h growled imprecations,which, had they been audible above the dull thumping of Keith Moon'snine -drum kit a room or so away, were doubt less of a forceful character.
Pete Townshend and John Entwistle, wearing expressions of
aggressive indifference, clutched their guitars, and while t hey would
not move from their important tasks in IBC's recording studios,
London to seek t he det ractor, should he suddenly appea r in their midst
by some quirk of fate, there wou Id be no hesitation on their part inbreaking instruments over his head, one felt.
The Who's resentment at such sweeping generalisations can beeasily understood when most critics and their fans agree the group are
now at an all-time peak of enthusiasm and creativity. As people, they
have mellowed and rounded. Their ability to react to people andsituations with lightning speed remains, with sharp eyes and tongues
at the ready to encourage honesty, or crucify stupidity.
Their new album, which has been taking up most of the time before
their tour with Arthur Brown, which opens tomorrow (Friday), isPete Townshend's pop opera, a project he has been talking about for
years. In a break between Pete, John and Keith laying down backing
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 1133

11968
tracks, the entire group and co -manager Kit Lambert adjourned ina neighbouring pub.
"The LP isabout a deaf, dumb and blind boy," explained Pete undera glass ofsome dull English beer, designed to distend stomachs and the
profits of t he breweries.
I cupped my hands to myear to hear above the noise of Kit Lambert
guffawing at some jest.
"...A deaf, dumb, blind boy who's maltreated as a youngster," Pete wassaying, "who develops his consciousness. When he does get his sight andhearing back at the age of 22 he becomes a divine, beautiful figure who
is idolised by millions. But as a kid lots of things happen to him. His
homosexual uncle who is supposed to be looking after him rapes him, forexample. But none of these thingsworries him too much. The music iscoming together and sounds verygood. We want to try and get it out
before Christmas. It's the most serious project we have ever worked on."Back in the studio, Keith and Pete opened a bottle of wine after aconsiderable struggle, and celebrated with an impromptu dance ofglee.
Young technicians controlling the eight -track recording machine
surveyed the scene in the studio below from their loftycontrol room with
an imperiousgaze. Pete switched from guitar to piano forone track anda most violent, funky touch rather like a cross between LouisArmstrong
and CrippleClarence Lofton, making quite a few 1926 type mistakes into
the bargain, causing him to make frequent stops.
"If Pete makes a mistake, carryon so John doesn't have to keep doing it,"breathed the languid voice of the Lord High Cont roller over mighty
speakers. Later Pete took over the controls to get a satisfactory balance anda good drum sound, revealing his own advanced technical knowledge.
While Petewas fiddlingabout, John Entwistle, bass player andsongwriterextraordinary, told me, "I've written a couple of the songs forthe opera. People might say it's sick, but it's not really. It's got a very happy
ending," he added hopefully.
"We've been recording forabout threeweeks. Roger is singing the mainparts while me and Petesingharmonies behind him, all the 'oohs' and'ahs'. Success in the States has really pulled us togetherand everybody
gets on well with everybody nowadays!" Chris Welch"We've imposeda fine system!"
NME October 19

MR MOON, WITH the little chocolate -buttoneyes and the big button brain, is back in Britain
from his long run in the US with The Who. He
is here to officially declare the British pop season
open - he says! This then is the unexpurgated taperecorded interview Keith did at the NME offices,where he had occasion to tear into the Amateur
Gardening offices adjacent to NME and terrorise theinhabitants by yelling "WEEDS!" at the top of his
voice. I offer no explanation for what is to follow,
except to say I shortly expect a Fry's Shooting Star
award for being the best straight man of the year!
-.

What kind of reaction did you get on this last US
tour? It was the kind of reaction we had in the earlydays here when we had the big mod bit going for us.
We got standing ovations wherever we went, with the
exception of the War Memorial Hospital.

Are you thought of there as an "underground"group? More overland really - the more ordinary,
there -you -are -sir pop group.
Do you fall into the category of people like The
Doors? No - they fall into their own. The category
we fall into is The Who.

NME

THEWHOARE possibly the last of the late great British groups(saving the enormous potential of the Small Faces) who remain
to face us "live" from the stage. Their continued success islargely due to the tall bony figure of Pete Townshend, who cares so
intensely about what he is doing.
Last week he finished tracks with the group for their next album, "Deaf,
DumbAnd Blind Boy", which is likely to give the group an entirely new
significance from that of "the guitar -smashing bunch" that they havebeen labelled in the past.
"'Magic Bus' was written about the same time as 'MyGeneration',"admits Pete. "I can no longer sit down with a straight face and write
things like that, although I was quite serious about them at the time.
Mind you, I still don't know what 'Magic Bus' is all about.
"It was recorded at a time when we had just returned from our first trip
to America, having been conned left right and centre, and no-one reallywanted to make a single except Kit Lambert, whose job was to see that wedid. We all got absolutely paralytic drunk one lunchtime and by the time
we arrived at the studio no-one cared what we did. 'Magic Bus' was justa lot of fun- Keith bashingabout and Jess from TheAlan Bown Set
singing in that Stevie Winwood-type voice on the record. We were justall enjoying ourselves.
"It's verydifficult to know just what is going to be a hit for us now,
especially inAmerica where we were not able to do those discs like
'Happy Jack', 'Pictures Of Lily' and'I'm A Boy' which were a novelty in
England because they had thestrange attraction of being 'sweet
songs' sung by a violent group. In
America we have to find instant hits,
and that's really what 'Magic Bus' is."When I interviewed Pete he wasclutchingan old poster ofGone With
The Wind in one hand -which hesacrilegiously referred to as "that
MOON, withMR.
cowboy picture" -and a pint ofbit ter

There does seem to be a tendency for hotel doors tomysteriously blow off their hinges when you are resident were there any incidents of this nature? No. All in all our roadmanagers were very good. We've imposed a fine system, yousee, and anything that they do is taken off their bonus at theend of the tour. We've decided that this categorically must stop,because it is a danger to living people. I mean it's very nasty!
So how are you received now in hotels? Open arms open arms! A friend of mine drives us to most of the hotels,a coloured chap who knows most of the managers, and ofcourse they are only too pleased to see him. And whenever hearrives they say, "Hello... Hello Sunshine," they say, because
that's his name. "Come in," they say, and we do.

Were you present at any of the riots in places like Chicago?
Unfortunately we organised them rather badly and most ofthem got started too early. They were not supposed to begin
until we got there.
Is your act still the same "smashing" routine? We've tried tostop that, but wherever we go there's always some little kids
yelling "Smashyerguitar, smashyerguitar" and you can't letthem go away disappointed, can you?

GETS
-IN
ASK
KEITH MOON'SWHO
WITH
YOU UP-TO-DATE

134 HISTORY OF ROCK 1968thelittle chocolate -button eyes and the big button
brain, is hack in Britain
in theIron' his long run

NA
INCIDENTS OF THIS
No. AU in all out

Conducted by
KEITH ALTHAM
bitthe. big mod
when we had MIT
ci :MAIM/

FORE?

road

good.
managers were very
We've imposed a fine system.
thatyou see, and anything their
they do is taken ottbonus at the end of the tour.
We've decided that this must
stilt,. categorically must stop,

"Not many groups
havo a good stag. act.
Wo havo":Koith Moon
deploys his inimitablesty,. livo.1968

What sort of reaction do you get to youralbums in the US? All those that we have done,
we've never been able to look back and say. "Ohyes." The one we are doing now, "Deaf, DumbAnd Blind Boy", is really the first time The Who
have been put over as a group.

Why is it that you feel so dissatisfied withyour LPs? Really it is a question of time. We arevery much in demand as a stage band. Not too
many groups have a good stage act. We have.
Consequently the time we have to devote toalbums is not enough, but we've reached thepoint now where we feel we must make thattime at the expense of personal appearances.

It has been said that you lost money on yourfirst US tour? Can you explain this? it's true,of course. There was a time when we could
go over and come back with less than wewent with, but you have to start the machine
moving. If you have some money to invest in
something you think is worthwhile, you do it.
The second tour we broke even and this third
tour we have just completed has finally madeus a profit. When I say third visit I'm notcounting the weddings and 21st birthdays
we went over for, of course.

approximately £4,000 for ajob in America and£500 for the same job in England. Then ofcourse in the States you pay a very low tax none of this 19/6 in the pound fiasco - you send
it to a small country like "Margarine", which isjust off the group of islands and you leave it
there until you need it.

What went wrong with the last, late lamented single "Dogs"? Why didn't it makethe charts? 'Cos it was rotten and it was
rubbish! We liked it at the time,
because it was fun recording
it. We realised it was a mistakeas soon as we saw it was notselling. Then we said to eachother,"It's not selling - it'sa mistake!"

Do you think there is any

If someone wants to see The Who live, does
it now mean we will have to go to America?
No, we will be making some trips up and down
Oxford Street. We've fitted our cars with"tannoys" and we're going up in a long line
behind each other singing and dancing. It'sa variation on the free Hyde Park Concerts.

Would you do a free concert? Yeah, I'd do it.
Would the rest of The Who do a free concert?

"We get roughly£4,000 for ajob
in America and£500 in England"need to differentiate
between what you release as
singles in America and what you issue here?
Not really. We generally release it here first, but
it's just a record company thing really. It's
timing, you see - it takes longer for the tapes to
get to America. Those tea clipper runs acrossthe Atlantic aren't what they used to be.

Ah, there you've got me.
It could happen if we all
happened to turn up
somewhere at once.
We'd all say. "Ah, there's
a coincidence," and start
playing. We are of course
doing a few concerts with
Arthur Brown next month- seats at all prices.

In the six months you have been away, have you
noticed any major changes on the pop scene?
Paper Dolls' skirts are shorter- legs are fatter.

People are all still waiting for the next "bigthing" in pop -do you think there will be one?
Well, we're back now.

Do youthink pop tours in Britain have any
future? There just isn't the audience. There is
not a lot of point in our working over here any
more, because it simply isn't worth it. We get

You didn't release "Dogs" in America, ofcourse? We all forgot about it, really. We forgot
to even release it! Now that you've reminded
me I'll have to forget it all over again.

So ended the ASK -IN and Keith went looking
for rice puddings and yoghurt to throw at thepeople frequenting the "In" clubs. KetthAitham

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 1135

1968
OCTOBERDEGEMRER

in the other. He held forth at some length about the
deficiencies of Radio One.
"Radio One was supposed to replace the pirates andit has not," said Pete emphatically. "The reason so littleis happening that is new is that theex-pirate DJs whohelped to make groups like us and the Stones are not allowed
to feature that kind of new talent anymore. John Peel is the only
DJ I know who hasa freehand, and that's basically why his programme 1,
better than anything else- most of the discs on the other shows are
selected by programmers with one eye on the charts and not a musicalidea in their head.
"Groups like Steppenwol f, who had a great disc released, 'Born To Be
Wild', are hardlyever played on the BBC- theydon't know theyexist.
Because it is so important and is virtuallya monopoly it also inhibits
what you write and you have to ask yourself if t hey will play it.
"To an extent, that was why we released 'Dogs'- becausewe knew they would pass it as fit forhuman consumption. They make me incredibly
cross and angry when theydictate to the very
people who they were supposed to replace (thepirate MI how it should be done."
There is no doubt that Pete is incredibly easy tointerview, although his deeper philosophicalideas often weigh down his argument and you
find you rselflost in a sea of imponderables.
A recent interview in theAmerican
underground paper RollingStone became soheavy he almost sank under his own
intellectual weight and the inner man lay bareand almost embarrassingly vulnerable.

"They really had me over a barrel with thatinterview," admits Pete. "Everything just came spillingout -sometimes I get so involved that I wish I could
preserve Keith's humorous approach to matters. I say
about 10 paragraphs and he comes along and destroys themwith one lunatic word."
It is the most frightening involvement that Pete haswith his new
album, "Deaf, DumbAnd Blind Boy", which makes it so difficult to write
about it. l le has been workingon the project for nearlytwo years and has
obviously thought longand deeplyover the problems. It is far from a "sick"subject, although too much attention to the subject might make it so.
"I wanted to get an appreciation of things through the eyes of someone orsomething that was not preconditioned by t he bias of the senses," said Pete.
"I thought oflooking at life through t he eyes ofan imals, adolescents andfinally the deaf, dumb and blind boy. The boy registerseverythingin theform of musical vibrations.That is if he is st rucka blow he does not feel pain -he experiences
something like the chord ofG. In thebeginning
he isabused byhis family, raped byan uncleandgiven drugs like LSD to help his condition.
"Because of his disabilities he develops
a technique which enables him to become a"Radio One isvirtually amonopoly - itinhibits what
you write"

The Who helping theirguitarist -put thingsinto
perspoc tive- by laughingat thingsthat aro
important to him whileworking on the album
that will become Tommypinball-playingchampion. His sight begins
to comeback and he becomes obsessed by his
own reflection in a mirror -then his hearing is
restored when his mother shatters the mirror.
He finally ends up as a kind of national hero
who lectures on his disabilities and how heovercame them -a kind of cross between
BillyGraham and a rock'n'roll star. He founds
a holidaycamp (this is Moon's idea) where all
the people try to become like him by wearing
eye patches, ear plugs and having corks intheir mouths.
"In a way I am mocking myself, because thealbum contains ideas and attitudes which arevery important to me personally and by placing
them in front ofThe Who they have destroyed
them. It helps you put something into
perspective sometimes ifyou can takesomet hingyou reallycare about and laugh at it.
In a small way the album is a solution to the waythat might achieve divinity, because! have nofaith in evolution and science only reveals
another two things to be revealed."
Shocked? Puzzled? Sickened? Whatever yourreaction it should be something positive, andthat is what amongst other things Pete is looking
for. I think it is also fair to point out that a great
deal of the influences behind the work which
he has explained here you might not find on the
I.P. You will be left to your own deductions ofmany of the tracks.
Other business discussed included The Who's
tour, which is currently on the road, and how
much longer they will continue to do live
appearances. "You tend to forget what it's allabout if you stop appeari ng on stage," said Pete.
"You workout in a recording studio with

instruments and all the technical hang-ups andthen got out and face an audience in somewhere
like Newcastle and it soon comes home.
"Someone recent ly wrote how good our act
was and what a great guitarist I was -personallyI think I'm just a flash __!" Keith Althorn

THE
KEEPS
PETE TOWNSHENDWho and13us' cut
WHO LIVE

ha

BritishWHO are possibly the last of the late great
potential of tr. SmallTHE
limulss (saving the enornicres " hews Ow stage. The
Faces) wise remaio to face eslargely Joe to Mew looney figure ofcoestiaved success is

al

er
1111

December 17,1968:
The Who make theirlast appearance
at the MarqueeClub. London"So muchfrenzied effort"
NME November 16

le Who clic.

around on

MIDDLE EARTIa "combustible" mixed bill.

Wes, r$ urrROUNDHOUSE
THE WHO'S "MAGIC Bus" looked
like driving on right through thenight as Messrs Townshend,
Moon, Daltrey and Entwistle
brought the Who -Arthur Brown Joe Cocker package opening
night to a guitar -smashing, drum
crashing, trouser -splitting climax atWalthamstow Granada on Friday!
But the group had looked far from happy
with their first house performance and thelong face of a murderous -looking Pete
Townshend, returning to The Who's dressing
room, told its own story.
"They'll really knock into each other and getthemselves together for the second house,"commented a perceptive spectator in thewings. And that wasjust what they did - in an
act that underlined how far ahead The Who
are when it comes to entertaining an audience.
The thing about this highly combustible
package of touring talent, compiled by Kit
Lambert and Chris Stamp, is that all are100
per cent artists and, as David Coleman was
fond of repeating during that other recent
display of athleticism, all we can ask for is thatthe performers achieve, or better, their own
personal bests.
Earlier, in the dressing room, after I had
experienced a typical Moon welcome and Pete
Townshend had complained that the reviewsof the tour hadn't been very good so far (on the
opening night!), Roger Daltrey descended
from the chair he was sitting on, generously
offered me his drink and when I mentioned"Magic Bus" remarked that The Who would
prefer to be known as an album group!
In the past, albums hadn't worked for them.
"Quick One was the nearest we got tosomething good," admitted Roger, "and live
albums are no good because
there is so much leaping about
on stage and it wouldn't comeover. But the next album weon andhope will be it!"This is the pop opera Mr

CHALK FARM
11.

THE WHO 0 JOE COCK
SMALL FACESCRAZY WORLD OP

ARTHUR BROWNPATNORTENDf RS

PM Of Pat*-

the mini -opera from the
Quick One LP, until all theattack and fire of The Who at its
best was there on the shattering
finale of "Magic Bus", which went on and on,even after the curtain had closed and theaudience was rising to go home.
It was nice to see so much frenzied effort,
and it means that when Keith tears his shirt andtrousers in shreds (to reveal black underpants),
when Townshend rams mic into guitar andguitar into floor, it comes not as a distractive
gimmick but as an integral part of the act.
"I'm glad we're not staying in the same hotelas them," sighed Arthur Brown earlier in theday, as we sat and listened to the mounting
crescendo from The Who's adjoining dressing
room. Did Arthur think package tour audienceswere his audiences?"It's becoming increasingly
obvious that we haven't got an audience,"
Arthur replied. "I'd much prefer people toknow what we are doing before they arrive andnot come if they don't like it. Really an audiencehas to see us four times to understand us."At the end of this tour, the Crazy World
returns to the States, where "Fire" has just left
the Top to. Did he see a danger of our good
British groups being lured away by dollars andthe larger potential of the American market;
could it happen to the Crazy World?
"America is so big that, whereas in England
you may find five ideal places to play, you willfind 80 or maybe more in America," said
Arthur. "Obviously we aregoing to be pulled by themoney. We will spend a lot oftime in the States and inEurope. but we will leave a lotof time for England, too. I
think we have a responsibility
to play here in England."The Crazy World is playing
better than ever now thatorganist Vincent Crane is back in the lineup.
"He is really incredible," says Arthur. "He has
so many directions. And Carl Palmer, thedrummer, too, is brilliant. When he joined us he
was a soul man but his outlook has changed."
I wondered if there had been any trouble
from the safety brigade over Arthur's fiery act"Magic Bus" went

Townshend has had in mind
for many moons and it is now

on-evenafter the curtain
had closed

nearing completion,"H e'sbeen talking about it for solong people think he's all mouth," said Roger.
"but he really has written some fantastic
stuff. For a while it seemed he was up against
a brick wall and his writing was at a standstill.
Now suddenly he has soared above it and got
it together."
I had my early doubts about theirperformance when I later watched The Who
do the second house. But the momentum
picked up and there was a marked
improvement as they went through "Can't
Explain". "Summertime Blues", "Tattoo" and229 14.

and he said he's had a letter from one theatrewith a mammoth list of regulations. Obscene
language and suggestive movements wereamong the prohibited items, so he began
practising obscene breathing, which was not

0411 S

SOLPt

mentioned in that
X-17
particular sub -paragraph
CRAZY WORLD Of
of a sub -section of
THE WHOOARTHUR BROMa regulation!
SMALL FACES
I left him talking about
AupOENCH RS
TPA t SYMPIHOP
the men in white coats
IMF MATER
UOHTS.4-4,co,who had stood in the
OW.... Web.. )1., Goa. )1
Sow., 164,4
Iwo,*)7 NAP/4mM Root,wings armed with fireLkW
extinguishers during his
Momberihop
onl, 5first house performance.
Perhaps that was nottotally unconnected with the gremlinthat hit Arthur's second house act. Lights
were dimmed; the audience sat in intense
expectation waiting for the curtains to open.
They stayed shut and an apologetic compere,
Tony Hall, returned with the news that Arthur'sfire had gone out and was at that moment
being rekindled!
Arthur soon made his delayed appearancewith head afire and, winging in on a colourfulluminous cloak, he went through "Nightmare'',his next single, into an act that followed closely
the pattern of his Crazy World LP.
"Fire", the finale, brilliantly embodies all thatis best in the Crazy World Of Arthur Brown.
Strobe lighting was used towards the end withthe effect of slowing down Arthur's deathdance across the stage and making it utterlycompelling viewing.
Arthur's group warrant special mention, as
do Joe Cocker's Grease Band, who weretremendous and heard to best advantage on
Joe's opener, the Moby Grape's "Can't Be So
Bad". Joe Cocker's ability to get inside a song
and wring every ounce of it was expressed best
through the beautifully moving Dylan numberC1110111

T4"I Shall Be Released" and his natural closer,"With A Little Help". We all know Joe has agreat future; it should be known that theGrease Band has too.
Earlier, Joe seemed apprehensive, saying
they'd have to feel their way through this, theirfirst tour, and base the act on audience reaction.
And by the second house he had dropped "Let's
Get Stoned" in favour of "Marjorine". But hewas still not happy."Four numbers are just notenough time to get us over." he said.
Also on the bill were a new -look
Mindbenders, who seemed to be on and off ina flash, but managed to show promise, andYes!, a new group, who seemed to lack a
direction. They have a good brain behind them,
however, in their manager - Roy Flynn, of
Speakeasy fame. Nick Logan

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

137

1968
0Ci0BEBCIBER"The potential,
especially
Kric's, isridiculous"
AUGUST 17-

pETER"GINGER" BAKER wIllbe 29 soon, and after 13
years of beatIngdrumkits Into submission, he is at last
able to relax and enjoy the fruits of success. Ills image
among Cream fans is of a violent extrovert, mixing Irish
blood with tripleScotches, and prone to throw drums atanyone who steps out of 1 inc.
I IN long, ginger hair, ferocious, weather-beaten expression and blackleatherjacket might convince the publicat large that he is a recruiting
officer forlIelf s Angels. Yet he is a family man only too happy to slay atpeacewith the world. lie has now moved into adiscreelly expensive part ofHarrow, where large, obviouslyexpensivecars jostle fora parkingspace,
and Gingercan find peace to Indulge In sculpture and feed tropicalflsh.

..:

7

138 HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

The financialrewards of I heCream from t heir months of touring
America, where Baker, Eric Clapion and lack Bruce became superstars,
havegiven Ginger security and comfort for his wife and two children
afteryears of hitting the long and hard road. Many good drummers haveemerged since the days when Baker first shook the group scene with his.

Eric Copt on. wont° beshowered withconktti by

mmbersolithoudinm
yalAlbert Ha. ondon.
Nonmber 26.1966

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 I 139

-We all want to get into
different things: (1-r)
Jack Bruce. Ginger
Baker and Eric Clapton

1968
OCTOBERplaying with The Graham Bond Organisation. While some
may have equalled his speed, none have inflicted their own
personalityon a drumkit to such an extent, or offered suchdrama and excitement.
Mr Baker arrived in Fleet Street to transport the MMto
Harrow, in a Jensen FF, a car practically tailor-made for his
personality. He tends to drive with the same determination
and relentless vigour that characterise his more explosive
solos, so it is just as well that designers have produced a vehicle
that can cornerat 40mph on wet roads without sliding anda braking system that refused to lock the wheels.
"This is the safest car in the world," said Ginger, takingoff
in Park Lane, and only prevented by Ministry0fTransport
regulations from going up to 30,000 feet. "I got the car cheap,
admitted Ginger. "They cost £6,000.1got it for £5,000. It's thebest car I'veever had."
My feet pressed imaginary brakes as the g -forces pushed
me back in the seat, and we overtook the crawling inferior
products of domestic motordesign, left sniffingand clanking
at the traffic lights. Even taxi drivers, doing their usual tricksof shootingout of side roads, orcutting up on the inside, sensed
a beast was among them, and one sight of the monstrous
bonnet kept them at bay.
We flew into Ha rrow at some nameless speed and if any
stockbroker happened to be peeringthrough his curtains
he would have seen the tall man in heavy boots, black leather
jacket and red trousers, with flaminghair tiedback in a nautical knot, stomp home rather
like a Viking returning to his castle after
pillaging Mercia.
Ginger, hiswife Liz, and children Ginnette"Net t y" Karan, aged seven, and Leda "Lou", aged
five months, moved into the house five weeks"There is arift... Eric's
been feeling a
bit frustrated"ago, and already Baker the artist and handyman
has been at work. He has bought antiquefurniture, carpets, decorative weapons and themost fascinat ingacquisit ion, an 8ft-long fishtank that stretches the length of the living room
wall, and provides an excellent alternative to
television. In the garden, he has been chopping
down trees and buildinga workshed and a fish pond, while in the loft hehas a studio for painting and designing. In theworkshed is a modern
piece of sculpture made from concrete, fibreglass and steel. "I've beenworkingon it for three years. Inside is an electric motor that flashes andsparks lights through the fibreglass. It also makes a terrible noise."
An excellent dinner was served by Mrs Baker, eaten in candlelight,
while a cold, wet August wind howled grimly round the chimneys. "It'sfantastically quiet here," said Ginger, carving chicken for Netty, "whichis really nice and just what I need. I never want to play drums at home, or
anything like that, just an occasional go at the practice pad.
"I had a blow with Phil Seaman recentlyand I hadn't played for five

weeks. Now I've got sores on my hands. I also had a sit-in at the Bull's Headwith Georgie Fame, and I must admit to havinga ball."Since the Cream returned from America and Eric's announcement thatthey were breaking up, rumours have been rife about Ginger's future. It
was expected that he would form his own band. But while takingcare ofsome "special brew" in the living room after dinner, Gi ngerdeclared his
surprise at the early decision to quit.
"We've broken up forour holidays now, but wewon't finish working
until the end of the year, and we may even do a few more things after that.
It depends how we feel. It can't go on forever, and I'm going to retire inthreeyears' time anyway. I think Eric wants to move on to do more thingst musically than with the Cream, and rightly so. Ifyou listen to Wheels Of
Fire, there are none of Eric's things on it, which is wrong. What it boils
down to is we all like to write and get ouraka musical ideas across, and it seems the only
way we can do this is separately. I've talked toa few people about this.
"Musically, there is a rift. InAmerica, me
and Eric had the idea of knocking it all on thehead, but I was still a bit surprised it came out
WHITE ROOMso soon, because we are still working to theend of the year. This idea of just doingone

FIN

Val

concert here, I don't agree with at all. I'd like to
see us do a tour here."
Is Wheels Of Firethe last album by the Cream?
"We'vegot a lot more. We did four days ofrecording in San Francisco, and I'd like to doanotherstudio album and showoff more of

Eric's ideas. I think he's been feeling a bit
frustrated. All our records have been good,but material has been the problem. The best
nu mber we did was 'Tales Of Brave Ulysses'.
Did Ginger like his solo on "Toad"?"There's
some good things on it. A couple of impossibles
and a couple of things that didn't come off. Halfof it didn't come off. Phil Seaman heard it and said half of it DID come off."
Does he ever panic if things start going wrong in a solo? "No. But you getsome brick walls floating about. If you worry about them, then you're introuble. Most people play by thinkingall the time. Not many just turn on.
"No, I'm not forminga group," was the reply to the next question. "At one
time I talked to Robert Stigwood, our manager, about each havingour
own band, doinga show, and coming toget her as the Cream at the end.
I thought it was a good idea. I don't know what will happen now, but I
think it would be insane not to carry on foranother nine months, and use
the rest of the things the Cream can do."
"The potential, especially Eric's, is ridiculous. There are more things
that should be played and writ ten. But apart from these hang-ups, I feelvery happy. I've been playing for 13 years and now I've got some security
for my wife and kids, and that's the important thing."
I observed that therewere lots of good youngdrummers coming up.
"Are there?! don't think so. And those jazzdrummers are the worst. Jazzis dead. Who wants to know about all that bebop-a-lula stuff? You're only
any good i f you can play 'the changes. Changes? What's that all about?
What we're playing is jazz. It 'swhat the people like. I like people and I liketo play music they like. It's nice to hear their applause.""Well, you're just an egomaniac," said Liz, keeping one eye on the Baker
boots. "But I don't think you're weird." Chris Welch-

NME SEPTEMBER 28

T0 PUT IT mildly, the Cream's Ginger Baker is not one of the mostinformative of people I've ever interviewed. Two or three weeks
ago I went to see Ginger at his manager's offices, loaded witha host of questions which to my mind have yet to be satisfactorily

answered... on the group's future and more pointedly on the reasons
why this union of awesome potential is to be no more.
Far from elucidating any information, I came away more baffled thanwhen I arrived. Although not the most verbose of people, it wasn't I thinkthat Ginger was being deliberately obst ruct ive...but that he had been
shackled and bound by what his advisors, in their infinite wisdom, hadadvised him could be said and what couldn't.
Such was the confusion that Ginger wouldn't even agree there was to be a
split! So I thought I might fare better with Jack Bruce, t he Cream's eloquentand unassuming Scottish third, who I've found on past experience to be
one of the nicest people you could hope to meet.
Much more, I've no doubt, has yet to be said on the subject and a lot morethat lies in the "negative emotional things" Jack declined to talk about willprobably rema in unsaid forever, but perhaps these words throw somelight on the question still perplexing the Crea m's legion of fans. Why?
Said Jack: "As a group, what we did was we reached a point where wewere doing the thing that was us. Before, we had just been going on stage
and playingour songs and nothing more. The beginningof t he peakwas
on our first US tour and the first gig at the Fillmore. The crowd started
shouting things like, 'Just play anything' -which we did. We just started
playing what came into our heads, instead of going out to play set tunes.
And that's when we realised that this is where it's at. But we didn't go
beyond that; we just got betterat it. I don't knowwho actually said, 'Let's
split.' It just became obvious and as such it didn't need to be said."
I went to see Jack at his Hampstead home last week and found him
alone in a room surrounded by a bank of equipment against one wall anda myriad of different instruments, the latest addition being a very oldharpsichord he has just acquired.
On my last visit, nine months ago, Jack had one car, a Mini. Today he has
an ice -blue Ferrari which he has bought, a Stingray he had brought overfrom the States only to find he could have bought one just up the road, andtwo Minis. The liberal allowance of cars is one of the few luxuries he has
allowed himself- another being the house he is shortly moving to in
Primrose Hill. "I was always mad on cars," he said "and before I could
never afford so much as an old Austin 7."
There was much drooling over the Ferrari, parked in the drive outside,
before we sat down and talked about Cream -and the split.
"There were two ways we could have done it," said Jack. "We could have
kept the group going and spent half our time on other things and half on
the group; like The Beatles do other things as well.That might have seemed
fairer and might have been musically very interesting. But somehow it
seems to have got a bit beyond that. Things seem to have gone too far."
I asked if there were emotional reasons too behind the break-up. "Theemotional reasons a re so deep: some of them go back years and years.
That would not really be a subject to talk about. They are very negative
things, anyway."
Did he think the fans had understood theCream?"Yes, certainly in
America once we'd played there, but unfortunately since we reached ourpea k we haven't played there," he replied. And that brought us to an issue
which has brought bitter reactions from British Cream fans, that here is a
British group that seems to have spent most of itslife in the States and now
comes the final insult -a farewell tour ofAmerica and one last concert here.
Like Ginger, Jack confessed that he would like to do a farewell tour here.
and on the question of their lengthy US visits, commented: "It is simply aquestion of pure economics. Although we were one of the biggest groups
here in a slightly underground sense, we used to just about make ends
meet. We were always on the road and although we made enough wenever had any money left over. In America they pay lots and lots ofmoney," he said with a smile. "It should be: a) you make good music and b)
you make good money. And it should be in that order. I am pretty amazedthat it lasted long enough to be successful. I am not disappointed andfinancially we made lots of bread out ofit."
One of the facts that did emerge from my meetingwith Ginger was thathe thought "Crossroads" from WheelsOfFireprobably represented theheight of the Cream's recording achievements. What did Jack feel?
"I regard live albums as a different thing, he replied. "It's a gig and you
get on and do it. Studio recording is different -it's a piece of architecture.
As such, I think some of the studio things are better. Not because it's thebest or the ultimate, but I still like 'I Feel Free'. And most of the Wheels...
studio album."
And what of the future? "We all want to get into different things thatwould not fit into the framework of thegroup. There you all need to sortof travel along the road together. We've never been like that. We all camefrom different places with different ideas. Eric's decided in his own mind
that he is a blues guitarist, purely and simply. And I think he is theultimate blues guitarist. He feels that is his bag and he should progress as
that. I think Ginger is a bit tired. He plays very hard; he is a very physical"A record
to restore

the faith"
MM Aug 10

Firp
IF THE CREAM have been disappointing
on record in the past, if fans have felt their
spirit and essence have not been properly
captured, Wheels Of Fire, their long-awaited
double album, is sufficient to restore the faith of themost errant disciple. For once, there are no weak links, and none of thefaults in production, engineering, choice of material, or playing ability
that generally conspire to detract from the value of modern groups
when they commit their music to posterity in a recording studio.
There are no problems here for listeners, no fears of
misunderstanding their intentions. There is no need to "get insidetheir minds". The Cream are out to play music that is exciting andhonest, and communication is immediate because there is no
doubting the ability of Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.
Even the studio -recorded album, contained in the garishly
designed sleeve, resists the temptation to indulge needlessgimmickry while taking full advantage of the opportunity to makeintelligent use of extra instruments, the most successful Jack Bruce's
cello playing. The "live" tracks, extended performances at theFillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, are little short of brilliant, andfeature their four most popular showcases, including a 15 -minutedrum solo by Ginger on "Toad".
A frequent criticism of Cream has been that each "star" has playedfor himself, and that they never gelled as a group. Certainly, they are
dominating individuals, musically and personally. But tracks like "As
You Said", an unusual tune written by Peter Brown, who has
contributed many intriguing lyrics to Jack's songs, reveals Creamplaying with restraint and taste, Ginger restricting himself to gently
flowing hi -hat backing Bruce's vocals, acoustic guitar and cello.
Jack has long been a vastly underrated singer. His normally soft
speaking voice takes on new strength and his Scots accent lends a
convincing blues quality that does not rely on groaning or moaningfor effect. Jack's contributions to the trio have been enormous
through his writing, singing and, of course, his superb bass playing.
A favourite track on this embarrassment of riches called Wheels Of
Fire is the unbelievably funky "Sitting On Top Of The World" by
Chester Burnett, which follows the rocking "White Room". A slow
blues, the Cream take a tempo which normally "throws" musicians,
with consummate ease. Ginger holds them together with snare andbass drum beats placed with a deliberacy that brooks no argument.
Eric solos with spine -shivering vibrancy and Jack tears out the gutsof the lyrics in one of the best British blues performances on record.
"Politician" is another "favourite track". Once again, Jack Bruce isthe star. Co -composer (with Pete Brown) and singer, he adds abacking riff that sounds like bowed bass or cello, and grumbles alonglike some prehistoric beast in search of food. There is only a minor
loss of recording quality on the "live" tracks, and the atmosphere isquite electrifying. The audience do not get in the way with theirapplause, there is no phoney screaming, so often the bugbear of live
albums and usually added on afterwards from a baseball match.
The final burst of fire comes with Jack's harmonica tour de force on"Train Time", with steam coming from Ginger's brushes.
Then comes "Toad". I have heard Ginger play solos more times thanI have switched off Coronation Street. Sometimes he has been tired,on the verge of collapse and only able to carry on by sheer willpower.
Other times, one remembers solos that nobody else could play. Hereis the best solo Ginger has ever recorded. After a few introductory
chords from Eric, he launches into a one-man riot that contains
climax after climax, and puts one in fear for his heart and lungs.
Said a reader in Mailbag recently, "Goodbye Cream, you kicked us
in the teeth."
Goodbye Cream, you gave us fine music. Chris Welch
HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 1141

Royal Albert I Intl

1968
OCTOBER

Nov., 1968

-DECEMBER

drummer. I don't know if he could have kept up the pace."
Among Jack's current interests is electronic music(electronic being the best description, though much of it isvarious instruments at different speeds, played backor
distorted). tie played me a "composition", only his second,
and the whole bank of equipment sprang into menacinglife.
Weird contrast had been achieved by inserti ngsnatches ofa child -Jack's wife's youngsister- reading poetry against

301 STALL

J

SEAT

651

electronic distortions, to alarmingeffect.
"I want to get into things like that, that the Cream couldn't
do, and writing for larger groups of musicians. But I keepchanging my mind. Most of the time I don't feel I want toform a group. But things !would do would have to be fora
group. The easiest and most enjoyable t h ing would be just to
get a group together. I enjoy playing to people. The trouble isI have too many plans. But I will continue writing with Pete
Brown. He really has donea lot for this group and I think heshould get credit for it."As for the Cream's future unt il the split comes, theyare torecord the entire US tour with producer Felix Pappalardi.

,"Thereare a lot of songs in thecan but theyaresort ofsubstandard. So ifwe don't record any more they will just put out
all that stuff, which we don't want to happen." Jackexplained.
We chatted on, about the studio Jack is going to build at his
new house... a piece of equ ipment called a Moog synt hesizer
he is trying to get hold of... Eric's "intellectual blues"... Alvin
Lee- "I've heard he's pretty fast" - and new groups.
"There is a group in the States which could be big," saidJack. "No-one over here will have heard of them; in fact noone in the States has heard of them. 'Cept I can't remember
their name," he laughed. "Oh yes, The Touch, that's it."
Jack, who confessed he was always forgetting things,
offered me a lift to the station in his Ferrari but couldn't
remember where he'd left the keys. Four cars and no keys!
Still, he did find them in the end. Nick Logan
MELODY MAKER
THIE CREAM ARE not now likely to split, it was

exclusively revealed to MM this week. According
to an authoritative source close to the group, theCream will probably stay together as a group instead of
splitting up at the end of the year as previously announced.
The group are currently on a "farewell" tour ofAmerica
and were scheduled to perform their final London concert at
the Royal Albert Hall on November 26.
But manager Robert St igwood flew to America last week
"to talk overagain their plan to disband at the end of t heyear". Before he left for San Francisco, St igwood told theMM: "I have given a great deal of thought to the possibility ofEric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker staying together
and !shall try and persuade them to do so."When thegroup announced earlier thisyear that they had
agreed to break thegroup up, theysaid they would form
three separate groups which would be managed by Robert
Stigwood. TheirAmerican tour, which opened last Friday in
San Francisco, will last sixweeks and is estimated to earn
the group $650,000.
In this year's MM Pop Poll, guitarist Clapton was voted Top
Musician in both the British and International sections. .

MelodyMaker"Thrilled by the reaction"
AFANTASTIC AND HIGHLY
emotional send-off for theCream almost gave the groupsecond thoughts about breaking up
after their brilliant final performanceat London's Albert Hall on Tuesday
last week.
Said Eric Clapton after the show:"I was thrilled by the audience
reaction - it was just too much!"

32 Nings

CREAM NO1

Tn eo!li 1111

AMTARTY'S

ABOUT

LIFE

Eric, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce
were on top form for two sell-out
shows and the audience rose to givethem a standing ovation, refusing toleave their seats until three encores
had been played. Youngsters jumped
on stage to shower Eric in confetti
and fans yelled, "Play your own
choice!" as a cacophony ofrequests filled the air.
"They've all gone mad,"muttered Ginger from behindhis battery of drums.
The group have worked hardand produced fine music for over
two years, and now is the time forthem to branch out and do newthings. A happy and surprised
Eric talked about the Cream's
farewell and his future this week.

"The show stunk: it positively stunk!"
said Eric (and for reader Jim Thug,of Leyton, who takes everything
seriously, he was joking, of course).
"We haven't played here for -well,I don't know how long - over a year,
and I had no idea we were so popular.
I was amazed we played to such fullhouses. I didn't think anybody would
remember us. Of course, it gave us

second thoughts about breaking up.
but it would be unfair to change
everybody's plans now.
"I've enjoyed playing very much.
Those encores were a bit strange!
I'd like to have done a couple morenumbers, but our equipment was
giving trouble before we finished thefirst time. It was really a fine evening
for me, and I felt very excited. Before
we went on, I was as nervous as I haveever been. I always remembered
English audiences as being rather
cold, yet they were so great."What's happening next? "We've
got an album to do - some of it live.
We recorded three studio tracks
in London last week. We want to
get it finished and out as soon as
wecan. Also, I'm probably going to"lhadnoidearrawaraso
popular":EricClapton
istakenabackbythe
concertgoers'responsa.
"They'vaallgonemad,"isGingerBaker'sview

MM December 7 Jupported by Yes and Taste, the Creamwith a brace of dates at the Royal Albert Hall.
do a film in Hollywood." Pause for gasp of

was intelligent and tasteful.

surprise. Wot - acting?
"No, producing. It's an idea I've cooked up
with some friends and I'm putting the money
behind it. I can't tell you the subject without
destroying the point of the film. It's like an
Alfred Hitchcock thriller where you can't
come in after the start, or give away theending. But I can tell you it will be in
Cinerama with eight -track sound.
"I've also started writing songs and I want tostart work on my own album about Christmas.
I want to work with American musiciansbecause most of the good English musicians
I know are already in groups and seem settled.
I saw John Mayall in America, and we jammed
together. His guitarist, Micky Taylor, is very
good, frightening. But it's a strange thing;John seems to be going back. He's playing
exactly the same as in the old days.
"I worked with a couple of Americanmusicians in New York, Chuck Rainey on
bass and Herbie Lovelle on drums, who I'dlike to bring here to record. But first I wantto get into my house in the country and getsome solitude."Opening the Tuesday -night concert were
Yes, a highly impressive group featuring niceharmonies, good lead vocals, a balanced
sound and clever arrangements. Their music

They played a selection from
West Side Story that went ona trifle too long, but featured some fine

drumming. Some of their stop -timing and useof dynamics was quite electrifying.
John Peel must be Britain's only at once
intelligent, funny, informative and popularcompere, and such a relief from all thosedire idiots who have made us cringe withembarrassment at most so-called "pop"shows. He linked the act with a kind of quiet
cheek and non -pushy confidence that broughtmuch laughter and applause. Actually, heshould learn a few stock jokes and in a few
years- the Royal Variety Show!
The Taste proved a personal disappointment,
although they were well received, apart fromsomebody laughing heartily during aparticularly passionate blues ditty. Perhaps
they were nervous, but the lead guitarist
seemed to be playing a lot of dodgy chords,
and "Summertime" did not convince. I'll neverknow why groups fall for this tune. The Mark
Leeman Five were playing it four years ago and it was lousy then.
The Cream were so great it seemed moreof a shame than ever they are splitting. All
the famous tunes were there..."White Room',"I'm So Glad", "Sitting On Top Of The World",*Crossroads" and "Toad".
Jack Bruce still ranks with Stevie Winwood
as one of the few great British group singers,and he attained a peculiar intensity to his
performance, while his bass playing was bothdriving and inventive. Ginger - using no lessthan seven cymbals and a selection of torn
toms that practically allows him to roll up anddown the scale - played one of the most fluid
and splendidly together solos I've ever heard.
At the climax, Jon Hiseman, who was sitting
next to Dick Heckstall-Smith, leaned over toshout to me, "Nothing could beat that except-

the Titanic!"
Ginger went straight ahead, without a pause
for mental "brick walls", as he calls them,without losing interest. And it was great tohear him use such a lot of snare drum as well as
the rolling double bass drums and torn -toms.
"Play your own choice," yelled a fan during
the storm of applause, and after "Sunshine Of
Your Love", Eric treated us to "Steppin' Out".
"Thank you, Eric!" was the yell this time,
and there was a warmth and atmosphere thattook one back to the old days of Zoot Moneyand Spencer Davis -type groups, althoughreally I couldn't remember a reception like it.
Chris Welch

HISTORY OF ROCK 1968 1143

Tilt HISTORY OF
FROM THE ARCHIVES OF
NMES MELODY MAKER

THIS MONTH:1967I

MISSEDANY OF OUR
PREVIOUSISSUES?
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FROM OURSTORESTAFF IN,

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don't like to stayin oneplace"

THE HISTORY OF

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TH SMONTH:19661

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THIS MONTH: 19651

BOB DYLAN"I don't want to lie to you"

THE BEATLES"We're growin up!"

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t

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THE BYERS \JOHN COLTRANE ;.

WALKER BROTHERS

THE BEATLESBEACH BOYSSTEVIE WONDERROLLING STONESTHE CREAMROY ORBISON
THE WHOA
THEWHO
fd
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VReaders' letters

MM OCT-DEC "The White Album", blues basing and concertgoers who rustle...
BEATLES: DEEP OR DISMAL?
Today I am selling all my eight
Beatles LPs. Gone are the four

smiling faces deliveringgood
tunes and melodic backing. Now
we have to listen to monotonous,
gimmick -ridden, sensationalist
trash. Yet The Beatles are still
defended by the musical papers
as though theywere the pivot of
the shaky world.
MUNRO TEALE, Southport, Lance(MM Dec 7)

having a bad influence on
teenagers with their unkempt andscruffy appearance. I cannot
comprehend their increasing
popularity, and fail to findanythingattractive about thenoise they produce, which
everyone I know thinks is
rubbish. The proof is theirposition in the chart. Has John
Mayalleverhad a No 1?
GEORGE PIGGOT, Epsom, Surrey(MM Oct 5)

COMBINATION PLATTERS
For those MM readers who aretrying to choose between pop,
blues and soul, I suggest theylisten to some of the old Hendrix
and Cream LPs. These records
combine all categories andprovide entertainment for all.
MISS JANE GOULD, Rushden,

Northants (MMOct 19)

GO WITH GROOVES
Isn't it about time even

( :hris Welch (MM21/9/68) dropped theidea that a group should be judged
by its live performances?All thebest groups- Beatles, Stones,
Cream, Doors, etc- sound betteron record. There need be nothing

Many critics are under the
impression The Beatles' new LP
is going back and is not original.
This is not so. Manyartists will
follow The Beatles along this line.
The tunes are simple, yet deepand sincere -a great change fromthe meaningless din of Hendrix
and the Cream.

phoney in this. Since we live in theelectronic age, why not takeadvantageof it and allow theinventive resources of both groups

DIANA FENTON (Miss), Douglas,
Isle Of Man (MM Dec 7)

One thingemerges from The
Beatles' new album -they are
no longera creative talent.
They struggle desperately tomimic Donovan's fairytale
meanderings while t rying at thesame time to "blow our minds"
in the shape of some pitiful
Hendrix -style music.
PAUL HODGES, Bromsgrove,
Worcs (MM Dec 7)

Beatles -clothe your bodies
and let us see your lyrics naked.
I find your dressed -up lyrics
confusing and your unclothedbodies rather ordinary.
TOM HOPEKIND, Wormley, Hens

Surely Mr Piggot is joking? So John

Mayall, Fleetwood Mac andChicken Shack play rubbish andthe proofis theirlack of hit records?
As faras I can see the Pop 30 ishardly a veryaccurate guide as towhat is rubbish and what is not.
I would point out to Mr Piggot
that all t hree groups have hadrecords in the LP chart. But
perhaps Mr Piggot failed to noticethis in his eagerness to inform usthat nobody he knows like them.
GUY COOPER, secretary,
Leicestershire Blues Appreciation
Society, Loughborough (MMOct 19)

As John Mayall has said: "Blues isa reflection of a man's life", andsince most blues is about the basic

and engineers to produce thefullest possible effect? Pop, in theend, means records and not £2tickets at the Roundhouse.

a melodic, simple, sincere tune
and Paul McCartney says in the
MM that he wants to make her"shout". !would have thought her
success was a clear indication that
this is just what isn't wanted.
Could it not be that "shouters"
may be on the way out?
JOAN BRENT, London (MMOct 5)

EARS VS EYESTHE BRIT BLUES DEBATEI (eel very strongly about blues

groups such as Fleetwood Mac,
Chicken Shack and John Mayall

JACKIE HAYDEN, Sandyford,
Co Dublin (MM Oct 19)

MISS GIL ANDREWS, London NW2(MM Dec 14)

C EVANS, Tredegar, Monmouth(MM Oct 19)

SURNAME SOLECISM
Somebody please have a word inTony Blackburn's ear and tell him
it's Mary Hopkin, not Hopkins.
R HARRISON, Great Yarmouth.

(P.11'.4 Oct 19)

trouble, worry and dissatisfaction
oflife, do you really think, Mr
Piggot, that a bluesman could
portray these feeling sincerely if
he wore a suit or flower shirt
which suggests the opposite?
PADDY CASE, Oxford (MMOct 19)

No, George Piggot,
John Mayall has never
had a No 1. Neither
have Maria Callas,
Yehudi Menuhin, Ravi Shankar,
Spike Milligan, the Band OfThe.

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01.41 NI)SHOUTING OUT
Mary Hopkin gets to the top withColdstream Guards, the Berlin
Philharmonic Orchestra and one
or two others. How does
"everyone you know" feel about
these artists?

Pop progressives call fora moremeaningful approach to music.
The Wallpaper-Bubblegum sectcry out for simplicity. The Beatles
succeeded years ago and as a result
have deservedly retained theirposition at the top of the scale.

=

JANE FEAVER, Newcastle-onTyne(MM Oct 5)

No wonder people get fed up
performing at London clubs.
Last night at the Marquee I was
permanently having to strain myears to hear Duster Bennett andthe Fairport Convention over thenoise of magazine pages being
turned. No less than three people
had their noses buried in copies of
Melody Makera nd were obviously
completely unaware of anythingthat was goingon on stage. This
seems a waste of money to me as
they could surely read anywhere
without paying to go into a club.
As theywere reading the MM
perhaps they will see this letterand take the hint -if they must
read they should go somewhereother than a club where people
are trying to listen.

(MM Dec 7)

Are you
converted toplay stereo
LP's?

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Coming next.
in i969!
0... THAT WAS 1968. Hope you dug it. But that's far from itfrom our reporters on the beat. The staffers of NME andMelody Maker enjoyed unrivalled access to the biggest
stars of the time, and cultivated a feel for the rhythms of
a diversifying scene; as the times changed, so did they.
While in pursuit of the truth, they unearthed stories thathave come to assume mythical status.
That's very much the territory of this monthly magazine. Each month,
The History0fRockwill be bringing you verbatim reports from the pivotal
events in pop culture, one yeara month, one year at a time. Next up, 1969!

THE ROLLING STONESFILM EXECUTIVES CONFESS to finding Performance "unintelligible",but that maybe the least of M ick Jagger's concerns. As the year progresses,

however, it becomes apparent that The Rolling Stones are entering theirfinest hour.

DAVID BOWIE
AFTER SEVERALYEARS of promise in beat groups, a youngand delicate

creature strikes out on his own. He comes from an Arts Lab in
Beckenham. "There isn't one pseud involved," says Bowie. "All the people
are real - like labourers or bank clerks."

THE BEATLESFILMS. PEACE. JAMS with Dylan and Clapton. Solitude. The four Beatles
have never seemed less like a group, but paradoxically are workingharderthan ever. "I don't want to talk about Paul without him being here," says
John Lennon.

PLUS

Blind Faith!
Bob Dylan!

Fleetwood Mac!

146 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1968

FROM THE MAKERS OF UNCUTTHE HISTORY OF

Every month we revisit long -lost NME and Melody Maker interviews and piece
together The History OfRock. This month: 1968 the complete guide to the year-that rock got the blues. "I've been waitingso long/To be where I'm going. . ."Relive the year...

THE WHO TRASHED AMERICA AND WROTE TOMMY

THE DOORS CONVERTED LONDON
THE BEATLES BECAME "FAMILY GROCERS"
AND LAUNCHED APPLE...and JIMI HENDRIX, THE ROLLING STONES,TIM BUCKLEY, THE HOLLIES, THE KINKS and many moreshared everything with NME and MELODYMAKER

More from UNCUT...
FLEET

WI

t
DON'T STOP!

MAC

LED ZEPPELIN

7
i4

..,

4.0

THE COMPLETE STORY

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