ALL BACK TO MY PLACE
Brix Smith! Jeff Goldblum! Field Music! And all of them avid to share their audio stashes.
the decade, the week of November 22, 1968, was a busy one for British rock. The Beatles released a self-titled album. The Kinks unveiled The Village Green Preservation Society to an initially apathetic world. And Led Zeppelin were in the midst of their first UK tour, heading towards Sheffield en route to immortality. Led Zeppelin had only rehearsed for the first time in August. Yet by November, their debut album was in the can, and Jimmy Page’s ambitions for his band seemed more logical extrapolation than over-confidence. “It was an overwhelming experience for all of us,” Page tells us this month, of that first session. “It was life-changing, and we all knew it.” Over the next 50 years, Led Zeppelin changed the very fabric of rock’n’roll. As Messrs Page, Plant and Jones collaborate on a lavish new book, all three shed new light on the old myths, and consider the state of Led Zeppelin in 2018. There is news, too, from the Village Green, with Ray Davies, Dave Davies and Mick Avory revealing what may lie ahead for The Kinks. And as the seven-disc expanded White Album lands in the MOJO office, the November 1968 flashback is complete; an epochal moment, enhanced and explained, as never before.
You’re in need of a serious attitude adjustment, young man
“Paging Dr Freud” indeed! Regarding the interview in MOJO 299, methinks Paul McCartney protests his working-class credentials a little too much, evidenced by a couple of the most obvious kinds of subconscious slips in his wording. I’ve noted some major inconsistencies between his stated views and the way they’re verbalised. “I am working-class. I like the working class. THEY’RE funny, THEY’RE clever and THEY work.” If Macca genuinely believes he is working class wouldn’t the correct pronoun here automatically be WE’RE funny… etc? As in “I like the chimps at the tea party. They’re funny but I certainly don’t consider that we’re part of the same social group.” It appears he’s now hijacked his erstwhile colleague’s vision that a working-class hero is, indeed, something to be, but it’s a little bit too late to bolt the gate it seems his transformation from Beat Group to Bourgeoisie is well and truly complete. Any Marxist/ Leninist/Lennonist scholar will tell you that for McCartney to genuinely retain proletariat status he’d have to control the means of production, but he’s already delegated that to Greg Kurstin! Apologies for the late submission of this note; like McCartney I too have just returned from a holiday in Greece. I didn’t see him there so I’m guessing he chose a different Thomas Cook package to the one I took. Vive la revolution – Number 1 or 9! Russell Morris, via e-mail
She was a hip, hip, hip lady
While The Beatles/White Album is by far my favourite Beatles album and one of my desert island discs, I do have to raise a point about the cover of MOJO 300. In this issue you rightfully include a long article in honour of Aretha Franklin. Franklin was arguably the most important African-American female musician of all time. As Lois Wilson’s article notes, she was proclaimed the greatest singer of all time in MOJO 59. It was a golden opportunity to have Aretha Franklin as your cover story. Indeed, it was a chance to have someone other than a white male solo artist/ group, especially the usual suspects of The Beatles (both as a group and solo artists), Stones, Dylan, Bowie, The Who etc who you regularly have as cover stories. MOJO has never had a woman of colour as its cover story. It has only rarely had female artists on its cover. Apart from a couple with Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley it has not had many covers with BAME artists. Please do try and reflect the
diversity of music that you discuss in your fine publication in your cover artists. Jennifer Milligan, via e-mail
We’re the aliens, man, we’re the savages
Can I be the first camouflage-wearing loner to point out that, contrary to Mark Paytress’s review in MOJO 300, the postcard announcing Throbbing Gristle’s split did not read ‘The Mission Is Accomplished’. Instead it was the far spookier ‘The Mission Is Terminated’ – a nod both to Apocalypse Now and to the acrimony which drove TG apart. Steve Anglesey, Norwich
Man, it’s the same bullshit they tried to pull in my day
John McLaughlin’s comment [MOJO 298] that “These bloody purists are the bane of humanity. They think they know what jazz is…” took me back to the mid 1980s. I’d only just started exploring jazz, guided by an enthusiastic work colleague. I’d borrowed albums from him and from the library, but decided it was time to start buying my own records. I stepped for the first time into Mole Jazz, then located in King’s Cross in London. As I browsed the racks I witnessed a conversation between a customer and the guy behind the counter which went pretty much like this: The customer is holding an album up. Customer: “What’s this?” Staff: “It’s the latest album from (whoever it was).” C: “Yes, but what sort of music is it?” S: “It’s fusion.” C: “Exactly. It’s fusion. Fusion is not jazz. This is a jazz record shop. This is not a jazz record. This record should not be sold in this shop.” With customers like that, the growth of internet sales notwithstanding, is there any wonder the shop closed? It’s zealots like that who cause so much trouble in the world. Carl Parker, via e-mail
Who the hell are you, man? Isaac fucking Newton?
The longer, 29-minute reading of Led Zep’s Dazed & Confused on the new super deluxe version of The Song Remains The Same is welcome. The Notorious Byrd Brothers has 11 very different songs. Wildly experimental, respectful of old traditions but also pushing new boundaries. Influential of course, but with nice, well-played tunes too. The whole album lasts for 29 minutes. Richard Simons, Stoke-On-Trent
Some good ol’ worthwhile visceral experience
Never before have I enjoyed the cover-mounted CD as much as Mersey Paradise (MOJO 299). It just shows what a great area it has always been for music. All the tracks were superb, but the real standout is Michael Head’s wordy trip down Bold Street in Liverpool, Lucinda Byre. It’s a brilliant song from a largely unknown genius. Mike Matthews, New Ferry, Wirral
Hey man, get off my case, man
As much as I enjoy and have occasionally loved parts of your magazine since day one, I can’t resist totally losing my marbles after reading the review of Orbital's latest album, Monsters Exist (MOJO 299), to which your reviewer assigned two stars. It’s an album which is full of soul, conscience, melody and pure original Orbital beats, and can be safely deemed better than anything Orbital have done since the legendary ‘Green’ and ‘Brown’ albums. I honestly think you’re losing grip on reality and taste by quixotically promoting and assigning four stars to acts and albums that maybe four people will ever listen to, while failing to acknowledge the brilliance of an album made by true pioneers. Get off your high horse and give credit where credit is due. Christos Giannakoulas, Jönköping, Sweden
Some of us are having too good a time
Y’all produce a fantastic publication! Loved Geoff Brown’s interview with Nile Rodgers in MOJO 299. Great stuff – layout, photos, text. Of course, I’m a longtime Nile Rodgers/Chic fan. Always impressed that the UK understands and appreciates various American musicians’ artistry more than the US. Gotta give a shout-out to Rodgers and Chic’s very best (and most underrated) song, Soup For One – the full 5:30 version, not the truncated/edited single. Marty Lange, Austin, Texas
You guys are kings of the school. What are you bitching about?
I’m so sick of the pro-Barrettism that continually exists with retrospectives and analysis of Pink Floyd [MOJO 296]. Putting See Emily Play at Number 2 and Arnold Layne at Number 4 is just wrong. Most of the other Barrett songs, except maybe Mother Matilda and of course Astronomy Domine, have no place in a Floyd Top 50. Compared to the later catalogue, they are lightweight, kinda dopey, a bit fun for sure, but nothing great. It’s really only because of the Floyd’s later success, coupled with the ‘mystery’ that surrounded Syd after his breakdown, that these songs reached any long-lasting level of popularity. I challenge anyone to listen to a Barrett record straight through and call it worth the time. I’m 59, so I KNOW I DON’T have the time. Everything that happened to make Floyd one of the greatest rock acts (as opposed to ‘pop’) of all time, happened long after Syd was long gone. Stevie Bronder, Huntington Beach, California