SID GRIFFIN
The frontman, guitarist and mandolinist for Americana stalwarts The Long Ryders has a soft spot for art-rock guitar genius Bill Nelson.
“Why Bill Nelson is not more well known, I have no idea. Like Frank Zappa or Robert Fripp, Bill sounds like himself, has his own style, and that’s about the most important and most difficult thing to do in music.
Be-Bop Deluxe were on [US TV music show] Midnight Special in the 70s, back when I was in Kentucky. I liked their performance, and they seemed so modern, so ahead of the game – some of them were in Kraftwerk kind of clothing, like the new wave would wear a few years later. They were a thinking band, and they were different – and different is good.
Crying To The Sky from Sunburst Finish [1976] is my favourite Be-Bop Deluxe song. It’s a good, blues-like metaphor, and the band’s ensemble playing is adventurous. I loved what Bill and the guys in that band were doing, there was such dedication to their approach.
Bill’s an equipment freak, a real guitar boffin. He didn’t just take a Strat or Gibson SG out of the box and play it. He had guys design guitars for him, fooled with the amps and I liked that. He never played guitar in a ‘straight’ way, and he’s got his own tone. He’ll do a ‘sound wash’ [making his guitar sustain and modulate through a wall of effects] until it’s like a synth pad – you think, ‘What the hell is that?’ I met him about 25 years ago through a mutual friend, and asked him a lot of dumb questions about that stuff!
I’ve met him several times since and can say that Bill’s a really personable, great guy.
The art school thing is key. I love American musicians, but occasionally there can be a slight, identifiable ‘lack of imagination’. Yanks have the earthy emotionality, but we literally don’t have the art school influence like the Brits. If Bill releases 19 CDs in a short period, those CDs may have their pluses and minuses, but the one thing they won’t lack is imagination.
After [later band] Red Noise and his experimental solo stuff, Bill’s legacy continues, and he’s got this devoted following that will follow him through the snakes and ladders of his career because he’s got something to say. He’s a thinking man’s musician, I admire him.”
September November is due in March via Cherry Red. See thelongryders.com.
“Like Zappa or Fripp, Bill sounds like himself, he has his own style.”