For a few years now I’ve been playing Robin Williamson’s Zoo Blues in my solo set and challenging people to spot all the animal puns in it. In a way it seems perverse – Robin’s written so many beautiful and spiritual songs both in his Incredible String Band days and since. If you’re going to … Read more
I read an news story in the Guardian in 1979 showing a blurred photo of a bearded man and veiled woman. The article declared that not only had Cat Stevens become a Muslim, changed his name and got married, but that he’d left music altogether and given away all his instruments. A few months later … Read more
This is part of a series of posts about the musicians who’ve inspired me. Today it’s about the wounded giant that was John Martyn. You know John? One summer when I was at Glasgow University, I worked lunchtimes in Glasgow’s first vegetarian restaurant, Gemini, on Sauchiehall Street. Sometimes after my stint I would stay and … Read more
My tastes in music as a teenager were pretty conventional … Until … Continuing my life in music … Before I got my first guitar, I’d drifted away from rock towards listening to classical and film music. As a young teenager rediscovering pop music via my guitar, at first I followed fairly conventional bands: I … Read more
One of the oddities I’ve discovered about this site is that the biggest reason people come here is nothing to do with me! This post about an obscure Mike Heron album from 1970 just happens to be linked from Mike Heron’s Wikipedia page, and a huge amount of my traffic (no that’s not a lot!) … Read more
I was sixteen and in fifth year at school. My girlfriend at the time was in sixth year, her eye on the end of school and the beginning of ‘real life’. One evening at her house she brought out a white album with an obscure, burned out photo on the front. Songs from a Room. … Read more