The History of Rock #08 - 1972
The History of Rock #08 - 1972
through musics
golden years
this issue: 1972
starring...
DaViD BOWiE
LED zEppELin
mOtt thE hOOpLE
simOn & garfunkEL
BLack saBBath
rOLLing stOnEs
gEnEsis
LOu rEED
rOxy music
t. rEx
PLUS! alice cooper | wings | lennon | can | slade | mc5 | david cassidy
1972
m o n t h by mon th
Welcome
to 1972
1972
m o n t h by mon th
6 News
Contents
12David Bowie
16
Paul Simon
20
Can
EyEvInE
24
MC5
28Slade
34 Singles/LPs
36 Judee Sill
41 Letters
roxy Music
pages 69
and 102
42 News
A n interview
with Roger Dean,
the in-house artist
of Yes and Osibisa.
Neil Young is
coming to town.
Taking the
termperature of the
German rock scene.
48 Iggy Pop
A meeting with
the (already) legendary
Stooges frontman. We
were all pretty weird by
this time he confides.
52 Hawkwind
Long a beacon of
the underground scene,
Hawkwind are now in
the charts. Freedom,
pornography and space
discussed with the Silver
Machine stars.
56 Led Zeppelin
62 T. Rex
80Alice Cooper
68 Singles
76News
84David Bowie
In-depth chats with the star
as he crests the wave of Ziggy
Stardust, my gift to you. A chat
with Mick Ronson, and a review
of the competition.
92 Albums
t. rex pages
62 and 92
102
Roxy Music
108
David Bowie
112
Lou Reed
On the influence
of David Bowie, now as a
tastemaker and record producer.
David is a very sage fellow
138 Singles
Phil Spector
delights in the reissue of
his Christmas album.
126 News
140 Wings
145 Letters
Time Inc. (UK) Ltd, 8th Floor, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark St, London SE1 0SU | Editor John Mulvey, whose favourite song from 1972 is Reelin
In The Years by Steely Dan dEputy Editor John Robinson Moonage Daydream by David Bowie art Editor Lora Findlay All The Young Dudes
by Mott The Hoople production Editor Mike Johnson Silver Machine by Hawkwind art dirEctor Marc Jones Popcorn by Hot Butter
dEsignEr Stuart Jones Rocket Man by Elton John picturE Editor Kimberly Kriete Starman by David Bowie covEr photo Sukita/Bowie Archive
thanks to Helen Spivak, Thomas Seal, Jennifer Johnson, Georgia Tanner MarkEting Charlotte Treadaway
suBscriptions Sonja Zeven puBlishing dirEctor Jo Smalley covErs printEd By Polestar Wheatons
tExt printEd By Polestar Chantry | www.uncut.co.uk
MICHAEL PUTLAnd/PHoToSHoT
98Genesis
1972
JA NUA R Y MA R CH
getty
Dont expect
Danny La Rue
MM FEBRUARY 19 David Bowie
introduces his sexy rock theatre.
LIVE!
1972
J a n u a r y M a r ch
GETTY
GETTY (2)
huck Berry is back! The ace rocknroller hit Britain last week for just one date at the Lanchester
Arts Festival, and amid amazing audience scenes, stopped the show. And hes coming back. His set at
the Locarno, Coventry, was recorded for use on an album but this audience were so loud that they
spoiled the tapes. Chuck absolutely knocked-out with this reception travelled to Londons Pye Studios
on Saturday and recorded five tracks for an LP with Rick Grech (bass), Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan, of the
Faces, on drums and piano, and Derek Griffiths (guitar). After a short period back in the US, Chuck returns to
Britain in March. He opens on March 22 at Lancaster University, and dates are planned through to April 1.
1972
The Chi-Lites in
1972: (lr) Creadel
Red Jones, Robert
Squirrel Lester,
Marshall Thompson
and Eugene Record
J a n u a r y M a r ch
getty (2)
Don McLean:
Im as anxious as
everybody else
A dream
for DIY
sleuths
MM JAN 22 Introducing
Don McLean, writer of
the roman--clef pop
song American Pie.
in general, rather
than simply on
the qualities of
this particular
song. At least, if one is dedicated to rocks
more powerful influences, the song steps up
to a different level of meaning. In its more
negative aspect, this can unleash a stream of
nostalgia, with the consequent debasement
of people, who just become flotsam swept
along by the current. The effect is to deny
self-determination in preference for an
oracular system in which musical arch-druids
hold the reins.
McLeans life is not dedicated to the past,
though. Whatever he did intend his song to
represent, it is not a change into reverse gear.
I feel that theres a lot to look forward to than
there is to look back at. Ill tell you that. I think
Im as anxious as everybody else.
The death of rock and its associations with
American Pie promotes the idea that a
resurrection is there to be undertaken.
McLeans views on the subject are mellowed
by his designation of rock as a folk form.
When you ask about whether music can be
resurrected, what youre really asking me is
whether people have a voice, because thats
what rocks always been. I think as often as not
that will continue to be.
In view of his remarks
about the worth of the
media, was his success
and consequent public
exposure difficult to come
to terms with?
Most of the time I am
not willing, but I decided to
give everybody one good
round to see exactly what they do. I feel a
larger audience deserves to hear from me
since I cant see them all personally.
He added that probably he would be
misrepresented by the media like most singers
are. If that happens I wont give any more
interviews. I will just stop communicating.
It wont bother
me at all. I will
still do concert
appearances, but
the media can go
jerk itself off.
It isnt meant to
be a criticism. The
metaphors are
purely that
Andrew Means
HISTORY OF ROCK 1972 | 11
getty
1972
J a n u a r y M a r ch
david bowie
Im gay...
always
have
been
D
avid Bowie, rocks swishiest outrage: a selfconfessed lover of effeminate clothes, Bowie, who has
hardly performed in public since his Space Oddity
hit of three years ago, is coming back in super-style. In
the States critics have hailed him as the new Bob
Dylan, and his tour de force album, Hunky Dory, looks
set to enter the British charts. Changes, the single taken from it, was
Tony Blackburns Record Of The Week recently. David will be
appearing, suitably spiffy and with his three-piece band, at the
Lanchester Festival on February 3.
Even though he wasnt wearing silken gowns right out of Liberty and
his blond hair no longer fell wavily past his shoulders, David Bowie was
looking yummy.
Hed slipped into an elegant patterned type of combat suit, very tight
around the legs, with the shirt unbuttoned to reveal a full expanse of
white torso. The trousers were turned up at the calves to allow a better
glimpse of a huge pair of red plastic boots with at least three-inch rubber
soles; and the hair was Vidal Sassoon-ed into such impeccable shape that
one held ones breath in case the slight breeze from the window dared to
ruffle it. I wish you could have been there to vada him; he was
so super.
David uses words like vada and super quite a lot. Hes gay, he says.
Mmmmmm. A few months back, when he played Hampsteads Country
Club, a small, greasy club in North London which has seen all sorts of
exciting occasions, about half the gay population of the city turned up to
see him in his massive floppy velvet hat, which he twirled around at the
DAVID BOWIE
reveals a new look,
a new album - and a
new sexuality, too.
Who is he really?
And where is his
dress anyway?
I change every
day, he says. Im
not outrageous.
Im David Bowie.
1972
rex features
J a n u a r y M a r ch
david bowie
Beckenham, Kent, where he lives, but when he realised that people were
going there on a Friday night to see Bowie the hit singer working out,
rather than for any idea of experimental art, he seems to have become
disillusioned. That project foundered, and he wasnt up to going out on
one-nighters throughout the country at that particular time.
So in the past three years he has devoted his time to the production of
three albums, David Bowie (which contains Space Oddity) and The
Man for Philips and Hunky Dory for RCA. His first album, confusingly
also self-titled, was released in 1967 on the new Deram label but it didnt
sell outstandingly, and Decca, it seems, lost interest in him.
It all began for him, though, when he was 15 and his brother gave him
a copy [of a book] to play an instrument. He took up sax because that was
the main instrument featured in the book
(Gerry Mulligan, right?). So in 63 he was
playing tenor in a London R&B band before
going on to join a semi-pro progressive blues
group that became Davy Jones & The Lower
Third (changing his name to Bowie in
September 65 when The Monkees Davy Jones
started gaining attention). He left this band in
1966 and became a performer in the folk clubs.
Since he was 14, however, he had been
interested in Buddhism and Tibet, and after the
failure of his first LP he dropped out of music
completely and devoted his time to the Tibet
Society, whose aim was to help the lamas driven
out of the country in the Tibetan/Chinese war.
He was instrumental in setting up the Scottish
monastery in Dumfries in this period. He says, in fact, that he would have
liked to have been a Tibetan monk, and would have done if he hadnt met
Lindsay Kemp, who ran a mime company in London: It was as magical
as Buddhism, and I completely sold out and became a city creature.
I suppose thats when my interest in image really blossomed.
Davids present image is to come on like a swishy queen, a gorgeously
effeminate boy. Hes as camp as a row of tents, with his limp hand and
trolling vocabulary. Im gay, he says, and always have been, even when I
was David Jones. But theres a sly jollity about how he says it, a secret smile
at the corners of his mouth. He knows that in these times its permissible
to act like a male tart, and that to shock and outrage, which pop has always
striven to do throughout its history, is a balls-breaking process.
And if hes not an outrage, he is, at the least, an amusement. The
expression of his sexual ambivalence establishes a fascinating game:
is he or isnt he? In a period of conflicting sexual identity he shrewdly
exploits the confusion surrounding the male and female roles. Why
arent you wearing your girls dress today? I said to him (he has no
monopoly on tongue-in-cheek humour). Oh dear, he replied, you must
understand that its not a womans. Its a mans dress.
He began wearing dresses, of whatever gender, two years ago,
but he says he has done outrageous things before that were just not
accepted by society. Its just so happened, he remarks, that in the
past two years people have loosened up to the fact that there are
bisexuals in the world and horrible fact homosexuals. He
smiles, enjoying his piece of addenda.
The important fact is that I dont have to drag up. I want to go on
like this for long after the fashion has finished. Im just a cosmic yob,
I suppose. Ive always worn my own style of clothes. I design them.
I designed this. He broke off to indicate with his arm what he was
wearing. I just dont like the clothes that you buy in shops. I dont
wear dresses all the time, either. I change every day. Im not
outrageous. Im David Bowie.
How does dear Alice go down with him, I asked, and he shook
his head, disdainfully: Not at all. I bought his first album, but it
didnt excite me or shock me. I think hes trying to be outrageous.
You can see him, poor dear, with his red eyes sticking out and his
temples straining. He tries so hard. That bit he does with the boa
constrictor, a friend of mine, Rudy Valentino, was doing ages
before. The next thing I see is Miss C with her boa. I find him very
demeaning. Its very premeditated, but quite fitting with our era.
Hes probably more successful than I am at present, but Ive invented
a new category of artist, with my chiffon and taff. They call it
pantomime rock in the States.
Despite his flouncing, however, it would be sadly amiss to think
of David merely as a kind of glorious drag act. An image, once
My own
work can be
compared to
talking to a
psychoanalyst
1972
J a n u a r y M a r ch
There was
something
about it
F
NME JANUARY 1
getty
NME: on the simon & Garfunkel albums, theres always been intricate
yet unobtrusive orchestral and group backings. Yet youve always chosen
to undertake live appearances with just the two voices, your guitar and
the occasional extra musician in support. What was your motive for this?
At one point, we did use some back-up musicians, but most of the time we
didnt, because it seemed to make things better just using the two of us.
First of all, wed require a lot of time and rehearsal. The guys we used on
the records we couldnt take on the road because they were all very busy
session men. If you said to guys like Larry or Hal, would you come out,
theyd do it as a favour. But if you said were going on the road for three
months theyd decline.
Im older and I
dont see things
in the same way:
the solo Paul
Simon in 1972
1972
J a n u a r y M a r ch
Theyve got families, their work, and besides, it seemed to work with
just the two voices and the one guitar. There was something about it,
the fact that it was reduced to such a small trio band two voices and
a guitar that worked. Those numbers that didnt work, we didnt do,
so I dont think that you felt it, by not doing things that couldnt be
sustained within this simple context. If we had then Im sure you would
have felt it but we didnt. Until Bridge came along, everything was easy
to do that way.
Its so simple to go and perform that way. Sound problems were pretty
much eliminated; even at the Royal Albert Hall which acoustically is
supposed to be terrible was, for us, just great.
So there isnt a chance that you might suffer from the same
predicament as Dylan, whereby a flood of unheard material is made
available in bootleg form? I know theres one album called Chez which
is supposed to feature both you and Artie singing and talking in a room.
I havent heard that one, but theres a lot of Dylan stuff about and theres
a lot of Simon & Garfunkel bootlegs of concerts. But the most flagrant
bootlegging thats being done doesnt revolve around unreleased
material; its done by those people who take the album and copy it, then
resell it on tape cassettes and cartridges. These bootleggers make their
money by selling it to the record dealers for much less than the actual
record companies.
Thats where the big bootleg market is its so much bigger than the
bootlegging of discs. I mean, theres a Simon & Garfunkel Greatest Hits
tape thats a best-seller. You cant con people into believing that
somebody really bad is really dripping with talent. An artist wants to
be good he wants to please and finally succeed. If youre around
long enough then you dont believe in everything that everyone
tells you.
getty
paul simon
Do you like Dylans interpretation of your song? Well, first of all, Ill tell
you how it came about. I was in the studio and Bob Johnston came
upstairs and said, Dylans downstairs do you want to come down and
say hello? And I said, Sure, just as soon as I get a chance, which I did.
Then they played The Boxer for me, which Dylan had just recorded. It
was at a time when he was recording a lot of other peoples material for
his Self Portrait album.
About his version I dont know, its hard to say. You see, I identify very
strongly with that song. Yes, I suppose its OK, but I like Simon &
Garfunkels version I was very pleased with that. Its one of my
favourites of all the Simon & Garfunkel records. Its a very personal song
and its hard to imagine any other interpretation. It was fine it was
original. Like anything Dylan does, it has its own thing. He did it
differently and I didnt think anyone could do that. Dylans version
makes me smile. When Aretha came along and then Stevie Wonder did it,
they both did it in a way that was very natural for the song and they made
it for me I love it.
There are those people who havent made good
attempts simply because they havent got the
goods to do a good job on anything or because
they didnt have enough time. I mean, there are
more bad records than good records and so you
expect that the majority of covers wont be good,
but youre pleased when somebody takes the
care and the time to do it well.
opinion that a particular album was good at that time? I dont have too
much perspective on those albums, because some of them were big hits,
which tends to colour how I look at them. I tend to think that probably
that was good because it was such a big hit, and then when I hear it the
thing clouds I just dont know. I dont spend too much time thinking or
worrying about what I did in 1967.
Of all the material that you have written, which is your personal
favourite? Well, most of my favourites are on the new album. Its not
because they are the very latest and I havent as yet had too much of
a chance to get used to them.
Your earlier work reflected the hardships that you were enduring in
both this country and America. Since achieving and enjoying success
well, you do enjoy success, dont you? (Simon smiles and nods) Do you
find that in any way your present lifestyle has affected your writing?
I think that the main thing that has altered my writing is the fact that
I know a little more about how to write. I dont
think it has too much to do with my lifestyle.
It might have to do with the subject matter or
the musicality of it. The way of using lyrics is
something that you just learn from experience
and study. I dont think its a question of
lifestyle. Im older, too, and I dont see things
in the same way.
I dont have
a schedule.
I have periods
of productivity
its cyclical
You havent appeared in public for nearly two years. Just how
important is a live audience to you? I like it. But there was a time when
I wasnt so much bored with performing, but bored with what I was
doing. You know, singing the required Simon & Garfunkel hits which
realistically speaking you had to do. Thats why people came to see you.
I mean we just couldnt say, I cant sing Bridge Over Troubled Water
again, because weve sung it so many times. People want to hear it, and if
youre going out on a stage then youve got to do it.
When you re-listen to your very earliest material, do you feel
some embarrassment like some artists do? Well, maybe a mild
embarrassment. Really its not just like looking at a picture of yourself
in 1959 when everybody had short hair. You look at the picture and you
see that the styles are so old-fashioned and you wish that you had been
ahead of everyone
else and had long
hair in 1959. But
you didnt.
Do you in fact play
all your earlier
albums? No. Well,
very seldom.
When you do, is
your personal
1972
J a n u a r y M a r ch
can
Democratic and
improvisational, the
German group CAN
make music of the
moment, with roots
in jazz and classical
composition. Too
far out for record
companies, the band
work on their own,
outside the regular
music business. You
have to start refusing
the basis of their
power, they explain.
We
just
freaked
out
MELODY MAKER FEBRUARY 5
rmin Schmidt haS this theory. Have you ever noticed, he says, how
music made by coastal dwellers invariably shows the influences of air
and water; whereas the more one moves inland the more the dominant
characteristic is earth the more it becomes gut music, in essence.
His theory is a conclusion he drew principally from a study of African
tribal music. Hed never really thought about it until now, but yes, he
supposed it could well apply in a European context. Take the Can, for instance.
They live inland in Germany, in Cologne, and their music is nothing if not earthy.
Music of the stomach, he calls it succinctly.
Irmin is the organist and spokesman with the Can, and hes here in England,
sitting in the offices of United Artists Records, to put the word out about the band.
Their second album, Tago Mago, has just been released here on UA, but how many
1972
J a n u a r y M a r ch
1965
22 | HISTORY OF ROCK 1972
NME FEBRUARY 5
f all the heavy German bands, Can are perhaps the most
interesting and could prove the most influential. Next month
they tour Britain and, judging from their newly released Tago
Mago double album, they will finally kill the notion that European
musicians are the poor country cousins of rock.
In fact, Can are further ahead in many respects than most British bands.
Their music is dark, mysterious, often frighteningly cold, and created
almost spontaneously in a studio built into a castle they own in Germany.
As the albums sleeve notes point out, probably the only British band with
anything in common with them are Hawkwind, since both groups base
much of their music on repetitive riffs. But in spite of this the comparison
is loose as both groups are exploring rather
different fields of experimental music.
Last week Cans organist Irmin was in town
together with part-Japanese, part-German
vocalist Damo. Irmin, although coping with
a foreign language, proved more articulate
than many of our home-grown musicians, and
explained how and when the group got together.
The group really came together by chance
back in late 68. Each of us knew different
members of the group and we all came together
because we were fed up with what we had been
doing before. We just wanted to be with other
people exploring different musical fields.
Before that, everybody had been doing
something different in the musical line. Holger,
our bass player, had been studying classical music
and played a little free jazz. Jaki, our drummer,
had been playing free jazz in the most advanced
group in Europe at that time. I had been
studying some very anarchistic American
music, while Michael had been playing
guitar for pure pop groups. Damo, who
joined us later, had just been singing on
the street, which in itself is a genuine
scene. The only thing we had in common
at the start was that we all wanted to play
music that was spontaneous.
James Johnson
HISTORY OF ROCK 1972 | 23
1972
J a n u a r y M a r ch
A battle
cry for the
kids in
America
American revolutionaries the MC5
arrive in London. On the agenda: reality
vibration, future shock, love, and even
music. Were not interested in making it
big like Led Zeppelin, says Fred Smith.
There are more important things to do.
Photoshot
C
24 | HISTORY OF ROCK 1972
1972
J a n u a r y M a r ch
NME FEBRUARY 19
f all the groups who have dabbled in politics over the last
few years, the MC5 seem to have gained the reputation as one
of the most fervent, the most committed and the most
outrageous. Tales of their exploits on stage are so varied that its
difficult to sort out fact from fiction. Ask vocalist Rob Tyner about
them and he says, Well, yes, we used to burn American flags,
blaspheme, rape and pillage and sacrifice virgins, but all with a sly,
enigmatic smile that you still dont know quite what to believe.
Either way, the MC5 are thought of as some kind of evil bogeymen, the
kind of guys young chicks should be scared of and known better for their
outrageousness than their music. After all, most people know they were
first to come up with the phrase Kick Out The
Jams, Motherfs, but how many have
actually heard the song?
In fact that phrase started out as a colloquial
expression in the Detroit area, said drummer
Dennis Thompson. Like, a lot of bands would
come and play in Detroit and theyd be so lame
youd yell, Kick out the jams, meaning get off
the fg stage. Rob turned the phrase into a
song and gradually it became a battle cry for all
the kids in America.
It was in Detroit that the band first formed, as
a purely instrumental rock outfit back in 1964.
Even at that time, though, they say they were
becoming politically conscious and when
they met John Sinclair, now
president of Americas White
Panthers, this intensified. He
played a shadowy background
figure in the bands development,
calling them his tool for the
revolution until they split from him
two years ago.
Last weekend the band hit London
for their second British visit, which
includes dates all round the
country. On their previous trip
they only played four dates, so this
is really the first chance Britain
has had to see them. I think
maybe people will think were
Children are
brought up in
such a way
that they are
afraid to love
The MC5 are over here for only the second time
in their careers, but look like theyll be here a lot
more often if they sign on with ex-pirate radio
chief Ronan ORahilly, who is thinking of being
their manager. Their last tour here in summer
1970 was fairly disorganised and included the
equally disorganised Phun City festival, and
they also recorded their last album, High Time,
here. A few copies of that were released when
they arrived here this time, but that seems a
little disorganised too a word which is all too
frequently applied to the group.
An Atlantic newssheet described them as the
band that advocated screwing, smoking and the
burning of the American flag, and although
this might have coincided with their early image and first album Kick Out
The Jams, it certainly doesnt any more. Theyre still a rough-and-ready
rock band, generating a great deal of energy, but their aim is to utilise this
energy for communication.
Were not interested in making it big like Led Zeppelin, says Fred.
It doesnt bother us at all that we cant go up on stage and do all those
ridiculous things weve had a dose of that type of life and there are more
important things to do than carrying around shopping bags full of
money. Ive SEEN Led Zeppelin leaving a concert hall carrying the money
in shopping bags.
If you have money spend it, we reckon. Ronan is very into that he
spends it on good projects like his idea for pirate TV. He never talks about
money, never worries about it, lives in a 12-a-week flat and drives a jeep.
They are thinking of putting out a live album next (their first one was
live, and one of the best examples of
live recording). The whole loving
awareness concept is something
that has evolved during their sixand-a-half years together. When
youre as powerful on stage as they
are, you have a grave responsibility
to use that power well.
I dont think weve ever got up on
the stage and just played along and
not cared about anything, says
Wayne. As a band gets older it
really does begin to utilise its
powers. Soon music and albums
will be one of the main forms of
communication. At the moment,
albums brought in more revenue in
America than films last year, which
is incredible. Caroline Boucher
James Johnson
joe stevens
The MC5
thing is to do
with total
anarchy of
the mind
1972
Ja n u a r y March
We just
pummel
their
brains
A band with a
hardcore live
following, SLADE
have also become a
genuine chart
phenomenon: basic,
bawdy, for the kids.
Parents couldnt
take our music,
explains Noddy
Holder. Its not
meant for them.
rex features
1972
Ja n u a r y March
NME FEBRUARY 19
e live in the age of the mini phenomenon.
Its a situation born out of three/four years of
waiting in a post-Beatles limbo for a new real
phenomenon to present itself for deification.
And a situation born too out of the music
industrys gradual awakening to the fact that
no such substantial and lucrative hunk of manna is either going to be
manufactured or dropped from the heavens into its lap.
So the mini phenomenon either initially business masterminded or
public initiated, then in both cases gratefully seized upon and glorified
by a hungry rock industry has been the order of the day.
Lately weve had the T. Rex mini phenomenon, the burgeoning Faces
mini phenomenon and the Slade mini phenomenon. The qualitative
mini by the way, chosen not to imply a put-down but as an attempt to
maintain perspective.
Ive lumped these three bands together for other reasons. One, because
Ive a hunch that if there is to be a new real phenomenon of the 70s one
with a standing equal to that of the Beatles then the chosen he/she or it
will find it necessary to embrace certain charismatic characteristics from
all these bands.
A hefty measure of Marc Bolans skilled use of the music as the media as
the message perhaps? A bountiful dash of the swagger and vitality of the
Faces? And, lastly, the kind of identification and involvement with their
following that Slade have made their trademark.
The other reason why these three bands group naturally together is that
all three have tapped for their devotees
a considerable hunk of the public that has
hitherto either been an ignored backwater
uncatered for by the excesses of the 20-minute
album trackers or, more simply, been at school
up to now.
In the latter cases these are the kids getting
their first influential (in the sense of having the
bread to influence trends) taste of rock music:
the young brothers and sisters of the Stones,
Dylan and even Zeppelin fans; the kids who
havent been programmed and conditioned by
the accepted norms of snob rock behaviour
who want to do what their elders did when they
first turned on to rocknroll.
They want to feel the emotion and the sheer
gut and crutch power of rock at least on a par with, if not ahead of, the
cerebral qualities that have been pushed down the throats of the older
generation. They want, as Marc Bolan puts it, to boogie. They are, as
Noddy Holder of Slade remembers from his first experience of rocknroll
through groups like The Who and Rolling Stones, wanting to rave from
the start. What seems to have been neglected is the middle ground
between the straight pop and progressive factions. Not all rocknroll
devotees are graduates hung up on John Cale and Terry Riley. Some are
16, just out of school and itching to boogie.
Jonathan King makes a valid point when he says that todays pop
performers are too old to relate to the new generation of pop listeners.
I dont see reggae or The Weathermen as the answer. Maybe T. Rex and
Slade are.
Thisll take you back, those of you who remember with fondness those
hazy nostalgic days when The Beatles and Stones would be releasing
singles in the same week, so setting the nation and the industry abuzz
with excitement to see who got the better of the other as the records
battled up a then-vibrant and alive singles chart.
The audience
sweat their
bollocks off
Its a kind of
release valve
camerapress
1972
Ja n u a r y March
At a lot of
places we get
more fellas
than birds
rex features
bridlingTon
SPa
LIVE!
1972
J a n u a r y M a r ch
SINGLES
REVIE
W
1972
Cilla Black
The World I Wish For You
PARLOPHONE
Al Stewart
You Dont Even
Know Me CBS
getty
Jake Holmes
Trust Me CBS
Turn it off (simultaneously with
opening bars). I dont like it!
Ah, the Pinball Wizard. Nice
production, but Ive no idea who
it is, and I cant wait for the end.
Its not Rod, is it? Not a hit. But
then, I was the one who said
Lazy Sunday would never be
a hit. Puts blindfold on again.
Colin Blunstone
Say You Dont Mind EPIC
Lonnie Mack
Rings ELEKTRA
Cat Mother
Letter To The President UA
Id say Everly Brothers. No, Im
only messing about. Let me see
now Status Quo! Im just
imagining myself reading this
back without all the gaps.
Yknow what I mean. Have I heard
of this band? I cant imagine who
it is. That aint bad at all. I never
realised how hard this was. Im
finding this baffling. I say that by
way of explaining my ignorance.
Paul Simon
Mother And Child Reunion CBS
Oh, its reggae. I dont mind that
at all. What I like about good
reggae is the feeling that its all
going to collapse at any moment.
I cant understand how they can
Mike Vernon
Lets Try It Again BLUE HORIZON
God, its a load of rubbish. Is it
that guy from Wales Dave
Edmunds? Its a group?
Fibrositis? I think its fantastic.
But I dont really like it.
Hookfoot
Sweet Sweet Funky Music DJM
Oh, I like that. A few years ago
I would have said it was the
Buffalo Springfield. It aint Poco
and it aint Neil Young, but its
something to do with Buffalo
Springfield. Its not Buddy Rich?
No, no, I didnt think it was. Who
is it? Oh, good luck to Caleb
Quaye [Mr Quaye is the leader
and composer with Hookfoot].
ALBUMS
Neil Young Harvest
REPRISE
Glen Campbell
Oklahoma Sunday Morning
CAPITOL
Jesus Christ. Is it
a football team?
MM FEB 26 Two weeks later in Blind Date, Bee Gee
Robin Gibb is astounded by the tracks he hears.
Wings
Give Ireland Back To The
Irish APPLE
I dont like this for a start.
I don think McCartney
should do this kind of thing.
I like McCartney but I dont
think he should get into a
political thing, because it is
not his image. This song
has a message more than
a melody and its more of
a John Lennon type of
number. Some of the
things he has done since he
left The Beatles I have
liked, and although this has
a catchy chorus I dont
think its his kind of
material. This has been
banned, hasnt it? I dont
think any record should be
banned, but its good
publicity to be banned.
Uriah Heep
The Wizard BRONZE
Its nice production but
that bit sounds a bit
gimmicky. Is it an English
group? The backing is far
too loud but the beginning
was great. Its not Blue
Mink, is it? I cant get into
this one at all. I dont think
Cher
The Way Of Love MCA
This is a cover of another
song I have heard. Is it
Cher? This is the first
time I have heard it but I
recognise the voice. This
is a beautiful song, but
I dont like the backing to
this very much. It could
easily be a hit but I dont
like the production. The
production seems a bit dry.
Is it American or English? It
might be a good album
track, but I dont think
its good listening. Is it
Creedence Clearwater
Survival, or Revival or
something? It sounds
like a heavy trendy
The Deltones
Chopsticks TROJAN
I dont like reggae for a
start. I respect all kinds of
music but I dont like this
at all. It sounds like an
instrumental version of
Mungo Jerrys In The
Summertime. Its just not
significant, and this type of
record brings any music
down and down.
ALBUMS
W
REVIE
1972
J a n u a r y M a r ch
getty
Judee Sill:
Spiritual things
are the main
inspiration for
my songs
Pythagoras,
Bach and
Ray Charles
From a background of drugs, crime, reptiles
and music theory emerges via David
Geffen the beautiful music of JUDEE SILL.
Out of mud grows a lotus, she explains.
1972
J a n u a r y M a r ch
Dog puke
I
REVIEW
NME APRIL 8
ccording to Judee Sill: Out of mud grows a lotus. In
other words, something beautiful comes from something
unpleasant. The phrase applies well to her own life. Judee,
you see, has seen some rough times. Born in Oakland, California,
she was brought up in her fathers bar, where the customers
gambled illegally and she hid under the tables to avoid the fighting.
After the father died, her mother died of alcoholism a few years later,
and Judee took drugs principally heroin, which led to a life of petty
crime and prison. Yet, remarkably, she pulled herself out. She became
the lotus. After kicking drugs and discovering certain religious,
spiritual feelings within herself, she now writes songs of rare beauty,
full of imagery and symbolism tied in with her spiritual beliefs.
I was always singing when I was a kid, she told me in an expresstrain torrent of words. I always wanted to harmonise with somebody
but I couldnt find anyone, so I learned to play the piano so I could
harmonise with that. It was the same with the guitar.
I didnt know whether I was going to be a songwriter or anything
like that, but I always liked writing songs and it slowly started
Judee Sill in London
in 1972, on tour to
evolving. It was the only thing I was any good at.
promote her second
When I decided to quit being a heroin addict I realised I had to
album, Heart Food
make some kind of rash move that would give me the same kind of
thrill but at the same time be of a positive nature. I realised writing
songs was the thing I did best, so I decided to
pull my full energy into it.
stimulated. Its asking too much of anybody to
Musically, probably the turning point was
suddenly switch round and have another part of
when I became interested in alchemy and
them stimulated by something else.
spiritual things like that. It influenced my
But I like playing in Britain anyway. People
music a lot. Although it wasnt a sudden think, I
over here are much nicer. I think maybe their
didnt wake up one morning and say. Oh, I
taste is more culturally mature. Sometimes
see. I began to want to entice the listener to
everything in America seems tuned to a much
open his heart.
grosser level.
Generally, spiritual things are the
Judee is at present in Britain making a few
appearances and promoting her album. Also
main inspiration for my songs. I try to get
shes working on some songs, but says shes not
inspiration in other ways, but I usually find
this so inadequate. I just wait for my inner
a very prolific writer.
voice to tell me, This is a subject to write on.
All my songs have been written over a long
Always, though, Ive had this leaning towards a professional life in the
period. I wish I could write faster. Ive tried, but I just cant. They dont
music business. Its just that I had such a hunger with this drug addiction
all come up to my standards. They sound crummy, so I reject them.
that I thought maybe I could use this hunger to push me forward. So I just
Sometimes it feels as if something outside me is writing the songs. Its so
started working as hard as I could, and figured that when the time was
thrilling when it comes through me. But when I get my own personal
right things would happen.
ideas I try to reject them. I think there are enough people writing on that
One day, I was sitting at home thinking, Gee, its about time something
level. I want to write songs when the inner voice in my heart tells me there
happened, and David Geffen rang to say hed fixed me up with
is something to write about. There are plenty of people writing songs
everything recording, publishing, the lot.
about you and me, baby. So let them. Good. Probably Im most
Apart from looking after Miss Sill, Geffen in the past has handled
influenced by Pythagoras, Bach and Ray Charles in that order.
Is there not a conflict between the subject matter of her songs and the
people of the calibre of CSN and Y, Joni Mitchell and Laura Nyro. These
fact that she has to sell them on a commercial level in the form of albums?
connections led Judee to her first major tour with Crosby and Nash. Did
Well, Im just concerned with doing one thing, which is writing songs.
she find it hard to go on stage at the beginning?
But obviously to get your songs heard you must be successful. Being
Yes, but I knew it would be alright eventually. At the start, it was hell.
successful is more or less a sideline. If success was my goal, of course, my
As I walked on stage I used to think, Oh God, Id rather stick a knife in my
songs would be shit theyd be worthless. Songs usually are when that is
heart than go out and say, Nice to be here!
the foundation for their inspiration. Thats what I find, at least.
Gradually, though, my nervousness turned to excitement. I started
But I would like to ask people to buy my album. If they cant afford it Id
out on the road about a year and four months ago, and its just built up
like them to ask those who can afford it to buy it. Then I wont have to open
steadily. Often its been with good people, like Cat Stevens, Gordon
for rock groups when I get back. My destiny is in your hands. James Johnson
Lightfoot or Tom Paxton. Unfortunately, sometimes Ive played with rock
groups, which is urrrrgh
terrible, ridiculous, in fact.
If somebody is ready to hear
rocknroll theyre ready to have a
certain part of their mind or body
getty
If success
was my goal,
my songs
would be shit
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Readers letters
1972
J a n u a r y M a r ch
MM JAN-MAR Bowie and Jagger respond as does a crestfallen Paul Simon fan.
Let it rock
Getty
yer bLues
sax appeaL
Jam tomorrow
troubLed waters?
TO PAUL SIMON:
As one who has
purchased all your
works, seen your
concerts and followed your career
with a dedication bordering on
abnormality, it hurts me to write
this letter, Paul, but if your latest
LP, Paul Simon, really did take two
years to put together, then Im one
customer you havent kept
satisfied. I know youre swimming
in troubled water since Arts
departure from the seemingly
inseparable partnership you had,
but I dont think you can expect us
to accept such mediocrity because
of his absence. The phenomenal
success of Bridge Over Troubled
Water has not been forgotten in
your latest work, has it? I never
thought Id see the day when the
pen of Paul Simon gave up the
search for originality, new subjects
and new depth. Im on your side,
Paul, but when times get rough
and evening falls so hard, follow
Dylan and lay low for a few years.
Remember: when a man gets tied
up to the ground, he gives the work
his saddest sound. Please dont
become another destroyed genius.
COLIN BRINTON, Harwich
(NME Feb 26)
HISTORY OF ROCK 1972 | 41
1972
a P r il june
The music
has never
influenced me
MM April 29 introducing
roger Dean, creator of fantastical
cover art for Yes and Osibisa.
1972
a p r i l J U NE
Dean a quiet,
unassuming, almost shy
person nursing a broken
wrist at the moment
wondered why we should
want to interview him. But
he does see the importance
of a good sleeve, and believes
that it can help bands who
are struggling to sell records.
Retailers, he says, like to use
sleeves in window displays. And the better the
sleeve, the more chance it has.
Some people dont seem to realise the
importance of a sleeve, says Roger. I have
no idea how useful the Osibisa sleeves were
for them, but they must have made some
impression on people.
The flying elephant on the Osibisa covers,
flying through a fantasy world, about to make
contact with a grisly lizard, was originally an
idea for Virgin Records. It was used for one of
their early adverts, but when Virgin dropped it
in favour of the double-sided girl, Dean
resurrected the animal from his sketchbooks.
getty, rex
With illustrations
you can have
any fantasy.
Graphics are used
for the quick idea
Business isnt
dropping off
MM aPriL 22 eLP continue their assault on america.
merson, lake & Palmer will play a special concert at Londons Crystal
Palace Bowl on June 17, part of a European tour. The group finish their current
American tour on April 23, and then take two weeks holiday. Their European
tour will start on June 5 and include concerts in Paris, Rome, Zurich, Copenhagen and
Berlin. They then return for another tour of America.
Carl Palmer told the MM on Monday from Detroit: Our tour is doing very well,
although we are playing quite a few small-town venues this time, so more fans in
remote areas get a chance to hear the band. We sold out in New York, so business isnt
dropping off. Weve been doing some gigs with Dr John supporting and next week we
are on with Bruce, West & Laing.
Carl promised that the group had a few ideas for their presentation at Crystal
Palace, but wouldnt divulge the details. He is also planning a solo album on which he
will feature his new drum Moog and invite guest stars. Carl would like to invite such
giants as Buddy Rich and Oscar Peterson to take part.
credit
Sunk on a
technicality
MM MaY 13 Filibuster! The Tory
governments night assemblies Bill
talked out by Labour MPs.
he Night Assemblies Bill, which only
a week ago looked certain to become law,
was dealt a seeming death blow in the
House of Commons last Friday night only
hours after the government had announced
the appointment of a committee to advise it
on pop festivals.
The bill, promoted by Tory MP Jerry Wiggin,
was sunk on a technicality. Several Labour
MPs, including John Golding, Leslie Hucksfield
and Gerald Kaufman, succeeded in talking it
out discussing the bills various clauses at
such length that it ran out of its allotted
Parliamentary time.
Time permitting, the bill could be
reintroduced on two further Fridays but the
consensus of opinion is that the bill is dead.
Its defeat is the culmination of weeks of work
by people inside and outside Parliament
notably the Labour MP for Accrington,
Arthur Davidson.
The new committee, which will report to the
Secretary for the Environment, will be headed
by 26-year-old Dennis Stevenson, chairman of
a government working party on the role of
voluntary organisation and youth, which
recently produced a paper severely criticising
the aims of the Night Assemblies Bill.
Mr Stevenson, director of a market research
company, told the MM on Monday: As I
understand it, the committees first objective
will be to draw up a code of practice for festivals.
Secondly, as festivals continue, we will be there
to give advice to people local authorities,
promoters, residents associations and so on.
I hope that, as a result, some of the steam
will be taken out of the situation. The silent
majority, who are quite justifiably worried,
will begin to see that festivals can be run
properly. I also hope that promoters will start
disciplining themselves more effectively.
Mr Stevenson added that he hoped the
committee would be representative of all
the factions interested in festivals local
authorities, the Red Cross, Release and even
some promoters. The keynote will be people
who are interested in the nuts and bolts of
festivals, and who are sympathetic to them.
He was present at the Wesley Festival last
year, and described it as a good example of
the problems involved, and of the mistakes
that can be made.
Well definitely be
electric in January
MM June 10 Back in good health, neil Young plans his return.
eil Young is planning a major
British tour and now that he is in
good physical condition after a
spinal operation, he will be playing electric
guitar. On his last British concert, at
Londons Royal Festival Hall in 1970, Neil
confined himself to acoustic work because
it was less strenuous.
Ive wanted to do a proper tour with
electric and now my backs OK we can go
ahead. Neil told MM editor Ray Coleman in
Hollywood last week: So well definitely be
electric in January in England. Ive had back
trouble for two years, so Ive not been able
to strain myself and its been frustrating.
It should be a new dimension for me next
time in England.
rex
1972
a p r i l J U NE
getty
Many German
groups use sound
effects not as
embellishment but
for themselves
1972
a p r i l J U NE
We were
all pretty
weird by
this time
At only 24, IGGY POP is already a survivor. Beset by
ugly, unbeautiful musicians, he created instead
the visionary STOOGES. Having beaten a man-sized
habit, he is now in London. He offers his thoughts
on record production, rehearsal and the road ahead.
I want to do the best for my music, he says.
MELODY MAKER APRIL 1
s Marc Bolan swung his hips for the benefit of ringo starrs
camerawork, did any of the 9,000 upturned faces notice the auburnhaired american fifth row from the front? From his seat in Wembleys
Empire Pool, Jim osterberg, alias Iggy Pop, alias Iggy stooge, was
checking out an aspect of the English scene as from one phenomenon
to another, and that singer he couldnt believe! Kinda chipmunky,
he was to say later. Iggy is sort of, uh, more extrovert.
He sings a bit but he likes to express himself in other ways as well. You know, bash his head
against the stage, pound his teeth with the microphone, draw a little blood. anything can
happen at an Iggy stooge concert. Everything does.
It was unfortunate that time he played with the stooges in st louis. The time that the mic
stand broke, and he was rhythmically smashing the jagged edge on the stage, and he never
saw the chick climbing towards him until he felt the metal slam into her head. When he
pulled it out there was ugh! all this blood everywhere. nasty business. But like I say,
funny things go on when hes stooging around.
A
48 | HISTORY OF ROCK 1972
1972
a p r i l J U NE
iggy pop
John Cale. We were a really strange band, and Elektra thought they knew
a strange producer, he says. We were still living in Ann Arbor and John
came out. I really liked him. He just let us have our heads. His job was to
protect my mad ideas from outside influences. Iggy snickered again.
We did that album in four days. Wed never played a note at that time
and the band hadnt written any songs before, so I bought a guitar and
learned these chords in two weeks. I wrote the songs in three days and
then we recorded them. They were all about 10 minutes long.
The album was cut at The Hit Factory, which is above Times Square in
New York. Jerry Ragovoy was on the sessions. Iggy remembers him well, if
not with any fondness.
It was an R&B studio, and they thought we were horrid little creatures.
Then Holzman heard it and said, I dont hear anything but three chords,
so I said, If you dont like it we got lots more material, let us go in again. He
set it up for the day after tomorrow. We were at the Chelsea and it was
there we wrote the other half of the songs. Little Doll I wrote in the lobby.
All it is is 1969 changed around.
Second time around, he says, Holzman liked it, but they havent
remained the best of friends. Iggy is now finalising a deal with CBS.
It didnt work out too well with Cale, either. Iggy
wound up mixing the tapes himself.
Johns got a real genius for arrangements,
like on Marble Index, but that stuffs too shiny
for a rocknroll band. When I got the tapes they
came out sounding like Marble Index again. In
general, he doesnt have a feel for the fluidity
and dynamics of rocknroll or at least, as I like
to play it. Hes got a classical background and its
made him stiff.
The second album, Fun House, made at
Elektras studio in Los Angeles, was produced
this time by Don Gallucci, who had recorded
The Kingsmens Louie Louie when he was 17.
Elektra gave them a practice studio to rehearse
in. It didnt work out that way: We were all
pretty weird by this time, and instead of working we picked up these
instruments like a tuba and a saxophone and marched around doing
Old Joe Clark. We refused to do anything but set up our instruments
and record. Eventually, the sound we got was so ridiculous that it was
physically impossible for anyone else to like us.
Yes, it was weirdness and more weirdness all the way.
By now Our Hero, hat pulled low over his forehead, is slumped in his
chair with his feet stuck on the windowsill. His voice comes out in a slurry
drawl, like a looser version of James Stewart. Under the shadow of that hat
he seems no more than a kid.
Young Jim Osterberg is explaining why hes Iggy Stooge. He will, he says,
do anything to get himself off. Its absolutely necessary for him to have
kicks, to move his mind, and if people are upset, well, hes sorry, but right
from the word go hes been used to offending them.
People who orient themselves into art are always telling him hes
so abstract. Hes not antisocial, not unless its cops or characters with
no brains. And then, someone will look into his face and see beneath
the brim his eyes take on that psychotic look. Dont look at him, kids. Its
not nice.
Minds are alive, he explains. They see pictures and make up stories. He
sees big pictures and makes big stories; his audience sees little pictures
and invents big stories. A performance is a whole mixture of these
pictures and dreams. You should have the guts to let the dream flow.
Iggy says hes had a lot of luck in his life, too: Ive always been lucky.
Ive wanted everything in the world. Ive wanted it all. Im as dishonest as
the next guy, ysee. Im greedy, crooked and vain, and I like to profile.
Everybody has a shadow and I like to project a big one.
When I met my present manager I was on the bum with no plans and
no food, and all of a sudden I met this dude, said I trust him and signed
with him. The next thing I know Im talking to the president of Columbia
and hes saying yeah and now Im in England. Thats awful good fortune
for a poor boy!
Iggy switched on TV the other night, just in time to catch Judee Sill
saying she preferred to play without a rocknroll band, who are so
young, loud and snotty, or something like that. Iggy has written
a tune about it, he was so creased. Because, as he says, thats the way it
is when youre having fun. Hell be coming your way soon. Have fun.
When I met
my manager
I was on the
bum with no
plans, no food
Michael Watts
HISTORY OF ROCK 1972 | 51
The politics
of freedom
Underground freaks turned Top 10 stars, HAWKWIND are 1972s
unlikeliest success story. In the wake of their hit Silver Machine,
they reveal plans for a new space opera. Audiences have changed
now, says bassist Lemmy. Its a collective consciousness.
NME FEBRUARY 5
ike them or not, you must admit that hawkwind
are honest. Guitarist Dave Brock is not loath to
admit that most of the bands musicians are at best
mediocre, while Nik turner (sax) never ceases to
be amazed by their success.
Partly, its all due to the band beginnings. When
they first came together, hawkwind was just a means of having
a good time a pleasurable sideline, as Brock puts it. only when
people actually seemed to like their music did they begin to take it
seriously. And even now the main motive of the band is to provide
fun both for the audience and themselves.
i think thats the only reason why we get across to a lot of people,
said turner. they see that were obviously having a good time,
and they get something out of that. in the beginning i never
thought our music would appeal to anybody, simply because
weve never pandered to public taste, never compromised and
just played exactly what we wanted. By a happy accident people
seem to be digging it.
Now the band are probably more involved in their music and
in assorted projects than ever before. Upmost in their minds is
a space opera they hope to take on the road in late spring.
the brain behind it all is word man Bob Calvert, who explained,
it doesnt have a plot like a traditional opera but is an opera
nevertheless in the way it presents a situation. it concerns dreams
getty
L
52 | HISTORY OF ROCK 1972
Weve never
pandered
to public
taste, never
compromised
getty
ambiguous music. You can suggest everything, and say nothing. If you do
it carefully you achieve more than you ever would if you laid down dogma.
The success of Silver Machine is like a vital chapter out of Animal
Farm. It makes Hawkwind an altogether more powerful prospect than
they were two years ago as a group for Isle of Wight outsiders. Their
expanding reputation and financial assets must have boosted the
expectations of their friends and followers. Yet understandably their
single hasnt affected the group in the same way.
In the words of Doug Smith, the groups visionary manager, they regard
it as two fingers in the air to a music business that used to write them off.
Nothing more. It doesnt trigger plans for a coup dtat, because there
never were such plans. The groups more conscientious members Dave
Brock (guitar), Nik Turner (sax) and Del Dettmar (synthesizer) insist
that their objectives and activities will remain much the same as before.
They aim at the head. Once people are given the incentive they will
undertake their own metamorphoses.
This ability to plant their myth in to popular imagination has played
a large part in their making. Hawkwind is a movement, not just a group.
In a quite mundane sense, they have a reputation for having one of the
largest retinues in the music business. Far more important is the
empathy they achieve with many reaching in the same direction as
themselves. Some eminent people are apparently interested in their
ideas, among them Sir Patrick Moore.
The fact that they are now hot news has made little impression upon
their gigs. At Hastings last week the atmosphere was much as it had been
at similar gigs four weeks ago.
Dave Brock managed to break a couple of guitar strings and Lemmy
even succeeded in doing the same with a bass string. The result was that
they played part of the set out of tune, to the discomfort of Doug Smith.
But hang around at the close of one of the gigs and watch the way
friends and followers religiously make their pilgrimage on stage and
how they sidle past the speakers and the roadies and the rubbish right
up to Nik Turners side. Turner sits and peers vacantly around the hall,
while the little half-circle around him shuffle uncomfortably into
incredulous conversation.
Probably the only aspect that comes out in their gigs and which
bothers the bulk of their audiences is space, but the other subjects are
there waiting to be explored. Maybe their teen following comes to hear
heavy lift-off music, but its impossible to ignore the imaginative ideas
of the group and of Bob Calvert, once a performing member and now
purely a writer of their material.
If their preparations work out and the audience plays its part,
Hawkwinds first major bill-topping concert at Londons Rainbow
next Sunday should reveal how far their ambitions to project an
environment go. Andrew Means
1972
a p r i l J U NE
Something
has really
clicked
LED ZEPPELIN are
massive in America.
But as theyre keen
to point out, they have
been for four years.
We join the bands
entourage on the East
Coast as they lay
waste to Long Island
(It costs $5,300 to
hire Madison Square
Garden). Earlier
in the year, Robert
Plant explains how
they wrote their fourth
album. Burst into
laughter, he says.
Preserve it on tape.
NME APRIL 29
T
ian dickson
1972
a p r i l J U NE
camerapress/heilemann
Whenever
possible I
really like to
get out there
with the kids
Roy Carr
rex features
1972
a p r i l J U NE
love playing and here there are no inhibitions. They find their audience.
Here they play their best.
The scenes have possibly amazed you, said John Paul Jones. But
this has been happening for four years now. I think we all feel a bit
annoyed that nobody really knows it back home. Do they really know
what were doing?
This feeling is common within the band. Why, you might say, should
they worry? They do well, the audience which is the main thing shows
just how big they are. Why should they bother about wee small England
and its fickle ways? Well, theyre English, and like most people, they also
have egos. Theyd just like England to know what theyre doing.
Our egos have been hurt, says Rob Plant. They really have. For some
reason English critics have never told the truth about us. For some reason
theyve been out to get at us a bit. So things are clouded over, and nobody
gets to know whats really happening. Theres been so much bullshit
printed its just untrue.
We read pages on some band name not mentioned saying just how
big they are here. You ask the people here just how big they are. We know.
You see, it makes the English press look ridiculous.
Its so annoying, added Jones. Here we are slaving away and getting
consistently incredible reactions, and nobody back home can care
anything about us. He shook his head. Its just not right.
Dont get the idea that Zep are just peeved little boys, with a chip on
their shoulders. Its not the case of them having their own ideas as to how
big they are. That position can be seen in a matter of seconds over here.
Zep are ace there are no two ways about it.
Maybe, said Plant. If we were as big in England as we are here,
I wouldnt be able to walk down a bloody street without being stopped,
he laughed. Dont know if Id like that or not.
HE SCENE waS the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on a sickening, heavy,
hot New York day. Manager Peter Grant
was stood with two house detectives
in a corridor. His huge frame dwarfed them
somewhat. There had been some trouble
over the amount of people visiting Bonzo
Bonhams room, and as per usual, a hotel had
it in for longhairs.
The night before had seen the band play the
first of two concerts at Nassau. They were
overjoyed at how it had gone.
Something has really happened this time,
said Plant. Something has really clicked.
Its fantastic; the spirit within the band is
just fantastic.
Plant is a cheery character, forever jigging and
rocking around, spreading a laugh or two
with the first colourful Brummie accent
Ive ever heard. Talk centred on Wolves,
and the rise to fame of Midlands football
teams. Derby and Wolves could indeed
rule, and it was a God almighty shame
that Forest has sunk to such depths
as relegation.
Page was quietly going about his
business, and then in a fit of laughter
Bonzo appeared. The grizzly King
Drummer. An honest lad who likes to
swing sticks like fury and drink at about
the same pace.
You wouldnt believe what bloody
trouble was goin on with my room.
It appears that trouble forever surrounds
dear Bonzo.
Pretty soon the line of limousines was
poking its way in and out of the absurd
traffic towards Long Island. The three cars
were in radio contact with each other, and
the state of the traffic soon decreed that
somebodys house could not be visited.
Make sure the spare ribs are driven
to the Coliseum, came a message over
the radio.
Were getting
incredible
reactions, and
nobody back
home cares
Three acoustic numbers give people time to breath, lie back and
relax. John Paul Jones exhibited a new electric mandolin that gave
a good colourful feel to songs written on Welsh hillsides.
Then they all upped and left dear Bonzo.
He remained, and delivered the most wrecking drum solo youd ever
imagine. He beat the thing so hard, with sticks and hands, that I thought
his arms were going to fall off, or maybe the kit would shatter. His object
was to reach grumbling thunder, and that he did, a sort of crazy stampede
of drums, and sharp, slashed cymbals. It went on over 15 minutes and he
wouldnt stop.
Bonzo would cool it all down to just one motion he was leaving out
what was already bopping in everyones heads. Everyone knew what
Bonzo was playing, but he wasnt playing it if you can see what I mean.
And then he struck back, and with no nerves at all just smacked
everything till it hurt, and hurt. The tempo doubled, and doubled again,
and his anguished face and black hair was wet through and streaked
with burning skin and sweat.
His final crescendo was just not true. I stood and shook my head in
disbelief as he panned everything in sight. Toil and troubles, it just
hubbled and crumpeted out in a monstrous form. Peter Grant was
shaking his head too, and Jim Page, who had snuck back onto the side
of the stage, was also staring with admiration at Bonzo. It exploded in
one mass of fire and flesh, and Page jumped into view again, and played
with his buddy.
The Coliseum just couldnt understand it. They got up and for five
solid minutes applauded Bonzo. It was heart-warming; it almost
made you want to cry, such was the emotion about, such was the
pleasure, and enjoyment of applauding something that had been
so incredible.
Someone once asked me what technicalities I applied to my playing,
Bonzo had said to me. I said, Technicalities, what the hell are you going
on about? I said, This is my technicality, and raised my hand in the air,
and let it fall. Head to drum, thats what it is, head to drum.
Im not trying to be any superstar. I just do my bit as one quarter of
Led Zeppelin. When I have a solo I dont ever imagine drummers around
watching me. I dont try and impress people. I dont try and perform the
most amazing changes in tempo, or make people watch me. I just
couldnt do that it would take away the essence of Jimmys guitar, and
Roberts voice. John Paul and myself lay down a thick backdrop,
thats what we do.
The place was in a fever now of sheer adulation. It couldnt stop, and
it didnt. The band stonked into Whole Lotta Love, with Pagey
experimenting with the bizarre via the reverb unit. He stood there, on
his own, slashing and playing loud. The chords were held in the amps,
and then shot out with echo, just as he hit another. Then he took a cello
bow, and scraped and banged it across the strings.
Now were backstage, and the band run off, but Bonzos saying theyve
got to do another, and the screaming is really painful on the ear from
outside. John Paul Jones takes the stage on his own, and sits at an organ.
From that he delivers a medley of songs, some old, some new, some
forgotten, and then into spine-chilling religious chords. It sounded like
the Phantom organist, rushing forth with colossal organ chords, and
then Jones broke into Amazing Grace.
Soon all the band were back on stage and Page laid a boogie out, and
Plant growled Boogie Mama, and what a boogie it was. It was like some
stoked-up train belting on into the night Bonzo being the pistons, Page
the driver, it gouged into everybodys head.
Things were coming fast and furious. Next thing you know theyre into
Peggy Sue and a rocknroll medley. And America goes wild, and dances.
So now were into the limousine again and Plant is shaking his head.
Theyd never believe how good it is here back home. Theyd just never
believe what happened tonight.
The way they had been applauded. The way the whole place had begged
every last thing out of the band. The way the band had given everything
they had, and still wanted to give more. Can you believe how big they are?
They say Jethro Tull are brilliant on stage, said Jones. Well, he does
the same bloody thing every night, the same gags, everything, the same.
Each of our gigs is treated differently; we dont have any set, religious
rehearsed thing. And what youve seen tonight has been happening for
years here.
It has been a memorable evening. The memory of Plant there twisting
and turning, and screwing himself up on stage. Singing boogie, and
singing rock, and singing ballad, and singing his heart and head out. Of
Page being the guitarist, of Bonzo and his drums, and of John Paul Jones
on the most pungent bass, and organ avec a difference. And the audience
loving every second of it like no audience Ive ever seen. Roy Hollingworth
HISTORY OF ROCK 1972 | 61
getty
1972
a p r i l J U NE
Ive sold
18 million
records in
a year
We always had
commercial potential:
Marc Bolan and his
congas-tapping sideman
in T. Rex, Mickey Finn
Are you conscious of the fact theres a superelite among pop musicians at a certain level,
a sort of exclusive club? I dont think there is.
Dont you? Not the ex-Beatles, the stones?
No. No one that I know knows anyone.
im just thinking on the lines that when you
were in LA Jagger came to see you. Yeah.
And when you were in New York there was
Lennon. Do you get the impression that
MICHAEL PUTLAND/rETNA/PHoTosHoT
1972
a p r i l J U NE
mirrorpix
Survivors of the 60s British rock scene? Theyre fragments, arent they?
But I think for them thats a great pain I might be completely wrong but
they seem very aware of that all the time, that theyve been there so long,
and also that theyre not obviously as big as they were. Theyre very aware,
like Dylan, of not being the spearhead of something, and thats a downer.
Can you ever buy the idea of The Who as the greatest rocknroll band
going? I wouldnt put The Who in the same class as the Stones! No way.
Thats Kit Lamberts idea. The only thing where the Stones have never
compared with The Beatles is they could never write as good songs,
nowhere near, and thats still a problem with them. Its very hard for them
to write. They come up with some great songs sometimes, but its hard for
them. They dont just knock em out. It takes ages and ages and ages. Its
not the playing, I dont think. Theyre just not that important any more;
T. REX
I put myself
on view in the
right places
and people
said, Hey!
Do you think the critics are going to embrace you like they did Lennon
and McCartney? I honestly dont care. Like, take the poetry book
(Warlock Of Love). That goes out and its not reviewed in one paper, and it
was very successful for a poetry book. Now that makes the guy at The
Times, or one of those things, obsolete, man, as far as Im concerned.
Its like Grand Funk in America. That got ripped off rotten, but one cant
deny their success. How one adjusts to that is something else. Had we not
had the groundwork of three years of making friends on the papers,
having people be slightly sympathetic towards me and knowing that Im
not a creep, it mightve been different, cos when it happened everyone
knew whatd gone down. Itd been since 65, man. But youll notice with
the Wembley reviews not one of em actually reviewed the concert. They
just said what went down, which is the way it should be.
Critics You know, someone asked me today what Metal Guru is all
about. And I said I dont know. He said, Whats a metal guru? and I said,
Well, like a jeepster, actually. So he said, Whats a jeepster? I said its
like riding a white swan, and he went, Oh. He wrote it all down. You see,
its just enough that it is. I can sit down for hours and tell em all about it,
give people like that guy answers they wanna hear, but its a waste of
breath. For me, its not abstract. Metal Guru, in the context of that song,
is about godhead, I suppose. Metal Guru, is it you?/Sitting in your armourplated chair. The other line is: Youre all alone without a telephone.
HISTORY OF ROCK 1972 | 65
1972
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guitar and play it well; thats enough of a message. There are many tracks
on my album that are, shall I say, autobiographical. Ballrooms Of Mars,
thats one track.
Do you ever listen to Slade, Black Sabbath, the Faces, and your other
contemporaries? Sure, I check everyone out. I listen to everything.
I know Slade aint about to be competition. Have you heard the new
McCartney? Hes lost, man, hes lost. Hes no idea what hes gonna do.
Ringo I love, because hes fine and hell never let me down. I only see
George occasionally. I dont know much about him. Were not overly
attracted to each other, but he seems quite a nice cat. Lennon I get on fine
with, but hes sad, just sad. Theres a great
sadness about him.
Have you
heard the new
McCartney?
Hes lost, man,
hes lost
What do you think you will have left behind as an artist and musician?
Im inclined to think it will be more than people will give me credit for,
because I dont think Ive actually done my thing yet. It probably wont
be music. Writing, I would think, in 10 years time. All this will be classed
as a phenomenon alongside the other phenomenons, as its being now.
I span a lot of spectrums. Im right in the middle of it all. Ive written some
very fine melodies, I think. Cosmic Dancer was a very nice melody. I did
a string quartet recording just for myself, and it sounded very fine. I was
rex
1972
a p r i l J U NE
Marc Bolan
Hippy Gumbo tRaCK
Is it a chick? Melanie? It sounds
a bit like Bolan, but there are no
riffs. This must be an oldie
re-released. It sounds dated. It
sounds like something from his
Tyrannosaurus Rex days. It will
be a hit.
Jonathan King
Its A Tall Order For A Short Guy UK
This is a boob
SINGLES
REVIE
W
1972
Roxy Music
Re-Make/Re-Model FROM thE
getty (2)
The Who
Join Together tRaCK
Neil Young
Old Man REPRIsE
You dont have to tell me who this
is. I have always liked Youngs
voice. Some of the songs on his
Goldrush album were great. He
writes lines into his music which
are really commercial. I like this,
but it sounds similar to Castles
Burning or whatever it was called
[Dont Let It Bring You Down].
My favourite of his is Only Love
Can Break Your Heart.
Jackie DeShannon
Vanilla Clay atlantIC
Its a good song. I havent
caught the voice. It could be
someone I know really well. On
the first hearing it sounds
good. A pleasant song but I
dont know who it is.
Roger Cook
We Will Get By REGal ZOnOPhOnE
A nice voice. I know that voice but
I dont think Ive ever heard him
sing so high. Roger Cook? I like it.
He is breaking away from the
Blue Mink sound. A nice song. It
will be interesting to see what the
outcome will be.
Sounds like
Topol!
MM JUNE 17 Black Sabbath
man Tony Iommi recognises
melody, strings and Rolf Harris.
The Mamas & The Papas
California Dreamin PROBE
The Mamas & The Papas (after
a few bars). I like it. I like a lot of
things they do. I like the tune
and treatment. Ill give it five.
The Mamas & The Papas is
a nice one to start with.
Clem Curtis
Ive Never Found A Girl (To Love Me
Like You Do) PYE
Ive heard that sound before,
but I cant think who it is. Its
a nice record and would do well
in discos, and it might just
possibly make the chart.
Mick Grabham
On Fire For You Baby Ua
The guitar sounds like George
Harrison. Its pleasant, but I dont
think it will make the chart. Ive
never heard of him.
Rolf Harris
Tutankhamun COlUMBIa
Rolf Harris (immediately). It
sounds like a theme for one of
those Bob Hope road movies.
I bet Tutankhamun never thought
hed make the chart. But this one
might. Its a good novelty with a
topical flavour, and Rolf has had
previous hits so this could make
it. But it does sound like a piece
of film music.
ALBUMS
W
E
I
V
E
R
1972
The Congregation
Jesahel COlUMBIa
Ive no idea who this is. It goes on
a bit, doesnt it? Theres a nice
acoustic guitar sound but its a bit
monotonous. Those changes at
the end are a bit corny. The
Congregation? I preferred their
Softly Whispering I Love You.
The Cats
Swan Lake BaF
Take that off! Its spoilt a beautiful
melody. The Cats? Well, theyve
got the right name.
Chris Hodge
Were On Our Way aPPlE
Its very well produced. I like the
instrumental sound. As far as the
record as a whole goes, what is
there to say? I cant say anything
fantastic about it.
American Spring
Good Time Ua
American, isnt it? But it reminds
me of an recording made about
five or six years ago something
from the rocknroll era. It might
do well in America, but I dont
think it will do anything special
over here. Its quite pleasant, but
they should have done it four or
five years ago. The voice is nice,
but it could have been heard on
something more up to date.
ALBUMS
Roxy Music Roxy Music Island
Kari-Ann stares, with lustful expectancy, teeth bared and
surrounded by frosted deep-pink lips. She reclines on a
counterpane of silvery satin in a halternecked pink-and-white
swimsuit, built strictly for the boudoir. Theres a pink rose falling
from one hand. A gold LP nestles beside her.
And all that is just the cover of an extraordinary album, from an
extraordinary group. Roxy Music is a concept which not everyone
will latch onto at first, but which is as rich in performance as in
promise, carefully calculated yet simply oodles of fun. The music on
their first album consciously displays echoes of pretty well every
style of pop and rock, but its not a hotch-potch and theyre not just a
British version of Sha Na Na. Despite their general 50s orientation,
the result is thoroughly contemporary, and they use their awareness
of earlier modes to inform and reinforce their own unique ideas.
Re-Make/Re-Model (the first cut) is a good place to meet
them: over a steady, thudding beat, Bryan Ferry declaims his lyric
with the throwaway insolence of a Lou Reed. Enos synthesizer
bubbles and squeaks around him, Phil Manzaneras guitar winds up
through the gears to peak revs, and Andy Mackays alto gibbers
and judders. The short instrumental breaks contain echoes of
Duane Eddy, The Beatles, Cecil Taylor, King Curtis and Robert
Moog tossed out as humorous asides.
Ferrys compositions have an almost visual appeal which is
beyond everyone else in rock these days. 2HB, for instance, is a
homage to Humphrey Bogart (including the famous Heres lookin
at ya, kid line), yet uses thoroughly contemporary means like alto
with echo-repeat, and electric piano loops reminiscent of Terry
Riley to build the mood of a smoky Moroccan nightclub. Sea
Breezes, too, is startlingly visual and not just through Enos VCS3
wave noises. Ferrys wistful melody, embroidered by Mackay on
oboe, conjures all kinds of half-forgotten movie fantasies.
The Bob (Medley) is a portrait of the Blitz, with fearsome
synthesizer noises, while Chance Meeting has a fascinating fade,
the fuzz guitar screaming over lightly skipping bass. Would You
Believe develops into a Belmonts doo-wop groove, with more
raunchy plastic-reed sax and some great singing Ferry seems to
have half a dozen different voices, none of which sound remotely
like anyone else. Best of all is Ladytron: it begins as a little love
song, with flickering castanets, but soon shifts into a Johnny
Remember Me groove, all echoing hoofbeats and Manzaneras
guitar flying over the top like the horsemen of the Apocalypse.
OK, theres a debit side too. Pete Sinfields production is
generally good, but the overall sound tends sometimes towards
mushiness (Re-Make has nothing like the energy of the take they
did for Top Gear), and the inclusion of Mellotron strings on If
There Is Something diminishes the songs impact and invites
totally unnecessary and misleading comparisons with King
Crimson, whom they resemble not one whit. But take it from me:
Roxy Music can bring pictures to your head like no one else, and
theyve only just begun. Hold it right there, Kari-Ann Im just
finishing this martini, and then Richard Williams, MM June 24
HISTORY OF ROCK 1972 | 69
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Everyone
was playing
with their
pants off
The ROLLING STONES have (finally) finished work on Exile On Main St.
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger discuss their work in France (the
froggies are thieves), and a pop scene in which they are grand old
men. I never felt I was part of the Swinging Blue Jeans era, says Mick.
1972
a p r i l J U NE
NME APRIL 29
dominic tarle
taylor play bass, Jagger adds some guitar and producer Jimmy miller
sits in on drums. How did all this come about? Well, making this album
was a much more relaxed affair than usual. Not being done in a proper
studio, it was a question of whoever was around just picking up the
appropriate instruments and laying down the tracks. For instance, I
might do the bass part or Mick Taylor might pick it up and play. Then Bill
Wyman would turn up three hours later, but wed laid down what we
wanted to, so it wasnt worth doing it all over again. A lot of the tracks were
cut with just three of the Stones there. It was as simple as that.
on some of the tracks you are heavily featured on guitars, bass and
keyboards. Was this intentional so as you would have a showcase to
display your versatility? No, not really. Again, it was just a matter of who
was available to record at that time, for the sessions were very loose. As
you know, we cut the record at my house, so I was there all the time and
I just kept on blowing. Therefore, on one of the tracks, Ive done all the
guitar parts. Just overdubbing them one after another.
Unlike most guitarists you never appear to push yourself into solo
prominence on the stones records. seemingly, you are content to work
within the context of the group, only coming to the fore to accentuate a
riff or tear off a couple of choruses.
Do you prefer this as opposed to
indulging in lengthy guitar
workouts? I dont think in terms
of lead guitar or rhythm guitar.
I just think in terms of guitar
players. I mean, on some of the
tracks on this album weve got four
or five guitars going and theyre all
playing different licks and counter
figures. Were not into that trip of
youre the lead guitarist and I am
the rhythm guitarist.
on the various tracks you utilise
a lot of diverse guitar tunings do
you encounter any difficulties
when reproducing these sounds on stage? Yes, I use a lot of
old a lot of old blues tunings all the time. Ive been into
that since I first used them on the Beggars Banquet album.
And since then Ive been using these tunings more and
more. When I use them on stage I find that it can prove to be
quite a hang-up, because I have to use no less than five
different guitars all with different tunings and Im always
forgetting which one is which. Quite often I pick up the
wrong one and have to change it very quickly for the guitar
with the correct tuning for the number were playing. Also
I have to contend with the heat and the atmosphere, which
quite often puts them out of tune.
Do you look upon the rolling stones as being more of
a songs group, instead of a vehicle for everyones
individual virtuosity? Yes, we do concentrate on the songs.
Were into making records and we make the best records
that we can and everybody plays what they think will be
the best thing that fits in with either the sound or the song.
Apart from the handling vocal on Happy, have you ever
had the inclination to sing on more tracks? I did Happy
just because I happened to have that together, and it would
have taken another four or five hours for Mick to have
learned it. Mick said, Well, you do it cos you know it. And
so I did it. I mean, I did sing lead once before on the Let It
Bleed album.
theres a noticeable similarity between both your vocal
styles? Thats the Dartford accent, you see.
Keith Richards:
The trouble is,
people expect
too much from
bands like us
Rolling stones
A lot of the
tracks were
cut with just
three of the
Stones there
Apart from tumbling Dice, there are perhaps some more immediate
tracks on the album which would have made an obvious single. Did you
intentionally choose a more subtle song like tumbling Dice that has
the effect of growing on you? I agree, there are some more obvious
singles on both the albums, but then that always happens. Youll always
find those songs that are very simple and grab you immediately, then
there are those that get you after a couple of weeks and you suddenly
realise, Ah, thats so and sos new record.
Do you always find it a difficult task choosing a single from all the
material that you have recorded? Yeah cos everybody has got their
own ideas about which song is the best choice for a single. If everyone in
the band drew up a list of their personal choice from the five songs which
a single should be picked, theyre usually the same five. So really its just
a question of pulling out what we think is the most immediate from four
or five tracks.
After being so closely involved with the lengthy overall project
writing, recording and mixing do you encounter any difficulty with
regard to programming the tracks for the album? We usually just play
around with the tracks by bunging them on to tapes in a different order to
see how they feel. On this particular album, we ended up putting all the
acoustic-sounding things like Sweet Virginia, Torn and Frayed and
Sweet Black Angel all on one side because they seemed to fall together.
While on another side youll find the more uptempo rock things.
Personally, i feel that on some of the tracks mainly the uptempo
rockers you faithfully recaptured the same kind of intensity and
urgency that the band had when recording your first two albums. Was
this arrived at subconsciously? Its very hard to say, but I know what you
mean. Everything was very loose when we recorded it, because as I have
already said, it was cut in my basement and not in a studio, so its a very
basic kind of album. It was 120 degrees; everyone sat around sweating
and playing with their pants off. It was almost like a rehearsal.
You dont release as many records as in your formative days. Do you still
have the same kind of motivation to write and record, or has it now
become more of an effort? No, I find it just as pleasurable as ever to get
songs together and record them. As long as the Stones are diggin what
they are doing then theyll put it out for everyone to hear. I think as soon
Your American tour is set. so what plans have you got for the rolling
stones to appear in england? Id really like to do one of those big festivals
this summer, if only to fuck
up this bloody Night
Assemblies Bill, so as we
could see what theyd do
about it. At the moment, its
just a matter of timing. It
would be nice to do Lord
Harlechs thing, but the
timing of it might be a bit
difficult for us because at
that time we would be
rehearsing for the American
tour. It would involve flying
from I-dont-know-where
to the gig, playing and
flying out again almost
immediately. However, Im
trying to talk everyone into
getting that thing together,
so thats a possibility. If
not, perhaps we can do
something in August after
the American tour.
1972
a p r i l J U NE
Mick Jagger at
Nellcte: I think
I was there for at
least three of the
basic tracks
dominic tarle
What about the David Cassidys, I said. Naaaaah, theres only im, and
e dont sell records. The tone of disdain is heavy. Ive been listening to
Humble Pie over there and theyre great, theyre really heavy players. And
[Latin rock group also signed to Kinney] Malo, thats a good band.
And T. Rex? He hesitates, his mouth screwing up at the corners.
I dunno Es alright. I dont wanna be rude about the band; I dunno
it all depends what standard youre judging them by. When I saw em in LA
I thought the best bit was the acoustic numbers, when he just sat there
with his guitar. It was great. But the band! Ysee, theres no pop in LA, no
teenybop. You can get away with it up to a point. Marc Bolan can get away
with it, but theres only him. If you dont have a good rhythm section,
forget it. You gotta be reasonable, man; to play in front of 15,000 people,
like there was at the Palladium. In the old teenybop days you didnt ave to
play very long. Smatter of fact, I dont think he did.
He pulled hard on his beer, then resumed: I dunno, I dont listen to
rocknroll music nowadays. Theres nothing much I listen to except for
gospel music maybe. Have you heard of Dorothy Morrison [sic, actually
Norwood]? Shes gonna be on the Southern part of our American tour,
doing Albuquerque and such. She sends us these great letters, endin with
the Lord be with you and all that. Shes really sweet.
He went off into a long explanation of one of her songs, The Singing
Slave, sounding unaccustomedly excited. Then he had another thought.
John McLaughlin! I like im. The things McLaughlin does are
fucking great. God, I remember him in the old days. I used to see him
leaning against the pillars in the Marquee, stoned out of is ead. He
made the appropriate motion, as if he were
holding a guitar.
But I like the stuff he did with Miles Davis,
which is the other rock band I listen to.
By a chain process, the conversation arrived at
the name of (violinist) Don Harris. It seemed he
played on the new album: He played a few
notes, and I liked it, but the rest of em said, Oh
no, oh no.
There was Dr John, too, doing some great
stuff. None of that went down, either. But then,
there appears to be some idea that theres not
much of Mick Jagger on the album as well. Not
so, he says sharply, his lower lip jutting out in
alarming fashion.
Theres not
much I listen
to except for
gospel music
maybe
Rolling stones
I was there for a lot of the time in France. I think I was there for at least
three of the basic tracks.
And what about France? Ugh, I didnt enjoy it at all, fucking drag
it was.
His expression of disgust is comic. Everyone else liked it. But it was too
hot, and the fucking froggies are thieves. Thieves. The only place thats
nice there is right out in the country, but youve got to get there. I suppose
it was OK cos we were really thrown together. If you think the albums
good then it wasnt a waste of time.
The album, Exile On Main St, should have been out by now, but theyve
put it back to May 26. Its down to Allen Klein, he says. That was why he
was in New York: He claimed he had two tracks on it. We said we were
gonna pay him, but it wasnt enough.
A settlement has now been reached. Let this be a warning to all
up-and-coming English guitar players, he adds, wagging his finger.
Insouciant was the right word.
We talk about the Stones albums since Satanic Majesties. If this one is
really boogying, he says, the last one was a bit London. It shouldve
been called Too Long In London, he mutters.
I tell him I think the albums have become successively better since
Beggars Banquet. He shrugs.
Did you know, he replied, that Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed were
recorded around the same time?
And that there are always tracks not used on one album carried over to
the next, like Sister Morphine. Sweet Virginia and Shine A Light on the
new album are both from the Sticky Fingers period. Theres 50 hours as
well of unreleased material, which he thinks theyre going to put out.
Looking back, didnt he think Satanic Majesties was a little
inconclusively experimental the Stones version of Sgt Pepper? Frankly,
he didnt.
Satanic Majesties was the mood of the times. You cant play or write
outside the mood of the times, unless you live on a mountain and even
in the South of France I wasnt that out of it I couldnt get the Melody
Maker. In those times it was flowers, beads and
stars on yer face, thats what it was. In fact, Im
rather fond of that album, and I wouldnt mind
doing something like that again.
So between him and Richards he was the more
experimentally inclined?
Well, in a partnership one of you has to be. Im
just as much a rocknroller as Keith, but one of
yer has to be that way else itd be too much for
people to take.
I wondered why they hadnt both written
outside the songwriting partnership. Naaaah,
that was just an ego thing, he snorted.
I dont like people saying, This one is mine!
It doesnt matter what anyone fucking says.
Then you get in the position of wanting
to be known for your greatness. As long
as you can work with someone
youve got to ave someone to bounce
off. You cant bounce off yer old lady
like you can yer songwriter.
I said Id heard it took them ages to
write a number. He looked sideways
at me: Ooo you earing this from,
then? You getting these impressions
from out of the air? He grinned at
his sarcasm. Its balls. No, I write
undreds every day. Writing em all
the time, I am.
There was also an impression,
materialising out of thin air, that
he liked to go in the studio with
everything planned, or at least
worked upon. Ah, well, thats right,
whereas Keith prefers to be more
spontaneous. Thats our only
disagreement. He chewed on the
thought. No, I wouldnt call it
spontaneous if youve been there
for 10 hours on one riff.
He made a face of mock disgust. E just goes in there with a riff and
if nothing appens he goes back the next day. Its alright for im. I have
to write the tune!
There were songs, though, that they wrote independently. Like
Sympathy For The Devil? Yeah. He nodded disinterestedly. I wrote
that but its a bit of a bore going through who wrote all the songs cos I
have to think about it. Sympathy For The Devil, that was a big drag that
song. Because of its connotations at Altamont? Not really. Its all these
young rocknroll singers who come up to yer and say, Are you still into
that devil shit?
The naughty reputation again black magic, sex and drugs? Well, he
said, there were only a few references to drugs on this new record. This
was a very undruggy album for the Stones. There was something about
speed, and one line about cough mixture.
Thats a heavy aspirin song, he mumbled, like some Mile End
skinhead. Christ, hes cracking up me and the photographer. I said Id like
to clear up a point, and asked him why he deliberately appeared to mix
down his vocals. On Tumbling Dice, for instance, the words were often
lost. For the first time he began to look concerned.
I think they used the wrong mix with that, he said slowly to himself.
Im sure they did. I dunno He looked up. Well, with the fast ones
I really like me voice to be part of the band, but with the slow ones I
generally like it upfront a bit. I think it all started in the Andrew Oldham
days, when I couldnt really sing. He laughed. He mixed it down so
I wouldnt get big-headed. Its a matter of tradition.
By now Jagger seemed to have warmed to the idea of an interview, so
I put to him the concept of the Stones, like The Who, being survivors of the
early-60s rock scene in Britain. Ugh, its orrible, he exploded, to be the
Grand Old Men. If all this talk gets any worse Ill be getting another band.
I dunno why, but its not nice to be asked that question. It makes us sound
like survivors from a holocaust.
I spose I should be grateful that I survived the Swinging Blue Jeans era,
but that was the era before us, I always believed. I never felt I was part of it,
the Swinging Blue Jeans and that, doing me Top
20 hits every evenin on stage. Whenever I used to
see them play they were just all them, standing in
line together, doing their hits. I think they were
something else. We played in a different way.
There was the question, too, about whether
they appealed to the young teenage T. Rex
audience. Aw, I dont have to do everything
twice! he shot back. We dont have to go back
to those people. Why, he looked sardonic,
some of our audience are much younger than
I am. Many of the kids who dig us in America
are 15 years old. Christ, in Italy theyre nine!
Here its students. Thats who The Who and
Zeppelin get as well.
Naaaah, theres nothing happening ere.
The music is negligible, its all nothing.
Theres a lack of originality, and thats why I
dont care about it. Im not interested in going
back to small English towns and turning on
the 10-year-olds. Ive done all that.
Weve always had a much older audience
than that here anyway. We played to the
Richmond art school lot, and they were 18
to 21. Ive considered our audience to be
students, and thats who was there when we
played Manchester, Newcastle and the rest on
that English tour last year.
What would he do if he decided to jack in the
musical business? Films?
If I jacked that in, Id jack it all in. Ive been
wanting to jack it in for years. But, I dunno.
He hesitated. Id like to do something
completely different. Theres too much
pressure being in a group; if I dont wanna do
something, they do and vice versa. Id like to
take a year off and study.
Study? Yeah. Back to LSE? Naaaah. Ive got
a few projects. He looked reticent. I think its
all just talk, he said finally. Michael Watts
You cant
play or write
outside the
mood of
the times
1972
Ideally well
do Elvis next
MM Aug 12 The London RocknRoll
Show is a mixed success.
getty
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
September 6, 1972:
singer, Partridge
Family star and multiinstrumentalist David
Cassidy in London
getty
September 5, 1972:
Bill Withers, who
served eight years in
the US navy before
quitting in 1965,
poses for a portrait
in Los angeles
Im a newcomer,
sure, but Im an
old, wise man.
Ive seen crap
getty
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
alice cooper
On stage
Im Mr
Hyde...
ALICE COOPER is Americas newest
superstar. In the charts, Schools Out
is a hot teenage anthem. On stage its all
hangings and doll mutilation. Off it, hes
a lovely guy: If I believed everything Id
heard about myself, then Id kill myself.
MELODY MAKER JULY 1
adies and gentlemen, youve seen him electrocuted,
youve seen him hanged, and now youre about to see him
fired from a cannon. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, alice
Cooper! the cannon had just arrived from Warner Bros,
Burbank, and stood impressively in the large ballroom at
alices surrealistic Connecticut mansion. alice fondled
the barrel, and burst into a scared laughter.
im a bit worried about this one. got a feeling that when im shot from
this, i wont come back, literally
speaking. the forever-present can
of Budweiser found its way to his
mouth, and he swigged, deeply.
a big roadie picked up a horriblelooking dummy and fed it, legs first, into
the cannon. then he began cranking,
and the massive springs that run down
the barrel were pulled tight. then the
barrel was aimed into the air, and POW!
getty
1972
peter mazel
j u l y s e p t em b e r
The barrel jerked and the dummy shot out, looking grotesque and
deformed in flight, its arms and legs boneless and spare.
It travelled for about 20 feet and crashed into the floor, skidding on its
backside for another 20 or so feet, and came to a horrible, messy rest.
Obviously bearing in mind that the dummy was soon to be replaced by
himself, Alice grimaced. When we first did the hanging stunt, it took
them three days to get me on the gallows. Alice weve really got to hang
you now, they kept saying. Well, I dont know how long its gonna take me
to work my head up into climbing inside that. Still, its going to be fun.
And fun is the essence of Alice Cooper, although this strange, straggly
black figure is most certainly no joke. Alice is a superstar a real, genuine
superstar. He is currently enormous business throughout America
possibly the biggest American rocknroll act, actually, and certainly the
most strikingly different. He is the complete breakaway from the
sophisticated, lame policy of stateside rock. Alice is ugly, rude, creepy,
sick, sexually insane, and a scourge and menace to the minds of middleaged America.
And underneath all that hes a beautiful person.
Greenwich, Connecticut, is per head of population perhaps the richest
community in America. As you drive down the thickly wooded lanes that
dip and twist around the town you could well
be in some lavish corner of Sussex. Incredible
houses peep out from behind the trees, and
even the mailboxes are built with loving care.
Alices place is just round the corner from Bette
Davis, and Jack Warner (not the loveable
copper) lives opposite.
Galise is the name of the place; also the
name of the chap who built it. From the first
impression, Galise was an extraordinary man.
Its a dead ringer for a Vincent Price film set.
Built during the 30s, it incorporates the
unmistakable style of a man with money and
a sadly demented mind. In the dark hallway
lurks Alices late, lamented Electric Chair, and
next to that the skeleton of a pinball machine.
Through to the left the eye catches an ever-soslightly swaying body, hung by the neck from a noose
in the ballroom.
Immediately above in a bedroom, lies Yvonne,
seemingly asleep now, her long, lithe body, relaxed
and motionless. She is naked, and almost child-like in
sleep. But one can sense the menace, power and veins of
evil running through her body. At any moment she could awake, and
with one blow kill. For Yvonne is a snake, you see. An 11ft-long lady,
weighing 40 pounds.
She lies in a glass case, and shivering in one corner of it is a little white
rat. Its eyes are filled with terror; no matter where it treads, it treads on
snake. For some reason Yvonne hasnt touched the rat, whos been in the
case for a few days. But it knows its doomed. It really knows.
Now along the dark corridors upstairs. Every now and then there is
a creak, and the lights in the old candelabras flicker. The sound of crazy
talking comes from one room. Thats Alices room. He sits surrounded
by cans of Budweiser, watching a Marx Brothers film on a very small
television.
Hello, please sit down, he says in a very brisk, charming fashion.
Found a Marx Brothers film its fantastic.
Hes dressed in a matt-black zip-up top, and jeans studded with
rhinestones. The fly-hole is broken, and held together by two large, white
safety-pins. Alice smiles. Have you seen the cannon? Jesus, its fantastic.
Without makeup he looks quite normal. His hairs a shade ratty, but
his voice is calm and unaffected. Drummer Neal Smith lies on a bed
watching television, too, as Alice cracks another can open, and gives off
an air of sheer normality. Alice zips himself up, and trucks
across the room, his yellow painted boots a bit wobbly, and
his nonexistent chest and stoop give the appearance that
Alice Cooper in
December 1972:
I drink beer all
day It helps
me create
alice cooper
We seem
to be a vehicle
for peoples
exaggeration
and fantasy
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
I held on.
I knew it
would
happen
Finally, DAVID BOWIE is the star he
always knew he should be. As an
entourage of Lou Reed, Iggy Pop
gather round, Bowie discusses
the path to his latest creation,
Ziggy Stardust. Ill get him out
of my system, he says. And then
well don another mask
NME JULY 22
hree changes of dress and a kiss from
Lou reed. The waiters were horrified.
Jill and Lyn are 17 and theyre into Bowie.
Theyve both seen David work three times
in as many weeks. Theyve both got Ziggy
Stardust and neither of them like Marc
Bolan. Jill says she likes the way David looks. she doesnt
necessarily think hes good-looking; she just likes the way
he looks. They and me and a sweaty hallful of other people
saw David Bowie and the spiders from Mars work friars in
aylesbury at the weekend. The phantom waver of the Ziggy
banner put in an appearance as well, and it was alright, the
band were altogether and Ziggy played guitar.
The spiders are a surrealistic vision of a rock band. Trevor
Bolders silvered sideboards hang several inches off his
If we have theatricality
it comes through from
us as people: Bowie in
early Ziggy guise, 1972
getty
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
I wish myself
to be a prop
for my songs.
I want to be
the vehicle
NME: At the moment, the most popular rock journalist words appear to
be funk, camp and punk. To what extent do you think youve brought
these words into essential usage?
Bowie: I think its most probably due to the general inarticulacy of the
press. Theyre very small-minded. They do indeed revolve around those
three words.
Not revolve around. They crop up Yes they do. Funk, I dont think I have
anything to do with funk. Ive never considered myself funky. Would you
say that? I wouldnt
Would you want to be? Yes. Its a muddy kind of thing. Camp, yes I
understand the camp thing. Once upon a time it was, I think, put down
in the category of entertainer but since the departure of good oldfashioned entertainers the re-emergence of somebody who wants to be
an entertainer has unfortunately become a synonym for camp. I dont
think Im camper than any other person who felt at home on stage, and
felt more at home on stage than he did offstage.
Nobody ever called Jerry Garcia camp. No, right, but hes a musician and
Im not a musician. Im not into music, you see, on that level. I dont profess
to have music as my big wheel and there are a number of other things as
important to me apart from music. Theatre and mime, for instance.
You say you dont consider yourself a musician, but for somebody
whos producing music of a very high grade, I would reckon that
youre entitled to be called a musician. OK then, Ill shift my emphasis.
I wouldnt think Id ever be considered a technocrat on any instrument.
I have a creative force which finds its way through into a musical form.
You were saying you didnt consider yourself to be a musician. In that
terminology, in that definition: that a musician is a virtuoso on his
instrument? By no stretch of the imagination. I play a good alto, I played
a bit actually on the Mott album, which is quite pleasing for me, having
not touched a sax for a long time.
You used it on Hunky Dory? Yes, but just for a few phrases. I used it quite
heavily on the Mott thing. [Mick Graham: You used it on stage] What?
Yeah, I did a James Brown thing for a couple of gigs. We did Hot Pants
86 | HISTORY OF ROCK 1972
1965
david bowie
Another line of yours I wanted to ask you about is in Five Years. You
said, I never knew Id need so many people. Basically what it means is
realising the inevitability of the apocalypse, in whatever form it takes.
I was being careful not to say what form it would take, because that to me
would be incredibly sad, and I just tried to get that feeling over in one line.
Its like the things you flash on supposedly when youre dying, running
down the street and
His whole life passed before him Yeah, really, its like that, the grasping
for life.
Do you feel worried by people who regard you as a guru? Im not that
convinced, at the moment, that I am anybodys guru. I know there is a lot
of interest in what Im doing, and we seem to be getting our goodly fair
But its happening almost in spite of you, people examining your albums
almost line by line. OK, well if this is going to be an inevitable situation with
the chronicles of rock, and one must presume that it will be, then I would
strive to use that position to promote some feeling of optimism in the
future, which might seem very hypocritical related to Five Years. There
the whole thing was to try and get a mocking angle at the future. If I can
mock something and deride it, one isnt so scared of it. People are so
incredibly serious and scared of the future that I would wish to turn the
feeling the other way, into a wave of optimism. If one can take the micky out
of the future, and what it is going to be like... Its going to be unbelievably
technological. There isnt going to be a triangle system, we arent going to
revert back to the real way of life. Thats not going to happen. Its certainly
not a new thing. My god, I havent got any new concept. I juggle with them,
but what Im saying, I think, has been said a million times before. Im just
saying again that weve gotta have some optimism in the future.
Five Years struck me as an optimistic song. It is, it is. The album in fact
should be taken that way. Starman can be taken at the immediate level
of Theres a Starman in the sky saying boogie, children, but the theme of
that is that the idea of things in the sky is really quite human and real and
we should be a bit happier about the prospect of meeting people.
On the second side of Ziggy Stardust, the songs seem to go in a cycle. But
when you play live you dont necessarily play them in that order. I must
admit I speculate on the prospect of a show which would be Ziggy
Stardust, but the way I want to do it requires a lot of planning and we
havent had time for that. Id rather leave it alone until its gonna be done
properly. I dont want to do anything unless its gonna be done well.
In the other room I saw a tape box of the Mott album. The only title I
recognised was Sweet Jane. Thats right, Lou came down. Ive got Lou
singing it at the moment. Ive got to put Ian on, but he doesnt know the
lyrics yet.
You had better watch out or youll have your very own AJ Weberman
rooting through your garbage. I have one already! Hes not quite at
garbage level yet, but hes certainly very adamant about what I mean.
Its disconcerting to say the least. Alarming. But America is made up of
academics. Theyre very Germanic in that respect. Because they are so
subconsciously aware of being a new nation that has no accepted roots in
the old world, they strive for their own culture as fast and as quickly as
they can. Whatever isnt needed is soaked up by the media and becomes
part of the American way of life. Theyre terribly self-conscious about
everything. The level to which rock music has become an academic
subject is just incredible. I could walk into a shop and see row upon row
of books about any aspect of rock. I mean writers about rock. I mean
writers about writers. There are even books on Meltzer. Layer upon layer.
Its a build-up. Theyre making their own culture.
getty
surrealistic its because thats the purpose of it. Its to give people their
own definitions. I certainly dont understand half the stuff I write. I can
look back on a song that I have just written and it means something
entirely different now because of my new circumstances, new this or
that. I get told by so many people especially Americans what my songs
are about.
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
NME JULY 29
HE STORY SO far: Lord Ziggy and his pals are holding court
at the Dorchester, drinking, looning, doing interviews and
generally having a day of good jolly superstar fun. In addition
to getting her midriff bitten by Lou Reeds manager Ernie, Lady Ziggy
(alias Angie Bowie) had fun by sinking her teeth into the generously
proportioned left breast of American rock historian Lillian Roxon.
Among a welter of other happenings which even Lou Reed doesnt
want to discuss, this reporter (a shy, young small-town kid bewildered
by such extravagant debauchery) continued his epoch-making
interview with David Bowie. We enter the conversation after David
Bowie and Lou Reed had
conducted what Ziggy
described as the shortest
June 15, 1972: Bowie and
Spiders Mick Ronson and
interview on record.
rex features
Woody Woodmansey
perform Starman on
Lift Off With Ayshea
Country Joe about two years ago. That Roundhouse gig was the kind of
thing I cite, in that I was into something there that the band wasnt into.
They were very much still only wanting to be musicians at the time, and it
came off as no more than everybody dressing up. Was that the one you
came to where I was wearing a silver superman suit?
You werent. You did [Van Morrisons] Cypress Avenue. We did one at
the Roundhouse about the same period when we appeared very much
the same as we are appearing now, and that was with Mick Ronson. I was
in a cartoon strip and we all dressed up as a different superhero.
Who were you? No one in particular, but superhero-type figures. We had
silver suits, the thing I used to wear for Space Oddity, that silver catsuit
which is exactly the same as this. It hasnt changed at all in three years, if
you think about it, but its different material. I was in silver lam and blue
silver cloak and silvered hair and blue hair and the whole thing, glitter
everywhere. The whole thing was on that scale.
Were they ready to cope with it at the time? No, they werent. We died
a death. And, of course, the boys said, Look, I told you so, lets get back
to just being a band again. Thats the period that broke me up. I just
about stopped after that performance, because I knew it was right, I knew
it was what I wanted to do, and I knew it was what people would want
eventually. I didnt know when, though, so I held on. I knew it would
happen, because Ive always been excited about seeing things that are
visually exciting and its always knocking me out. I like seeing people
pretending. I have a great imagination. Im not a vegetable. I like to let my
imagination run wild and I thought, Well, if that does that to me, it has to
do it to other people as well, cos Im just a person. Im not quite that much
of a superman. And, anyway, Im glad I stuck it out, really.
Could you name four or five specific records that influenced you early
on? Yes, Alley Oop by The Hollywood Argyles just a feeling that came
from it. Im afraid Im not very technical on things like that and all I can
say, at best, is that it was a feel that I had an empathy with. I dont know
what it was, whether it was the zaniness of the record, or what.
Is that the one about the caveman? Yes, and that was Kim Fowley as
a matter of fact. He was the Hollywood Argyle that did it, and I loved
parody because
Zappa? Yes, I admire Zappa, but there
again I prefer Charlie Mingus. I like my
parody to be a little softer because Im a
pacifist person by nature and hostility
in any form, even on a mental level,
david bowie
I find not endearing. I think Zappa may have a problem with feeling that
he was not accepted on a Mingus level and he had to find himself an
audience. I dont think hes ever forgotten that.
But Pithecanthropus Erectus is not quite the same as Brown Shoes
Dont Make It? Well, thats the strength of my view on parody. Im
a softer person by nature. Im not hostile. I dont believe Im an aggressive
performer either. I like the situation that seems to develop with the
audience, which is generally on a very human level and theyre quite
friendly. Its neither screamy nor rebellious: it just has a good feeling to it.
I love my audiences. I think Ive not been to too many gigs where the
feeling is not nice. Its a very warm feeling I get from audiences.
Correct me if Im wrong, but isnt there one cut on The Man Who Sold
The World that is a parody of Marc Bolan? Oh yes. Yes. That was Black
Country Rock. I Bolanised it. I do that to a lot of people.
Apart from the obvious one, Queen Bitch, which of the others are
notably parodic. I did a lot of Newley things on the very first album
I made, Love You Till Tuesday.
Thats a very strange album. Has it been reissued? It will be. Its been out
once. They brought it out when I had Space Oddity, but it didnt do so
well. I expect theyll bring it out in a few weeks time. I guarantee theyll
bring it out. Other songs dyou want some more songs? Of course
Waiting For The Man, Ill have to say that one. In fact a lot of Lous
material. Especially that one because it sums up a lot of his early writing
and his writing has changed considerably since those days. I think his
new material on the album that were gonna do will surprise a lot of
people as well. Its miles different from anything hes ever done before. On
Waiting For The Man I think Lou captured, for me better than anyone
else, the feeling of New York, that particular area of New York that he was
living in, and those times.
The other great New York record of our times is
Summer In The City. Yeah, I agree with that.
I was a devoted fan of the Spoonful. I loved
them. Another record was the Mingus Oh Yeah
album, particularly Ecclesiastic, which I drew
an enormous amount of pleasure from. I felt it
very 1990s very 2001 that whole album. I was
into that sort of jazz. Before Santana came, I was
into the English scene and I was never able to
relate to that stuff because of my earlier interest
in Coltrane and Mingus as well. A lot of Zappas
things flatten me, actually.
Davids alright, you know. He may even be the shining genius his ads
say he is. Whatever, hes a gas. Long live Ziggy Stardust! We needed him.
Charles Shaar Murray
DISC JULY 15
Ou CAN ASk me if Im bent, said a somewhat subdued
Spider From Mars, but Ill only say no. Not looking in the
least bit bent, Mick Ronson had lately suffered at the hands
of an interviewer who apparently was interested in such matters and
was prepared for the worst.
The Spiders From Mars are the musicians who work with David Bowie,
and who are every bit as outrageous in appearance and style. David once
said that he has one of the best-dressed bands around, and he wasnt
exaggerating. Now, his ideas in dress are being copied fast. Gary Glitter
and Sweet are only two of the bands who have jumped onto the idea, but
neither seem to have the panache or the grace of Bowie and his boys.
When all three bands appeared on last weeks Top Of The Pops, the
Spiders and David underplayed their hand to fine effect, so that they
retained the aura of being the real thing, and not an overdone paste
glitter imitation.
Neither do the Spiders come over as stooges for David. They are talented
musicians in their own right, and the band work as a team. Mick Ronson,
like the rest of the band, comes from Hull. He came to London two-and-ahalf years ago, after he and Woody Woodmansey had both been playing
in a regular blues band called The Rats. Mick heard that David was
looking for a guitarist and so came down to see him. He was asked to play
on Davids appearance on the John Peel show, although he didnt know
the music, and as things worked out, he stayed. David has much to say in
praise of his band, whove been working with him now since Hunky Dory.
I didnt know a lot about Dave before I came down, but I had heard
Space Oddity, of course, and I liked that. Id been playing in this blues
band and just being a serious musician. Im still serious about my music,
but not in impressing just a small group of people. Im out to impress
everybody, make it a show and give them their
moneys worth.
We did split up for a while, last year, because
everyone was battling against each other
musically, but now its running very smoothly.
Bowies appearances with the band arent just
like any other groups set, as youll know if
youve seen them. He and the Spiders make a
production out of it, each person integral to the
movement and music. We get to a gig very early
to set up the sound balance, and the lights, then
we eat, taking it steady, then put on the makeup
and then roll onstage at the last minute. It all
takes about four hours. We build up nicely to it.
It was David who put forward the ideas on clothes to the group, and
although they might have been a bit doubtful at first, they have realised
the impact the costumes have on the audience: When we were first
talking about it, I had a few different ideas, but I think I was caught on
an off-time. I had a lot on my mind then. I can get pretty stubborn at
times, but once they were made it was fine. Some people think that
were bent because of the clothes, but that doesnt worry me. People
just like something to talk about. If you want to be successful, youve
got to be prepared to do things you might not otherwise do, taking the
rough with the smooth, and be prepared to be talked about. You cant let
it affect you.
Actually, it makes me want to be more outrageous if anything. I like
shocking people. If we didnt want people to talk about us then wed come
onstage in jeans. We want to excite kids, make them feel good, and make
them feel they cant take their eyes off the stage.
It would appear that this policy is working, as the band get bigger
audiences everywhere, with hundreds being turned away, and Bowie
finally getting the praise he has deserved for so long. All the adulation for
David doesnt affect the feelings of the Spiders at all.
It doesnt worry us Dave getting the limelight. Hes the draw, its his
show. Basically the people come to see Dave and hes good. He is an
outstanding showman, a true artist. Im learning a lot from him. He has
taught me how to present a group and how to keep it together. If it wasnt
for David Id still be a run-of-the-mill blues musician. Were all very close,
but not as close as has been rumoured!
Its a very
warm feeling
I get from the
audience
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
It has also been rumoured that with a gradual fading of T. Rex publicity,
David and the Spiders could ably fill a gap in the entertainment quota.
Although not similar to Bolan in musical style, they have the same
confidence and showmanship that make the grade: Well, Marc Bolan
had a lot of dedicated fans and he is Bolan, as were the Spiders. Id love it if
we took off like that. I admire what they have done. Bolan has gone out of
the way to give the kids music they can relate to, with simple sequences.
Id like to think we could be different. Its an older audience that we have.
Apart from the group work, Mick and David have been co-producing
Lou Reeds new album, following Reeds seeming dissatisfaction with his
last, which was produced by Richard Robinson. Both Mick and David
have been into Lous music for a long time. I have been blasted more than
once by samples of his sounds while visiting the Bowie.
We are concentrating on the feeling rather than the technical side of
the music. He is an interesting person, but I never know what hes
thinking. However, as long as we can reach him musically its alright.
Its not settled if Mick or David will be playing on the album; they are
putting all their energies into the arrangements.
They have also just finished working with Mott The Hoople on a new
single and are to begin arrangements on an album. David and the Spiders
have cut a track that might well be their own new single, but it wont be
released until Starman has climbed as high as its going to. As its just
gone into the US charts and is selling a lot here, it may be some time before
we hear the new one. Rosalind Russell
I dont want
to be profound.
The aim of an
artist is just to
investigate
1972
90 | HISTORY OF ROCK 1965
getty
Bowie, and David Bowie came on and he was none of those things.
He was just a person who performed.
But the campness?
Im not incredibly aware of it. Ive always been camp since
I was about seven. Thats not a pose, really. I was outrageous
then, only because my interests werent centred around obvious
seven-year-old interests, like cowboys and Indians. My things
were far more mysterious. I would pull moodies and say things
like, I think Im dying, and sit there for hours pretending I was
dying. Im a performer, you see, but people only think in terms of
camp these days.
Had his avowed bisexuality made any difference to his
public reception?
(Much laughter) The only thing it ever did was to sell albums! As
soon as your article came out in Melody Maker people rang up and
said, Dont buy the paper. You know what youve done? Youve just
ruined yourself. They said, You told him you were bisexual. I said,
I know, he asked me! Nobody is gonna be offended by that;
everybody knows that most people are bisexual.
And I bought the paper and it looked alright. But from then on,
the way the other papers picked up on it and just tore
at it like dogs at meat! They made this enormous
thing out of it.
I said I thought much of his appeal lay in his
sophistication. But the last thing he wanted, he
replied, was to be sophisticated. He knew people like
that, and it was one thing he was not.
By general rocknroll standards he was, though,
June 15, 1972: Bowie and
Spiders Mick Ronson and
surely? Well, he said, hed never been involved much
Woody Woodmansey
with rock people before, and he didnt know their
perform Starman on
attitudes until he recently started to meet them.
Lift Off With Ayshea
After years of
There was all this stupid, exaggerated studiedness
false starts, Bowie
that they obsessed themselves with.
finally connects,
Bolan, he said, wasnt camp, he was prissy. Prissy
early 1972
and fey. But that was right for the age group he wanted
to appeal to, cos they were all fey. Hed been fey
himself at that age, pouting and mincing around.
myself always being a rocknroll singer.
He hadnt seen Marc since hed become T. Rex, but hed known him
Talking of other rock singers, he said hed gone to see Presley at Madison
quite well before because hed mimed on a Tyrannosaurus Rex tour.
Square Garden. They hadnt met because he could imagine what he was
Theyd been terribly wary of each other, he recalled; embarrassingly
like as a person a very nice, uncomplicated kind of guy and that
wary, hed imagine, to people looking on.
wasnt the Elvis Presley he wanted to meet. It was the image.
Wed sit at opposite ends of the room just looking at each other. It was
He thought it was superb for him to have come out of ice and all that.
Although, he reflected, hed never bought any of his records. Little
a very kinda moody thing, I suppose, on an infantile level.
Richard had always been his idol, as far as rocknroll idols went.
But hed seen a spark there. He knew Bolan would be enormous one day.
Lou Reed, whose second album hes currently producing at Londons
We were just terribly polite to each other all the time. Id never say we are
Trident Studios, hed met at a party. He was fascinated by his stories of the
competition to each other cos were at opposite ends of the spectrum. We
streets, which was why he also adored Jacques Brel. They both worked on
might just have happened in the same period.
a similar level. It was very basic stuff.
He broke off as a little reminiscence struck him. The funny thing is,
Lou had said this fantastic thing about Andy Warhol, he remarked he
he made Steve Currie get his hair cut as soon as I got mine. Marc was
was laughing again. He said theyd once thought of designing an Andy
furious because Steve and the rest of T. Rex came to see me at the Central
Warhol doll. You know, you wound it up and it did nothing. He thought it
Polytechnic and they asked if they could come to my party afterwards
was a pretty good joke, Bowie. He hadnt actually met Warhol himself until
to tell me how good they thought we were. Marc was mad about that.
after he wrote that song about him. Hed always been fascinated by his
And then I heard a week later that Marc had made Steve Currie get his
artwork and he wanted to see if he could get near to his character without
hair cut! (Great laughter)
meeting him. Afterwards, he said to himself, he didnt do a bad job.
Marc has always dealt in extremes, you know. He has his own fantasy
But there were shades to him that he hadnt been aware of before. Lou
worlds, he really does, in which everything is extreme. Hes lovely. Hes so
had told him he was incredibly strong. Once hed wanted Nico to tickle
terrifically aware of image. Thats what I meant by prissy. He really is
Lou, so hes grabbed Lous arms behind his back and got quite a buzz out
engrossed in his own image.
of getting her to tickle him. Lou is a well-built guy and he couldnt break
Another thought hit him. June [Bolans wife] had it in for me the first
free from him. He says hes like a demon. His strength is incredible.
time we met, you know, and she realised I was making records. She hated
Bowies meeting with him had been very peculiar. For an hour or so they
it that Marc was playing lead guitar on Prettiest Star. She came along to
hadnt said a word, and when he played the song to him, he walked out of
that session, sat on a chair, and said, I think its awful. I think the songs
the room. Warhol eventually came back and said, Well, that was great,
a drag. I dont think Marc should be playing on this at all. Hes got so much
thank you. He put on a tape recorder and sat taking pictures with his
work to do, you know, he really doesnt have time to do your sessions. This
Polaroid, peeling them off and leaving them on the table. Then theyd sat
wars been going on for four years now!
looking at each other for a bit and all these other people began talking,
He laughed again. He really can be delightfully malicious at times
until suddenly Warhol caught sight of his shoes, a pair of Caterpillars, and
unexpectedly so, because hes mainly gentle and somewhat vulnerable.
he went, says Bowie, bonkers about them.
I asked him if Bolan, though, was more committed to his music than he
Id forgotten that he used to be a shoe designer before he was a
was to his. He paused, looked serious and finally said he thought that was
commercial artist, and he went on about that, and that broke the ice. It
true in a way. You see, Marc only has his music, I think thats probably
was fascinating. He has nothing to say at all, absolutely nothing. And he
the difference. Hes seen me as a mime as well, he knows my areas stretch
has this white, pudding face. He looks slightly out of this world, really
out, and so my conviction for music probably isnt as strong as his. Hes
inhuman. Michael Watts
totally holding on to his music, a totally convinced performer. I cant see
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
I could buy
your house,
man. So
be careful
MM JULY 22 Marc Bolan wrestles with
his first post-superstardom album,
The Slider. Im not promoting it, he
says. It doesnt feel its like my Imagine.
ALBUMS
REVIEW
1972
m just doing what I did before the
lunacy; Im not doing any business.
I make a point of walking down the
streets now, which I never did; even though
I get a bit hassled sometimes, its nice. I went
down Petticoat Lane the other day, where I
used to work when I was about eight, and it
was weird but so nice. I was heavily disguised.
I had my hair up like a samurai warrior, with
a knob on top and chopsticks through. Its the
new phase, man. I went into my grandmas
tea shop and had a cup of Rosie.
One reason I havent done interviews for a
time is Ive been very worried that every time
I open my mouth Im having to defend myself,
against people that have done things without
my knowledge. Now it seems I have to clean up
all the mess that went before me. I now guard
my words, whereas I didnt before. I believed
people wouldnt print em, which is wrong cos
theyre gonna have to. I shouldnt have said
them in the first place. Its just teasing. Im given
to making extravagant statements all the time.
Ive never been ruthless in my whole life, ever.
Im honest. Not Honest Harry, but honest by my
standards. No one I know thinks Im ruthless,
but I only see my friends, so I dont know.
The only thing I dont like about all this crap
is that it confuses the record-buying public,
who dont wanna know any of that stuff about
me, other than whats in that plastic they buy.
You know, I dont know if Id rather just give
the whole thing up. Seriously. That court case
business really destroyed me. I had two weeks
when I was such a mess, cos Id never felt like
that before. I was changing managers at the
time and I was very emotional. Im a very
emotional person.
retna
I went down
Petticoat Lane the
other day. I had my
hair up like a
samurai warrior
Rabbit Fighter
Rabbit Fighter has got the best guitaring
Ive ever done on a record, I think.
Ballrooms Of Mars
The Slider
Chariot Choogle
Mystic Lady
Mystic Lady has lines in it about Bobby
Dylan. In the letters in your paper they were
saying he was dead. I feel close to him cos
hes a nice man. I met him two months ago at
someones house. I didnt expect him to
know who I was.
Rock On
Baby Boomerang
Baby Boomerang was written in New
York. I adore this. This to me is
like writing a Dylan song:
Youre talking with your
THE SLIDE
R
boots/And youre
walking with your
mouth. Its one of
the best things Ive
written this year.
Spaceball Ricochet
Its totally a poem about
my life: I bought a car/It
was old but kind. In the
film we used a 200-quid,
beaten-up 1948 Cadillac,
which is lying outside
Ringos house somewhere. I bought it off him
and I havent picked it up.
Its the only car Ive ever
driven. I drove it down an
aerodrome when we
were shooting.
Buick Mackane
Buick Mackane is like
Zep Rex. Its like yer
heavy rock, its one of
those. Its dynamite.
Buick Mackane is a chick.
Main Man
Main Man is a song about me: As a child
I laughed a lot Now it seems I cry a lot.
Ive never cried so much in my whole life as
this last year. giraffes in my hair. Thats a
Top Of The Pops flash about having giraffes
coming out the top of my head. I thought it
would be funky. Im weird, man. Lets go.
TRACK
BY
TRACK
T. REX
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
getty
We knew
we had
PIZZAZZ!
HISTORY OF ROCK 1972 | 95
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
We dont try
and offend
people, but
somehow we
do offend
paul zone
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
Peter Gabriel in
1972: There is an
element of escapism
in it, but there is
nothing to do with
the drug culture
genesis
Weve
started
to take
control
getty
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
display. But behind the scenes just plain old-world courtesy every time.
And Peter Gabriel, who can hold an audience with hypnotic ease, and
launch into the most powerful flights of fantasy, has none of the
brashness normally associated with the hard-gigging rock musician.
Peter and Genesis have come a long way since their debut album under
the auspices of Jonathan King, who produced them back in the dark ages.
Their music and attitudes have changed, improved, and progressed,
until they have reached that most exciting time for all groups, when they
havent quite cracked the publicity barrier, but are enjoying the much more
worthwhile and rewarding acclaim of genuinely appreciative audiences.
For Genesis have their fans, who know about the music, and the lyrics
and the act, and plot their course through the clubs and corn exchanges.
They cheer when Peter launches into a brief
resume of the plot of Musical Box, one of their
most emotive pieces. And they leap to applaud
when the lights explode to the music with
brilliant timing.
What struck me most about the band, after
not having seen them for a year or so, was the
strange aura they managed to sustain, even
within the municipal confines of the Watford
Town Hall. They seem to be super-relaxed,
or floating, which probably stems from the
habit of the guitarists in sitting down to play.
Even delays between numbers do not seem to
matter. The audience knows the next piece will
be equally complex.
The strongest interplay seems to come
between their remarkable drummer Phil Collins and Gabriel, probably
because Phil has a strong personality and Peter used to be a drummer. In
fact, Pete still hangs on to a solitary bass drum which he raps from time to
time, between singing and fluting.
The feeling and excitement of a band that is happening musically, and
knows it, is only rarely experienced. It happened for Led Zeppelin, The
Nice, Jethro Tull and a few others when they were just starting out as
support bands or local club attractions.
That feeling is happening now with Genesis, although they are not
entirely convinced that success is just around the corner. How do they
feel about success, how will the band evolve? And how do they feel
about such contemporaries as Alice Cooper and David Bowie? Peter, Phil
and guitarist Steve Hackett assembled to talk this week in London, just
prior to a lightning assault on Holland.
Yes, our style has changed a lot evolved in the last year, said Peter,
sinking onto an uncomfortable stool and wobbling slightly.
It changed when Phil came along and Steve joined on guitar. And it
will change again, because we will be doing all new stuff for our next
album. Its the only time we can get to write when we work on an album.
We hope to have a new show by January, which will be a complete
musical presentation.
Said Phil, Well be using back projection with a big screen behind us.
What weve got at the moment is very basic as far as lights go. A lot of light
shows are just rubbish, with pretty patterns playing on the band. We went
through a period when one of our roadies left us and the lights just didnt
happen. It was bad karma. But with lights anything dramatic that helps
the music is valid.
Peter began to muse. Originally we tried to do folk-type numbers, and
its all worked up to a crescendo. Now weve got
an act weve started to take control of the
audiences. In the past, we bodged our way
through things.
I suppose it started for use at the legendary
Friars, Aylesbury. Thats where people first got
to know us. Its all built up mostly through gigs
rather than publicity. People seem to know our
numbers, and those who dislike our music the
first time, pick up on us later.
Happy The Man was their last single
release, and it didnt knock me out. But after
hearing it live, its a song I constantly whistle, in
tuneless fashion. Said Phil, It was hard to get
across on a single in three minutes what the
band is all about.
So what is the band all about?
I dont consciously think about it all as an act, said Peter, whose stage
movements have a balletic quality that could earn him an audition at
Covent Garden. A lot of it is based on fantasies, without them taking over
from the music. There is a lot of freedom in the music. Nobody has to
compromise too much. In our writing, we are trying to do something that
hasnt been done before, and that is to write a combination of sections
that match.
We have a number called Musical Box that is composed in this way.
Its quite a complicated story about
a spirit that returns to bodily form
and meets a Victorian girl. He has the
appearance of an old man and the
relations with the young lady are
somewhat perverted, so he gets
bumped off into the never-never.
camera press
It was hard
to get across
on a single
what the band
is all about
A touch of
Gilbert &
Sullivan
MM SEPT 30 Album
four from Genesis.
ALBUMS
W
E
I
V
E
R
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
Were
eclectic,
certainly
credit
redferns
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
MM JULY 29
booth with a set of log tables, a notebook and a rapidly blunting pencil.
I woke up this morning, quoth he, with a theory about prime
numbers. The column of numbers in the notebook grew apace.
With stripey-dyed hair and pallid maquillage, Eno operates the bands
synthesizer, prepared tapes and other electronic aids. He also does a nifty
line in back-up vocals. Having spent his early years near a USAF base, his
interest in rock is long-term (We used to get the new American records
from the PX stores). At art school in Ipswich in the mid-60s, he
discovered the properties of the common, domestic tape recorder and
within three or four years had amassed no less than 30 such devices.
I realised that there were certain areas of music you could enter
without actually learning an instrument, which at my age I certainly
wasnt about to do. At Winchester School Of Art between 66 and 69, he
made himself president of the Students Union and spent the union funds
on hiring prestigious avant-garde musicians to come and lecture
mostly to himself. He also collaborated with some of the famous men:
Cornelius Cardew, Christian Wolff, John Tilbury and Morton Feldman.
Influenced by Cardews piece called Schooltime Composition, Cages
book Silence and the Systems Artists (Their emphasis is on the
procedures rather than the end product), he was brought to Reading
University to lecture by one Andrew Mackay.
Years later, when Andy had just met Ferry,
Andy and Eno bumped into each other on the
tube, and Eno was invited to join the group,
playing Andys VCS3 synthesizer. Now he uses
four tape machines at home, transferring the
results to an Ampex cassette machine for gigs.
Soon hell be getting a new synthesizer,
incorporating a memory circuit which will
retain any sequence of notes, up to 256 in fact.
Itll also have various custom devices, including
phasers and phase shifters and a device which
gives the effect of quad in two speakers honest!
Hes also about to acquire a special long-delay
echo unit, with a repeat of up to 15 minutes. At
the moment, Im mostly interested in modifying
the sound of the other instruments. You get a nice quality the skill of the
performer, transformed by electronics. Neither the player nor I know
what each other will do which means you get some nice accidents.
Apart from possessing one of the finest drum kits Ive ever seen, Paul
Thompson was, until the arrival of Rik Kenton, the only member of Roxy
Music to have been through the rocknroll mill, and to whom life on the
road wasnt something of a shock. Paul is from Newcastle, and started
playing before he left school. He worked in a shipyard for a year, and then
played with various bands The Influence, Yellow and Smokestack
among them. He came down to London with Smokestack early last year.
But it fell to bits after a while, and I went back home and did nothing. His
determination rebuilt, he returned to London a few months later and
worked on a building site while looking around for a band.
He and Roxy Music met each other through an ad in the MM. Wonder
drummer required for avant-rock group, it said, and after an audition he
was in. On the face of, it doesnt seem a band any self-respecting heavy
funk merchant would associate with. Not, in fact, drummers music.
Im not into drummers music, says Paul. Im into group music,
something that comes out of a unit. Id never played anything like it
before, but Id always wanted to do something out of the ordinary. I cant
stand the heavy bands that just play riffs only Led Zeppelin are good
enough to get away with it. I try to play
melodically as well as rhythmically, and I try
to create my own licks. For instance, when
drummers go right round the kit, they almost
always do it clockwise. It seems to be the natural
way. So I sometimes try it anti-clockwise and
it sounds really interesting.
At first, Paul was rather reticent about
wearing makeup and strange garb on stage,
having been brought up in the jeans-andsweatshirt school. I was a bit reluctant at first,
because Im basically shy ahh! but Ive lost
that as the groups got better known. With all
the other bands Ive been in, when we walked
on stage nothing happened. With Roxy Music,
Theres a
feeling around
that we
happen to
represent
getty
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
So many things
from the past have
been forgotten
MM July 1 On the road with the
evolving Roxy Music roadshow. So far,
everything weve tried has been fairly
successful, says Bryan Ferry.
Quote in here
along here
blah blah
quote like this
here yeah
cROydOn
gReyhOund
LIVE!
rest because its a very set thing, a little
cameo with no room for improvement or
interesting improvising. Its very much
something we have to act through, and if were
not in the mood theres not much we can do.
The rest of the songs abound with references
to earlier pop like the quotes on Re-Make/
Re-Model or the Joe Meek-style production
touches on Ladytron. Ferry says: It seems to
be nice to have something that is rich in variety,
and so many things from the past have been
forgotten. It would be terrific, for instance, to
have real violins on stage playing like the
strings on Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.
Were eclectic, certainly, but its not so much
cribbing these elements are used with a
point, and thats the strength
of the group. Whats really
surprised him is the way
these back-references are
going down with an audience
which is presumably too
young to have heard them
the first time around: At
some places theyve been
very young indeed, but the
reaction has been amazingly
good. We want to get
through to different people on different
levels, so whereas one person, maybe a
Hampstead intellectual, would say, How camp!,
a kid would respond by saying, Thats weird!
The kid would probably get the bigger kick.
Obviously, its all been happening very fast
for the band. Only four months ago, they had
no manager or agent, and had played only a
tiny handful of generally abortive gigs. Now,
with a brand-new bassist (Rik Kenton), and
We want to
get through to
different people
on different
levels
Brian Cooke/redferns
June 25
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
THe RaiNBow
LoNDoN
LIVE!
aUgUsT 19
david bowie
He left
the stage
a giant
Throughout the
summer, DaviD Bowie
inspires adulation
with his Ziggy show
becoming the authentic
star many in the press
suggested he might be.
Correspondents from
Melody Maker and NMe
filed their reports.
He has stuff going
for him that most
people havent even
thought of yet
t was raining the night Jim met Phil. They were total
strangers to each other, but Phil had asked Jim for a
cigarette, and well one thing led to another. Theyve
become very good friends. Phil still recalls how Jims hands
had trembled, though.
Theyd gone along to see David Bowie in Dunstable. Great
fans of Bowie they were, and Jim had almost to pinch himself when he
first heard such a grand person was actually coming to that place. He
hated it there. Privately, his mother confided that he found it difficult
to make friends at work.
That Wednesday night he was there, though, clutching his copy of
the new David Bowie album, The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust,
which he hoped David would autograph after the show. He was
wearing his red scarf, flung nonchalantly over his shoulder,
and his red platform boots. His hair was long down the back
but cropped fairly short on top so
that it stuck up when he brushed his
fingers through it. He hated that it
was dark brown. Hed promised
himself that when he eventually
split to London hed have it done
bright blond. He was just turned 19.
Phil was one of the first to arrive at
the Civic Hall. Hed stood in the
queue for an hour and a half to get
a ticket, so when he was inside he
rushed quickly to the front and
stood beneath the stage. He waited
patiently while the Flamin
Groovies went through their set. He
was to say later, in fact, that they
were quite super, but after all, hed
really gone to see Dave, hadnt he?
He was so excited, Phil cant
remember exactly what Bowie
came out wearing, but towards the
end of the performance it was
certain that the outfit was white
satin shirt and trousers, the legs
DUNsTaBLe
CiviC HaLL
LIVE!
JUNe 21
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
David and his group, and although mutual admiration societies like
this are often disappointing ego trips, an electrifying heat came across
that stage as David and Lou roared into White Light, Im Waiting For
The Man and Sweet Jane. Their obvious admiration for each others
style was great to watch. Bowie did the back-up vocal work to Lous
haunting singing, and though his words were hard to pick up, Reeds
presence was terrific. In black-sequinned top suit and gold shoes, he
stood with feet tripping into a neat criss-cross movement at the breaks
in his songs rather like The Shadows used to do in that much-mocked
leg-crossing stage movement.
There was something beautifully earthy, cool
and all knowing about Lou Reed, and the crowd
who had come mainly to see Bowie were
obviously in love with the memory of Lous
Velvet Underground history. Reed now needs to
strengthen his simmering popularity here with
a full-scale tour of his own. The time is now.
But this concert still belonged to Bowie, legs
astride as wide as possible, his face painted
incongruously to project a Danny La Rue profile
and his diction quite splendid. His music
naturally comes mainly from the Ziggy Stardust
hit album, but little on this record equals the
canny Changes from the Hunky Dory set, or
the classic Space Oddity. At the start the
sound was imperfect, but once this settled
Bowie came over powerfully, oozing with histrionic confidence, with
Mick Ronson turning in a potent lead guitar.
Star Man, Five Years, Andy Warhol, a straight solo on Amsterdam
and a superb encore, Suffragette City, were the high spots of a show
which saw Bowie dressed in two outfits, obviously revelling in stardom,
strutting from mic to mic, slaying us all with a deadly mixture of fragility
and desperate intensity, the undisputed king of Camp Rock.
The concert, presented by Friends Of The Earth to save the doomed
whale, also featured Marmalade and the JSD Band. It was Hughie
Nicholsons last night with Marmalade and he will be sorely missed.
Dean Ford is singing extremely well and the group knits together
now even better than they did on the momentous Songs LP, but
Nicholsons guitar work has been a brilliant cornerstone, helping their
music across the bridge from straight pop to something more
adventurous. Plagued by sound problems, Marmalade still made it
through a splendid show, with a newish song called Save The Whale
showing their punch and verve.
Surprise of the night were compere Kenny Everetts latest raves, The JSD
Band. The commercial presented them as the most exciting discovery
since early Fairport or Steeleye, and so great was their impact that no one
will quarrel. They went down a storm with their unique mixture of
Scottish reels and hard rock, and Lindsay Scotts violin was staggering
in its speed allied to ideas and rocking attack. He
must be the best rock/folk fiddler in the land.
Bowie, Marmalade and the JSD Band put on
ROYAL FESTivAL HALL
a superb nights music, because all of them
LONDON
have roots. Like Marc, Bowie has been a long
time coming, but a more certain Bolanchaser I never saw. At the end, two Ziggy
Can anything
dim the
splendour of
this ravishing
creature?
getty
LIVE!
JULY 8
NME AUGUST 26
Flourishing
theatricality
W
REVIE
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
It wasnt easy: in
London, Lou Reed
reflects on his pre-Velvet
Underground position as
an in-house songwriter
for Pickwick Records
lou reed
I just like
rocknroll
T
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
mick rock
REVIEW
lou reed
pleased with what theyve done, and as the tracks are played back, he
points out little guitar riffs and bass runs with genuine delight. And his
fans neednt worry. The album is rich in the kind of content we expect
from Lou, each track a little photograph of someone we once knew.
One of these days, Id like to do an album in which all the characters
from my albums meet up, he says, suddenly.
Behind the camera-lens, his eye is steady steady Click.
NME AUGUST 12
I saw the book (by Leonard Sacher-Masoch) and just thought it would be
a great idea for a song. Now everybody thinks I invented masochism.
Despite the ads, Reed is not going to return to Kingsound the Kings
Cross rock venue. He didnt like the hall, and found the dressing rooms
cramped and crowded.
Youre in there trying to find a place to change into your drag and put
on your makeup and people keep coming up to you and offering you
joints and rapping to you, and its just intolerable.
Lous girlfriend is coming over from the States soon, and hes looking
forward to seeing her, because things are getting a mite chaotic at his
Wimbledon residence. Seems that some of his friends began smashing
up the house but his landlady didnt mind. She thought he put some life
into the place.
As the meal grew progressively more and more bizarre, we switched
to grappa, using chablis as a chaser. Lou recalled the time when, as a
hitchhiker, he turned to desperate measures and lay down across the
centre of the road. The first car to stop was a police van, and far from
getting his lift, he got busted. If itd been me in the car, I would have kept
right on going, he said. Theyd never catch me, and the experience of
running somebody over
I pointed out that on the Velvets live album, Lou told the audience they
didnt play Heroin any more, but that he played it at Kings Cross.
Oh, we just didnt feel like doing it that night. Besides, I never mean
what I say. What? Oh, I never keep to things unless I actually promise.
I told some journalist that I was very hung up on cowboys. If I saw him
today Id probably tell him I was really aggressive and that all cowboys are
a bunch of assholes. Im really very inconsistent.
After that, an almost total disintegration sets in. I remember Reed
drawling that Englishmen were really sexy because they didnt have hair
on their chest, and Geoff Thorn opened his shirt to prove the contrary.
Unlike at the Dorchester with Ziggy, Lous outrageous clothes and
painted fingernails left the waiters at the restaurant rather cold, but then
they werent Lous type anyway. The following day I was still drunk. A lot
of people have learned a lot of things from Lou
Reed, and theres a strong possibility that they
can still learn a whole lot more. His new single
Walk It And Talk It is a remixed version of a
track from his album, and wouldnt it be a gas to
see that on Top Of the Pops?
If Ziggy isnt too outrageous for the BBC, then
its about time we saw Lou. After all, he was the
man who started that brand of outrage way
back in the swinging 60s. We may even see
where everybody else will be at in five years.
I never keep
to things Im
really very
inconsistent
Id like to do an
album in which all
the characters from
my albums meet up
1972
rex features
j u l y s e p t em b e r
A Bowie-revitalised
Mott The Hoople in
the TV studio, 1972
Weve
got more
aggressive
At the start of 1972, MOTT THE HOOPLE are a passionate band, going
nowhere. The intervention of David Bowie with All The Young Dudes
changes their fortunes completely. He said, If you want to split,
then split, they remember. But please do this number first.
HISTORY OF ROCK 1972 | 117
1972
j u l y s e p t em b e r
NME SEPTEMBER 16
Anyway, three hours later Bowie rang Overend again and in that three
hours hes written All The Young Dudes. Hed said to Overend, If you
want to split, then split but please do this number first.
It was after a gig at Guildford that Mott came under the management of
Tony DeFries, and Bowie offered his help with the album. CBS were at
the gig and Tony said he wanted to manage us. And David said, If you
want me to write a song or produce you, then I will! He didnt want us as
an extension of his personality. He wanted people to understand he was
helping and not taking over. He even wanted us to have co-producer
credits on this album.
When it came to making the album David had some numbers and so did
we. We played him ours and he said they were OK he liked the stuff wed
written. The basic arrangements were done by the band, then David set
about embellishing it. Hes been a great asset just when we needed it.
For all the help Bowie has given the band, the most refreshing thing is,
as Hunter says, the fact that the band are exactly the same as they always
were. I asked Hunter if having Bowie as a producer would be a permanent
thing or if this album was a one-shot idea.
Nothing is ever permanent in the music business, but as far as were
concerned the relationship with David is amazing, and he wants to carry
on. He genuinely digs the band he neednt have had us; after all, the
band was over.
Hunter denies any allegations that Mott are now portraying a camp
image. The last thing we want to be called is camp, he says, and
certainly looking at him swigging back a glass of scotch, a mop of curly
hair flopping around his shoulders, he looks anything but camp.
Theres only one person who can do that well and that is David. And
hes not a fairy. Its just that what he does on stage he can do infinitely
better than anyone else. We aint fairies not one guy in the band is. And
we figure weve got to lay back a bit on stage so that our audience will lay
back on looking and start listening. Julie Webb
rex features
This album
is how Mott
should have
sounded
all along
1972
j u l y s e p t em be r
Well show
Marc Bolan
a few tricks
The FACES continue
their American
campaign, with an
eye on the state of
things back home.
Their unrehearsed
approach continues
to yield results. All
I do, says Ronnie
Lane, is plug the old
guitar in and play it.
NME SEPTEMBER 16
michael putland/photoshot
1972
j u l y s e p t em be r
like to, he says. I still feel close to him. A lot of his musical influences are
the same as mine, but then at the same time theres nothing much to say.
Its a load of water under the bridge really.
At this point he decides its time for another coffee and also brings his
portable stereo down to the kitchen. He plays a few records and talks a bit
about some Chuck Berry sessions he was playing on recently. One of the
things that impressed him about Berry, apart from his music, was his
total disregard for the ways of the music scene as a whole the way he
thinks of Chuck Berry only and doesnt bother himself with any kind of
trends. I suggest that its been a bit the same for the Faces.
Mac agrees. If we concerned ourselves with what other bands were
doing when we started, we would have gone well under, he says. A big
thing was made of the drink thing with the Faces, and I think it made
a change because all the other bands would be smoking and would go
onstage in a kind of euphoric state. Drink isnt so introspective. I mean, I
tend to be a bit introspective myself, but a few drinks soon loosen me up.
On gigs as a whole, I suggest, their sets tend to vary in quality to a greater
extent than most bands.
Im on the inside and its difficult to tell, he replies, but I wouldnt
have thought so. Its a fair comment but it doesnt seem like that to me. If it
comes across that way I can only put it down to creative genius Oh no,
what am I saying? He breaks into a smile.
the faces
You do afta
make it in
America, you
know. You
really do
1972
getty
j u l y s e p t em be r
Despite what was lacking musically the crowd were eating it right
up. Come on down from there, come and get round the stage, shouted
out Rod. They did just that a bad move because the security boys
pounced and when they pounce in America, they pounce like animals.
So there was much shoving and pursuing through Miss Judys Farm
and Maggie May, Stewart sprawled across the stage, or getting up and
dashing around the whole stage area like Denis Law with a loose ball in
his eyes.
When they finished, a roar filled the air, and they came back for two
encores. A beautiful achievement for the Bowl but something had been
lacking. There had been this emptiness.
Now the Faces are known to like one helluva party and that was the plan
for Sunday. A tricky plan, and the boys were warned about it.
I mean, they were going to get the crowd boozed on punch and
champagne before the gig, and they had taken full responsibility
for anything that happened. It was an extremely nervous Rod
Stewart travelling in the limo to that gig.
I think Im gonna be sick. Ive never been so nervous, Im all
here and there.
Theres only one way to get Rod back in the land of the living football.
It seemed bizarre nailing along the boulevard in LA, sat in the back of
a tasty limo, passing the flashiest scenes on Earth, and talking about
Old Trafford, Denis, the Baseball Ground, and the true art of selling
a dummy. Bizarre.
As soon as we got to the Palladium you could smell booze, and sweat. It
was about 100 degrees inside, and rising. Stewart was feeling better, but
still wanted to be sick.
He neednt have worried one bit. They were so darned good they were
illegal that night. For a start, it was an ideal gig. It was like a larger version
of a Locarno ballroom, and was stacked to the roof with kids. If they aint
feelin good on 1,500 bottles of champagne then were off home, said Rod.
The place pressed on you. It drew a
river of sweat from under your armpits.
The audience was pressed right up
against the stage, right under the chins
of the band, and wailing like hell for
music. It came from the very opening
patterns of Its All Over Now, loud and
so brash, and glory was it swinging.
They just hit a swing, something that
got your whole body jigging, and
kicking. Oh, what slang and swearing it
was and yet it was goodtime. Theres
a line between something being vicious
and menacing, and vicious and fun.
The Faces on this night had all the
pressure, all the evil you wanted, and
yet the final product brought a smile to
your lips, and not a sneer.
Everyone knew it was really working.
There was Ron Wood playing some
extraordinary guitar. Its amazing how
Wood has developed a style thats
totally his. His bottleneck solos are a joy
to behold, hot rashes of metal scraping
and rutting away, a fag burning twixt
his teeth, his legs striding a busy pattern
across the stage. Then theres Lane, a
sweatmark covering the whole of his back,
chugging away, while McLagan and Jones
shift and rip it up. Miss Judy bit hard, while
there was no stopping Memphis.
Stewart in a yellow spangled whistle, threw
his head back and smiled, then walked to the
back of the stage, leaving the band playing at
this utterly uncanny pace.
These four guys are my life, he said,
picking out the backbeat with his arm and
shaking his head. Can you feel that?
Feel it? Youd have had to be made out of
bricks not to have felt the swagger going about
on there. The audience was out of its head, the
stage was out of its head, and the backstage
people were wearing out shoe leather by the
inch. Even the Faces bar looked like running
low, the Blue Nuns being raped in quick
succession as the heat began to swell.
You know, man, the Stones died a death
here the other month, said a guy backstage.
Stewart was back on stage on his knees
delivering Maggie in a voice that looked fit
to shatter his throat. Then he was up, his arms
around Lane. Twistin The Night Away and
Feel Alright were the killing encore blows;
it was a wonder anyone was left standing. It
was complete and utter enjoyment. The
Faces own party and there hadnt been a spot
of trouble. What a beautiful band this is.
And were tired out, Ronnie had said
earlier. Weve got to lay off after this tour
lay off until were bored. Then come back and
boogie. Roy Hollingworth
Indeed, every
song tells a story
NME JULY 22 Faces aside, Rod
Stewarts latest solo album, his
fourth, gets a rave review.
Rod Stewart
Never A Dull Moment
MERCURY
W
REVIE
Rod does a
beautiful reading
of Jimi Hendrixs
Angel from The
Cry Of Love
1972
O C T OBE R DE CE MBE R
Keith Moon
will play the
drummer
MM Oct 28 Ringo Starr and
other musicians act in
a new rock movie.
avid EssEx, who plays Jesus in
the hit musical Godspell, is to leave
the show to make a new rock film
with Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Billy
Fury and The Everly Brothers.
Called Thatll Be The Day, it has a
screenplay by Evening Standard writer
Ray Connolly, and will be a definitive
picture of the story of young people
growing up amidst the pop boom of
the 50s and 60s.
Shooting commenced this week on
location at a holiday camp on the Isle Of
Wight, and the rest of the cast includes
actresses Rosemary Leach, Rosalind
Ayres and Kim Braden. The story
revolves around a group called Stormy
Tempest & The Typhoons. Billy Fury
plays Stormy and Keith Moon will be the
drummer in his group. David Essex
plays a young boy growing up in 1958
who gets bored with school studies and
opts out of society, joining up with his
friend, played by Ringo. In one scene
Ringo gets beaten up by Teddy boys.
It is hoped many top rock musicians
like Pete Townshend and Jeff Beck will
help supply music for the film, and a
soundtrack album will be released to
coincide with the films issue next
spring. Thatll Be The Day is being
directed by Claude Whatham, a top
television director, and produced by
David Putnam, Sandford Leiberson
and Roy Baird.
getty
1972
O C T O B E R D ECEMBER
no info, 1972
That one
cost 2.80
for the tape
credit
I call it the
Crimson Lurch.
It catches you in
the neck
osmonds fans
gather outside
a london hotel,
november 1972
he big scream is on its way back to Britain and the biggest scream of all
is due to fill the skies around Londons Heathrow Airport this Sunday
morning when The Jackson 5 and The Osmond Brothers touch down within
hours of each other. Its doubtful whether Heathrow will have played host to
such a fan gathering since the days when The Beatles returned triumphant from
their American tours. For accompanying the Jacksons and Osmonds is the
biggest wave of fan worship since Beatlemania.
First to arrive are The Jackson 5. Their plane, Pan Am Flight Number 106, is due
to arrive at Terminal 3 at 7.20am. The Osmonds arrive at Terminal 3 at 10.30am.
Arrangements have been made for The Osmonds to drive in front of Terminal 2.
Together with David Cassidy, the Jacksons and the Osmonds make up a trio of
American acts that have brought back fan hysteria on a massive level. Record sales
for The Osmonds alone are toppling records set by The Beatles at the height of
their touring days. In Britain alone, The Jackson 5 have sold two million singles
and 100,000 albums for Tamla Motown in two years, counting recordings by the
group and lead singer Michael Jackson.
First-to-arrive Jacksons will spend the Sunday at rehearsals for the Royal Variety
Performance at the London Palladium, which takes place the next day. Following
concerts on the Continent, the group play two shows at Birmingham Odeon on
November 9, Belle Vue, Manchester (10), Liverpool Empire two shows (11) and
they wind up with a massive concert at the Wembley Empire Pool on November 12.
Osmonds will be driven from the airport to their central London hotel for an
afternoon press reception. They will play concerts at Londons Rainbow Theatre
(November 4), Manchester Free Trade Hall (6) and Birmingham Town Hall (7). All
the concerts have sold out. Concerts follow in France, Germany and Scandinavia.
Nothing to do with
drugs
MM DeC 2 the new Wings single gets
banned this time for sexy content.
rex
1972
O C T O B E R D ECEMBER
Rock
releases
stress
Camera press
1972
O C T O B E R D ECEMBER
didnt feel that a lot of people felt like us, but evidently a lot of other people
did feel what we were writing about.
I think that was one of the main things why it sold, because at the time
there was a lot of shit around with all this violence, which is still around.
Its got way out of proportion now, but at one time it was something that
was just filtering through and getting at peoples nervous systems. We
didnt think, Were masters of the world; we know what everybodys
thinking. We just wrote something.
It was mainly Geezer, who is a very intense person, in as much as writing
goes. Hes the main lyricist. I have done a few things; I wrote the lyrics to
Black Sabbath and a few of the others, but hes the man. He comes up
with some really good things. I mean sometimes I feel, God whats in his
head? One of the tracks on this new album really freaks me out even now
Cornucopia. Listen to the lyrics on that. The lyrics on the last verse go,
Take a life, its going cheap/Kill someone, no one will weep/Freedoms
yours, just pay your dues/We just want your soul to use.
chris walter
Is that because of America? Now I feel the band is getting very influenced
by the American trip. You know we were thinking of calling this album
Snowblind, but it was very heavy because they said it was to do with
cocaine and drugs. We get criticised about drug influences, but if people
really get into the lyrics its an anti-drug thing. Whether weve used it or
not, Im not obliged to say, but what weve seen of it is terrible. Its like
people are living in nightmares, and anybody who goes into it ends up
like that. Over there when they go in for something Get stoned, forget it
man. Its like drinking half a shandy to them, getting stoned. They really
go overboard; its a wonder that half of them dont take a coffin to a gig.
Do you never feel that is the reality of dope? I dont think so; I was having
an argument the other week in a pub near where I live. This old bloke was
saying, This pop star, hes the cause of all this drug abuse. I said, OK,
but who gave him the drugs, and who gave the bloke before him drugs?
We dont go on stage like freaks; we go on to play music. If youre freaked
you cant play. Ive tried it; you just cant get it together. You think youre
playing great, and then you start losing it and, man, it all falls down. I just
dont touch it any more. I think as soon as the world although its too
late now, but if the world gets it together then the kids will do the same.
This world I dont know. Ive sat and thought to myself, Look how long
the worlds been here, and man, now theyve found a way of destroying the
world by just pushing a button and they can wipe out the whole thing. At
times I dont think it would be a bad idea. I was looking at the news the other
night and there wasnt one thing good. Everything they spoke about was a
bomb. Bomb on a plane, bomb in Belfast, bomb in somebody elses boot.
The biggest tragedy of all time must have been the Olympic Games.
They even had to mix a thing like sport where a man physically competes
with another and race doesnt matter. For two weeks people forget about
colour and religion and they just compete as human beings. And then
some people have to go and do something like that just for politics. The
thing you ought to see is pollution in America. Its terrible. People are
walking around looking up in the air, shivering, scared. As if one day this
big black hand is going to come out of the sky and choke them.
Your musics a reaction to that? Well, America is the most satanic
country in the world. They do anything for a dollar. If youve got a dollar
youre in; if you havent youre out. Youre not human over there, youre
just another punch card in a computer. Its never heard of to say thank
you. Give me a cup of coffee, me, me, me; feed me him
Its funny, because Ive been everywhere and this country is the sanest
country out of all of them. I look at my little house in the country here and
I think Ive bought myself a little piece of heaven on Earth with my kids
and animals. I dont want to be a neurotic old man at 85 coughing up soot.
Doesnt rock contribute to pollution with its sheer volume? No, rock is
the best sedative in the world. It releases the stress, the anxiety and the
hang-ups. If I go onto a stage and there are 20,000 people out there or even
one, and if theyre digging it and having a good time getting high on the
evening and the event, and theyre forgetting whats going to happen in
the morning when they clock on again, I think Ive achieved something
Do you never feel like a jukebox playing the same tunes all the time?
Yeah, you feel like that sometimes. Plug a dime in and hell sing all night.
Its such a drag sometimes. Like two days before we went away on the last
trip I caught this bug and it just turned me off. Second number of the first
show my throat just turned off and I was dead. I had to walk off stage. I
couldnt go on. You try to tell a crowd of people that you cant go on.
We go mad now, we do what they call bops. Three weeks in the States,
two weeks home, three weeks in the States, two weeks home. I havent
slept since we got back. I got back Sunday, I went to bed on Thursday
night, didnt sleep Friday night, didnt sleep Saturday night, didnt sleep
Sunday night. Its like youre sitting down and bang youre asleep for two
hours and then wide awake all night taking the dogs for long walks at five
in the morning through the haze.
black sabbath
The whole
thing just
blooms into
a beautiful
energy trip
Do you ever feel unreal, caught up in the downer myth? No, not really,
but its strange, I never realised the strength of Black Sabbath. Although
Im beginning to understand it a bit more now. I understand more about
the first Black Sabbath album now than I did at the time, because you
have to understand the fact that we were just four ordinary losers. We just
bummed around in an old Transit van, doing it anywhere, playing at Irish
working mens clubs, anything just to get a gig, just to play to people. Then
this cigar came walking in the room one day and said, Sign here. And we
signed there and it all happened.
Theres always a lot of energy at Black Sabbath concerts. Right, its good
energy. I feel when we do a concert theres so much energy coming off the
people if its happening. Sometimes it doesnt happen, but you cant
expect to do it every night. But when it does, it really comes over good. The
whole thing comes up to a thing that just blooms into a beautiful energy
trip. Im sure we moved the Albert Hall three foot last time we played
there. I dont like going to these concerts where the band tries to baffle you
with science. Hop onto a Moog, play 35 violins, its just nowhere for me.
The only band that can do that for me is Yes. Rick Wakeman, the
organist, is the best in the world as far as a keyboard player goes. I rate him
a lot higher than Emerson its been done before jumping on to organs
with knives. On stage that band is perfect, for a singer Anderson has such
a great idea at arranging. Its so perfect.
You still get nervous before you go on stage? If its a big gig, before I go on
that stage I have a couple of hefts of scotch, and sweat my hands melt!
But as soon as they go Black Sabbath I walk on that stage and it just
disappears. The last Albert Hall gig I was so ill. I could feel this thing
coming through the walls. I was feeling, Ive got to go out there into the
big lion pit. As soon as youre on stage you just open up. But Ill tell you:
if something goes wrong with the equipment on that first number, Im
finished, but once the first numbers over, its cool.
Does the volume you use ever affect your hearing on stage? No, Im right
in the centre of the stage. You see the speaker fans out and it doesnt hit me
so much as it would the people at the back of the hall. The people at the
front of the hall are better off, actually. Id say we use volume effectively,
like we use a guitar.
Have you ever seen Grand Funk? Now thats volume. They say in
America that we are louder than Grand Funk. Ill tell you, if the world
ended it would not be that loud! When they came over here they used
Can you communicate to that amount of people? No, I just have to throw
myself at them. I just use a bit more energy and a bit more sanity. The
amplification thing over there is amazing perhaps thats why were
getting a bit too loud for this country, because weve got used to playing to
a great mass of people. The smallest crowd Ive played to indoors is 25,000
people. On this last tour we went to this open-air festival on Labour Day,
which is a big holiday thing. This guy didnt expect what he got. There
were half a million people there; we couldnt get to the gig because for
10 miles along the freeway there were abandoned cars. There were cars
turned over in the river. It was like someone had said youve got 10
seconds to get out of the city before its destroyed.
The guy couldnt believe it, man. He expected 80,000 people! There was,
like, three toilets for half a million people! It was terrible; they were selling
them aspirins to get them stoned. Thats what I hate about festivals, the
dope trip. Bad news. If youre going to sell something to people, sell them
something good.
The new album sounds as if you spent a lot more time and effort on it.
This is our first album. OUR first album; in the past weve been limited
time-wise, money-wise, this expense thing. If you can afford to put a
band in the studio, you can afford to wait. Thats why there is so much bad
stuff coming out. If everyone was to do a good job on an album thered be
so much more good music around. I pick up an album sometimes and its
so bad. An album is a completely different thing to a show. You cant see
me looning around, you cant see Tonys fingers working.
We started recording this album before last Christmas. Weve spent a lot
of time and a lot of money on it. We took four or five all-night sessions on
one track, Under The Sun, because we didnt feel it was right. In the end
we got it right. Thats really what we wanted to do before.
Master Of Reality we recorded in four days. The first album we recorded
in Regent Sound, on an eight-track machine, in two days from 10 in the
morning till six. It was good for the time and expense that went into it.
That whole album must have cost 600. Its the people you never see who
are behind it all. The Blue Meanies.
This album is just the four of us plus Colin Caldwell and Patrick
Meehan. We had so much fun.
Why cut in Los Angeles? At the Record Plant? What a studio for depth and
bass! Youll notice that the volume of this album is a lot higher than the
other, and the crispness is so much better.
This album is a complete new step as far as we are concerned, because
now its a new era for Black Sabbath. Were no longer going to use a
producer. We experimented a lot on this album. It was like a party with
people around at the studio. As far as producers go, no disrespect to
Rodger Bain or anything, but we just felt that we couldnt communicate
with him in the end. I dont know whether hes got an ego trip that he had
made us or something. I think a producer has to be with a band 24 hours a
day, otherwise you cant communicate with them. It shows on this album
that we enjoyed ourselves. The energy level is there. Mark Plummer
HISTORY OF ROCK 1972 | 133
1972
O C T O B E R D ECEMBER
People say
Im selfindulgent
John Lennon returns to live rocknroll. Inevitably, it all
reminds him of The Beatles and the iniquities of fame. how
best to use his influence? And his money? Believe it or not,
people would be happier if you took the bread and ran
nMe SePTeMBeR 30
hat Madison square Garden
gig, says John Lennon, nostalgia
in his eyes, and his hand stretched
forward holding a welcoming beer,
was the best music i enjoyed playing
since the Cavern or even hamburg.
its 1.30am as we slip into the vacant bedroom to talk and
escape the congestion of the entire population of Greenwich
Village noisily setting up its rock hardware in the living room
next door. the scene is the Lennons spiffy mid-town hotel
suite, 30 floors up from the hot sweat of new Yorks 7th avenue
and only mugging distance from times square. down on the
street the shrill scream of a speeding police car punctures
the conversation.
i have been trying to see him for more then a week and he
knows it, apologising as he digs deep into a crumbled packet of
cigarettes as he sits on the single bed with Yoko at his side.
Man, says Lennon, continuing the theme, i really enjoyed
that Madison gig. he peers at me like a contented owl from
behind the familiar tinted national health shades perched
atop the bridge of his nose. i mean, you were there. You could
see i was on the trip alright. it was just the same kinda feeling
when the Beatles used to really get into it.
Funnily enough, i tend to remember the times before the
Beatles happened most of all. Like in hamburg we used to do
this at the Cavern we used to do that in the ballrooms the
other. in those days we werent just doing an entertaining thing,
mirrorpix
1972
O C T O B E R D ECEMBER
or whatever the hell it was we were supposed to be. That was when we
played music. Thats what I enjoy and remember best about those days.
Thats the same feeling we got at Madison Square Garden with
Elephants Memory Yoko nods in full agreement and you know
theyre such a good band. Stan Bronstein, their tenor sax player, is a real
rare one. Perhaps the best since King Curtis, thats what I say.
Having been at the Lennon concert, I more than go along with him in
regarding it as an event never to be forgotten. As the minutes ticked into
the first hour of a new day, I had seen Lennon push a thick wad of gum
hard into his cheek and grind out a boogie rhythm on his Les Paul Gibson
as he screamed, New York City Que pasa, New York? Que pasa, New
York, before a demonstrative crowd of well over 20,000 Manhattans plus
a few mad dogs and visiting Englishmen. It was magnetic.
The response that night from the animated multitude stompin madly
on their $15 seats had been deafening, and the stream of gut-level licks
coming from the stage substantiated all that we felt. Here, for the first
time since the fragmentation of The Beatles,
John Lennon finally got back to where he once
belonged rockin and rollinpushing his
powerful lungs to their limits and then beyond,
accompanied by one of the raunchiest punk
street bands I had ever heard. When he sat at the
piano to sing Imagine it was to perfection, and
the silence had a magic of its own as the slow
chugging intro of Come Together slid out of
the giant bank of speakers.
The motivation behind this Lennon emotionpacked official reunion with the public,
followed a TV expos by New Yorks celebrity
newscaster Geraldo Rivera, on the squalid
conditions suffered by the mentally retarded
children of the upstate Willowbrook Institution.
In the wake of a violent public outcry, John and Yoko, in collaboration
with New Yorks Mayor John V Lindsay, had proclaimed August 30
a fundraising day and they were personally responsible for raising
$350,000 to help alleviate the childrens plight.
My mental flashback to the concert passes and Lennon opens a new
pack of cigarettes and explains, There were all sorts of plans to do a world
tour, and then the US immigration thing started, so that had to be shelved.
Even with the Madison Square Garden gig, though, I cant begin to tell
you the weird things that went on before it. Touring is going to be a big
problem. It wouldnt be so bad if we could do a tour and not take home a
packet of money which only becomes a tax problem, and God only knows
what else. The perfect solution would be to do it so that we only cover
costs. But then what you do, when do you do it, and who do you do it for?
In my position its harder to do something that doesnt earn a couple of
million than it is to actually go out with the intention of earning it. Believe
it or not, people would seem to be happier
if you took the bread and ran. And thats
only one of the complications. We just wanna play, but at the moment
its just a hassle. Pauls trying it on one, and it might be working for him.
Hes got his band together and hes just hitting the road and appearing
wherever he can.
The way Yoko and I were doing it was at the Lyceum, in Toronto, and
with Frank Zappa at the Fillmore until we got together with Elephants
Memory. All were trying to do is just play without it developing into some
weird scene. But its almost impossible, if you do it a lot.
He pauses, looks at Yoko, smiles, and ponders on his last words. I dont
know, he says again, if were prepared to do it a lot. He continues,
directing the statement at Yoko. She stays silent.
Its not because were bothered about losing the buzz, but you know
you get involved with such hassles as whos making T-shirts and whos got
these rights; unions, cameras; and before you realise whats happening it
soon becomes bigger than both of us. Either that or its forget about the
hassle. But if we do then you get a lot of people ripping a lot of other people
off. At one time Yoko and I thought about going
over to Ireland to do something, but until weve
cleared up this immigration thing we cant
leave America. Were kind of trapped. It might
prove difficult for us to re-enter the country. It
depends which way the wind is blowing.
On the Sometime In New York City album the
royalties of Sunday Bloody Sunday and The
Luck Of The Irish are supposed to go to the civil
rights movement in both Ireland and New York.
Angela [Davis] money is towards whatever
shes struggling for, and some more is for the
Attica dependents. Whether we can get it out of
the system or not is another thing, but were
gonna try. In the end it gets down to what
somebody in our position can do to help others.
He admits he can fully understand the reasons why others refuse.
You see, I was in there. When youre a child youre surrounded by
relatives, and most of us seem to get ourselves in the position where we
create a whole new set of relatives like friends and advisers, however
well-meaning. Suddenly you get in a position where you get so much
money and if youre like us youre aware theres a lot of people come out
with more. So you go through the whole bit Why did they get more than
us? Didnt we do the work? Didnt we write the songs and record them?
Its the people whoever they may be who stay around the fringe of
the artist who create a situation where the artist is always in fear of being
hit, like Mickey Rooney, by the taxman. Either that, or you spend so much
because youre living a life in which you dont even think about it.
So there you are, living in a limbo where youre constantly worried that
you might end up owing or that someone will come along and take away
whatever you have left. The people who get into that position are insecure
anyway, like me. They get you up there. You collect it, cos youre insecure
enough to want to do it. You do it. Then you become surrounded, and
scared of it being taken away from you.
So what do you do? You find youre going
round in circles for the rest of your life. Roy Carr
rex
NME OCTOBER 7
he Beatles had a standard to
live up to, admits John Lennon,
lighting up yet another four-inch
link in an endless chain of battered
cigarettes. And for that reason, when The
Beatles went into the studio, they had to
stay in for at least six months. Today, I just
couldnt stand to be locked up in a studio
for that length of time.
Lennons reason is as simple as it is short:
I dont want a standard to live up to.
You know, he tells me that muggy night
in New York, when the Beatles cartoons
come on the TV every Sunday, I still get a kick
outta watching them Its just like leaving
home after that you automatically get on
with your parents.
john lennon
1972
O C T O B E R D ECEMBER
ALBUMS
REVIEW
1972
It never snows
in California
MM DEC 2 Phil Spector talks mono, The Beatles and the troubled history of his
Christmas Album. It came out the day President Kennedy was assassinated
getty
It went on for
months. I never
wanted to see him
again after that
We used to work
monaurally you
had to get it right
first time
1972
O C T O B E R D ECEMBER
John
who?
Paul McCartneys WINGS are
concentrating on simplicity.
Inevitably, McCartney is drawn
into discussion of The Beatles,
but his journey of self-discovery
is moving forward. I think Im
getting more back to what Im
about, he says. You know
melodies, tunes.
NME DECEMBER 16
photoshot
how about the BBC ban on hi, hi, hi. Were you
surprised? Not being quite that thick, we all thought,
you know, it might be possible. The story is actually only
about sex, not drugs. Its something to sing. I dont care
about the lyrics. Not really.
how prolific is your songwriting these days? Pretty
prolific. [He writes millions of them, says Linda.] Weve
got about 30-odd tunes that weve got, like, done at the
moment for the next album.
in NME recently, John is talking about John who?
2nd December
1972: Paul
McCartney and
his wife Linda
(1941 - 1998), who
performed
together as
Wings after the
break-up of the
Beatles. (Photo
by Evening
Standard/Getty
Images)
1972
O C T O B E R D ECEMBER
PA Photos
WINGS
Its obvious
were still
pretty new as
a band
Readers letters
1972
O C T O B E R D ECEMBER
MM OCT-DEC Budgie vs teenybop, Lieutenant Pigeon vs Pink Floyd, and much more.
TEENY PROBLEM
Getty
GENESIS REvELATION
UNDERGROUND STATION
I remember the
beautiful days when
asked to define the
underground and its
music, I could easily reply it was
the music of freaks: Woodstock
nation, peace, love, etc, Bob
Dylan, Paul Kantner, Jim
Morrison, Country Joe, Jerry
Rubin and Richard Neville.
In the old days it meant
something to say you had turned
on. Today you can ask, turned on
to what? Camp rock? Glitter rock?
Or that frigid brand massproduced by bands like King
Crimson? What happened to those
beautiful days of the alternative
society? Now we have to stomach
the whining denials of Jerry Garcia
and Country Joe McDonald, who
are now questioning whether
those days of the San Francisco
freak-outs and flower people were
at all constructive.
Bob Dylan has all but deserted
protest, Richard Neville has
retired, Carlos Santana (among
others) has cut his hair, and the
MC5 remain today a pathetic
relic of their former glory, their
beautiful naivety shattered.
The two groups who truly
represented the underground are
in danger. Pink Fairies are refused
a platform in favour of Gary
Glitter, and Hawkwind are
following The Who. Today, we
have Alice Cooper and Slade
reeking of violence, (Ive lost count
of how often on hearing Slade Ive
imagined someones face under
those stamping boots), Bowie and
the limp-wrist brigade, and ELP
and their musical elitism.
So Mr J Neill of Co Armagh,
Northern Ireland, is disgusted
after reading the Paul McCartney
interview in MM. I read the
interview too, and McCartney
said, Im in Britain, and Im
British, and what Im complaining
about isnt something I have to go
to Ireland to complain about
Ireland happened and I thought,
Im going to say something about
that, and the best way to say
something is via song.
I sympathise with reader Mr
Neil, but to suggest that Paul go to
a place where, at present, insanity
reigns, clearly indicates that it is
he, and not McCartney who
hasnt got a clue.
To visit Ireland, as you suggest,
Mr Neil, would be jeopardising
Paul McCartneys life, and that,
old son, whether you like it or not,
is just not on.
MIKE BRETT, Gadebridge Road,
Hemel Hempstead, Herts
(MM Dec 30)
1972
m o n t h by mon th
Coming next...
in 1973!
o that was 1972. Hope you camped it up. But thats far
from it from our reporters on the beat. The staffers of NME
and Melody 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 that have
come to assume mythical status.
Thats very much the territory of this monthly magazine. Each month,
The History Of Rock will be bringing you verbatim reports from the
pivotal events in pop culture, one year a month, one year at a time. Next
up, 1973!
PINK FLOYD
NEIL YOUNG
BOB DYLAN
PLUs
DAvID BOwIE!
BOB MArLEY!
PUB rOcK!
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