Mmm, interesting. I can imagine Zeppelin being very loud. Most of their tunes are so basic that they need a certain amount of volume and distortion to work. Whenever that is the case, bands usually overdo it. It’s not that loud for the band, usually, as they are using monitors. Although I believe Pete Townsend’s ears are not the best these days. Allan Holdsworth died fairly recently, which was a bit of a shock. He was possibly the only player who truly scared me. He was Zappa’s favourite player, and he really rated him. Which is something as Frank was not very liberal with his compliments about musicians. In fact Terry Bozio (drummer) is the only other one I can think of. For me, Holdsworth is too esoteric. I prefer Metheney, Pat Martino and John Scofield, to be honest, but Holdsworths playing frightens me because it’s so unlike any thing else. Rip.
Pete Townsend and Peter Sellers (“Uncle Ernie” in Tommy performance) were both rather short little fellows standing at stage-right by the Rainbow Theatre stage in London (December 1972), and both were quite gracious and friendly to my stoned, grinning 16 year old self. Just regular folks. Keith Moon, as well. Realized that they rather dug being related to outside of the big public mystiques and heavy expectations, and just chatting about the weather, etc. I was lucky to lead a bit of a “charmed life” in London then. Worked for free on Rainbow lighting crew with Richard Oshen (who worked with Joe of “Joe’s Lights”. the originator of “light shows”) for a couple of months in late 1972. Saw The Who, Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood, Richie Havens, David Bowie w/ Mick Ronson. Used to go to the (original) Hard Rock Cafe (when there was only one location) and have a burger and tea. The only joint in the world that had Jimi Hendrix, “Voodoo Child, Slight Return” on the juke-box for a tuppence. I used to play it over and over. Life was an adventure. Portobello Road. Kensington Market. Goodge Street. Took the Scientology “Personality Test” at World Headquarters on “White Lightning”.
Do you enjoy John McLaughlin (particularly later acoustic stuff) ?
I love his “My Goal is Beyond” album, and “Belo Horizonte” as well.
What was your mind at the time fearing ? “Disassociation” ? Boredom ?
Miles Davis turned his back to the audience for most of his concert and created thick cloud banks of tension and uncertainty - until bringing the audience to their feet with a few recognizable notes from, “Michael Row The Boat Ashore”. My recollection is that Holdsworth just kept going outwards into the great beyond, never looking back. His stuff was continuously strange - as if he worked hard on that.
Ever listen to Harvey Mandel’s amazing “backwards” guitar sounds ? I believe that when Mick Taylor left the Stones, they asked him as well as Roy Buchanan and Shuggie Otis if they would like to replace him.
My god, sir, I’m almost speechless. Everything you talk about London in that time period I can relate to 100%. Never worked in lightning crews and didn’t see those particular gigs but went to others, in the same places, around the same time. Yeah, my bad for leaving out John Mclaughlin, and yes I prefer his later stuff, and the stuff he’s done recently. There are so many great players that I don’t like mentioning any to be honest, because I’ll always omit one that I shouldn’t. Your past though. That’s creepy. I saw Little Feat at the Rainbow when Lowel George was still alive. Played in a band for a while with Bowie’s bass player Trevor Boulder, and knew Woody Woodmansy, who was involved in Scientology. The parallels. Unbelievable. (well not actually unbelievable, but you get my point). Oh, and I saw Miles Davis at what was then, the Hammersmith Odeon, and he spent almost the entire gig with his back to the audience. It goes on. I lived near Portabello Road at one time. God, you’re taking me back here. And I now live quite near Goodge St. I did the old scientology test too, years ago. Now when I walk past, I long for them to invite me in, so I can tell them what insane lunatics they are, lol. Guess I’m too old and long in the tooth for them to approach me now . Not young and gullible anymore. Well, less gullible anyway. I hope.
Mick Ronson was one of the most (then and later) under-rated but influential guitar players, indeed. Dylan plucked him to play in the Rolling Thunder Revue, and I also saw him twice playing with Ian Hunter at the Paramount in Seattle. Ronson had such a fine ear and feeling, and could slide between Hendrix, Beck, and Clapton lines like water. I just loved his sound in a small (<3,000 seat) theater - Stratocasters mostly through a 100 Watt Marshall amp nicely on the verge of feedback. Almost as good as Jeff Beck with Jan Hammer in there earlier. I bought my first Stratocaster (Olympic White, Maple Neck) at the local music store the next day. Beck can pull out the feeling (as much as he can also be “flighty”) like very few other players. Buddy Guy really digs the way that Beck can just ream on Buddy’s thing. Transcendent rhythm and blues artists. Freddie King, as well. Albert King. (IMO), so much more feeling than Clapton has (generally) been able to seemingly muster. And the great Muddy Waters !
Yeah, worldwide, they seem to only recruit and maintain overbearing hot-headed assholes. William Burroughs “penetrated” their “inner world” for a while. And then wrote some articles about his (claimed) “excommunication” for revealing the innards of their cheesy little “E-Meter” device. Me and a friend just went in there for the potential mind trips - and we got one. The shit was so strong and the test was so increasing creepy-weird that at one point we looked at each other (in similar states), and realized that we just needed to leave. I discovered Burroughs’ writings about “the Church” later, to my amusement.
One night I messed with “fancy” maps and was able to view the front face of the (then in 1972) “bed and breakfast” type building (on Gower Street, near Torrington Pl) where I stayed [my father’s college leased it for semester abroad courses at Florida Presbyterian College (later, Eckerd College) in St Petersburg, Florida - a very hip small private college at that time where he taught Philosophy, and I did my level best as a youth to comprehensively explore drugs, sex and rock and roll]. Somehow, I pulled off a wild youth.
It happened that Lou Reed was playing several dates around London with Steve Hunter and his rather excellent back-up band (in Fall/Winter 1972). Did you happen to catch him ? I was in “punk heaven” !
I’m with you. I got quite close to scientology through Woody Woodmansy and lived with them for a while. I never could believe it, even though I was a gullible teenager. Since then, like you, I have delved deeper and it just gets more ridiculous. PT Barnham was not wrong when he said “there’s one born every minute.” Also, again, I missed another great player in Jeff Beck, and all of the others you mentioned. I really like to hear Gary Moore play the blues, too. His “Still Got The Blues” tour is spellbinding. There are so many.
Yeah, (IMO), to hell with those clowns. Like predatory vultures. Psychic Valkyries. Creepy people. The whole Hubbard creation-myth is pretty amazing (almost like he was trying hard to outdo the Mormons for esoteric). Anyway, existence is mysterious, but the personality cult stuff, like power, is contradictory and theatrical. Faced with genuine profundities, one (it seems, perhaps), must “write their own book”.
Indeed, such as the stellar soulful sounds of Mike Bloomfield. I saw him at Winterland (the old Fillmore West) in Spring/Summer 1973. And the great young prodigy Shuggie Otis ! Finger-pickin’ monster !
So, perhaps your friend Woody would know. I have read (one account) that Ronson had already written the entire musical score and parts for the material on “The Man Who Sold The World” (on which Woody appears to have played percussion), and David Bowie only dropped his vocals onto what Mick Ronson had (already, essentially) created and recorded.
Does that sound right ? Perhaps a bit “hyperbolic”, or based in actual events ?
Man, I just love Mick Ronson’s guitar work on, “The Truth …”, and “Pleasure Man” !
Found this Woody Woodmansey interview (which looks to be informative):
There’s a really good book, that I read years ago, called " Bare Faced Messiah" I think it’s by David Yallop who was an investigative journalist when that term actually meant something. One cannot come away from it without having a certain amount of respect for old L. Ron Hubbard. The sheer gall and tenacity of the man is quite something. His whole “story” is a bare faced lie. What he did is pretty disgusting in my mind, but you have to admire his balls. The fact that so many people believed him, and still do, (although it appears to be dying) and gave him all of their money is another story. It still owns an enormous amount of property in very expensive locations. And I have to agree on finding one’s own spiritual reality. I haven’t seen Woody for years. So he’s not really “a friend” although he was for a while. No, you’re right about Mick Ronson and “The Man Who Sold The World” he wrote all of the string parts and did most of the arrangements, to my knowledge. He was a real talent. I think he studied classical music at college and could write for an orchestra. Bowie went on to show his talent, and Mick Ronson unfortunately died. He was definitely a huge part of Bowies early work.
A few years ago I was sitting at rest mid-walk, and a couple of fresh faced young Mormons accosted me. They (not surprisingly) wanted to tell me about (and I did ask and was curious about) their world-views, belief “systems”, etc. It was pretty amazing. Most of all, they were a bit amazed - as much of what they had been raised to think about and believe related fairly closely to my own personal actual experiences, very much outside of most any contemporary “fields of thought”, closer to what the first peoples here envisioned in a highly personal reverence for deep and powerful mysteries in Nature - which may well have preceded all of our various human metaphors. Nature is silent in it’s indifference to our narratives and expectations. Existence is the great humbler. Microbes can indeed sink battleships.
There are a lot of present day theoretical physicists who constantly say " nature doesn’t care what you think!" Which constantly amuses me.
One day enjoying the symphony of Summer afternoon bird songs in the trees towering in the ravine around my favorite creek, I realized the absurdity of one (or any number of) human(s) imagining themselves, like some imaginary transparent observing journalist, as master and steward of nature. In fact, the “reasons” for all that transpires in each entirely unique never to be again repeated moment in Nature are so multitudinous (from that of humans, the birds, the squirrels, the snails, the bugs, the microbes, and all else) that the idea of “objective reality” seems a bit of a cruel joke that we are often fond of playing on ourselves - to sooth our thirst for a conditioned “stasis” amidst an unconditioned, ineluctably impermanent Cosmos. Like a favorite photograph that we might shoot, process, and enjoy.
Found a much more in-depth interview with Woody Woodmansey about Bowie and Mick Ronson:
Thanks for that. Really kind of you, sir. As for “objective reality”? I think modern quantum mechanics has thrown that one out of the window with the bath water. Apparently they can “prove” that there is no such thing. Never thought there was. I think my first acid trip put paid to that one.
Sounds beautiful where you are. I’m envious. (I nearly said “jealous” but that’s such a negative emotion) . Peace be with you my friend.
Exactly!
Pot should be legal 
Just thinking about my addition to this thread. Never could tolerate studying music. I just wanted to play. At age 7 my guitar teacher told my mom she was wasting her money - that yes, I have natural talent, but no way would I learn to read music. That followed me through school where I played mostly percussion. Was on the snare, bells, and even played a full set on our school’s jazz band for 3 years. After school I was in a couple of small bands playing at trashy bars. Still can’t read music so while I find the subject interesting, it’s still not something I will ever commit to.
Learning to read music, and understanding music are two different things. You can understand how music works without being able to read. But it helps.