Talking 'Bout My Generation

Back in 1966, I was the tender age of 14. England had won the World Cup and my cup couldn't really overfloweth anymore - or so I thought!

The charts were an interesting mix of artists with the likes of The Beatles and the Kinks vying with Jim Reeves, Frank Sinatra and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich. Although my tastes were firmly with the former, music was not the force it was later to become. This all changed one fateful day when my 18 year old brother came home clutching a couple of albums which would influence my life in a big way.

The albums in question were Fresh Cream by Cream and Back to Back by Booker T. & the MGs and they completely took my breath away. Fresh Cream primarily paved the way to a lifelong love of Blues music, rock guitar and rebelliousness. In those days, it was very difficult to get hold of blues albums but I was able to gradually learn about the great Delta bluesmen of the late '20s like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Mississippi Fred McDowell and, of course, the great and enigmatic Robert Johnson. I was fascinated by the rawness of the emotion that came across and the primitive but haunting guitar. Later, the blues spread north and, with amplification, there was spawned a further bunch of "greats" like Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Howlin' Wolf.

I was very lucky because many others also appreciated the sound and soon, there was an amazing number of bands, all playing with those self-same influences. It was an almost incestuous time with a family tree gradually spreading out its branches. John Mayall, Alexis Korner and, to a lesser extent, Graham Bond were the bands from whom so many went on to form other bands, interchanging and interlinking; but always wanting to stay true to their Blues roots. I spent all my time listening to The Yardbirds, Canned Heat, the Stones, Hendrix and the like and could (and, sadly, still can) reel off all the names of the band members together with their histories.


By now, I had grown a few years older and was lucky enough to be going out with the daughter of Brighton's biggest music venue. Not only did we get free seats to the several bands appearing each week but also had backstage access. Of course I can remember meeting several of my heroes but I am still saddened by not knowing which future greats I also saw and met. By now, Cream had long gone and Clapton was doing like so many others musicians at that time, drifting from band to band desperately trying to find a niche that still allowed him to keep true to his roots whilst trying to satisfy the increasing demand for commercial albums from the producers and record labels. One or two labels were quite brilliant in encouraging creativity and introducing new artists, notably Polydor and Island: but there was the call of stardom, drugs and alcohol to lure far too many to their ultimate demise.

It was at this time that I discovered a gentleman by the name of Neil Young. In his early days, the cynical yet naive poignance of his first albums really fascinated me and I used to listen to them for hours on end. Young has stood the test of time, always experimenting. Techno, grunge, heavy rock and country have all been parts of Neil Young and, although I can't confess to liking all his many recordings, they combine to form what to me is an intriguing and still very angry man. His songs fitted my attitudes: melancholy, aggressive, frustrated, whimsical and beautifully romantic. A true great.


I occasionally go and see some of those still going strong and was fortunate enough to meet Mayall at a gig last year. He's 72 now and still playing mean blues. Gary Moore and Mick Taylor were playing with him and, although stil superb guitarists, it was sad in a way to see how my heroes were now no longer the young men that I always remembered. When I think back to the pretty, young man replacing Brian Jones at the Stones' Hyde Park concert, time has not necessarily been kind to Mick Taylor!

Music also influenced my own musical aspirations, my (losing) battle to become a guitarist and my capitulation to the role of drummer - but that's another story. In the meantime, I shall sit here and be eternally grateful that my youth coincided with the great explosion of musical magic that was the late 1960s.

They're talking about My Generation!