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The August issue of Maverick featuers an interview I did with the queen of chill-out Lizzy Parks.

Lizzy’s new CD is an all acoustic affair and quite folkish, which is why it appeared in Maverick, of all places!

It was done by email, but actually turned out all right – and it contains my favourite end-quote of the year so far!

So is folk music the new rock and roll?

“I have no idea!” she replies. “I’ve never been a leader in trends. I still think Dragon computers and Converse All Stars are cool.”

The new issue of Clash is out now. I’ve been doing reviews for this magazine since January this year. I’m particularly chuffed as I have two killers this month – Quantic and Naomi Shelton.

Quantic is a seriously funky dude and his new album was recorded in Columbia.

Naomi is from the Daptone Records stable, so say no more.

Oh yeah – and Dead Weather, this year’s hottest band are on the cover. Nice.

In May, the magazine Rock N’ Reel rebranded itself as R2. The second issue of the new rebrand (and the 16th in all) will be out soon.

Fingers crossed, I have a couple of interviews in it! They are with two of Britain’s brightest blues talents – Aynsley Lister and Joanne Shaw Taylor.

Aynsley released a brilliant CD earlier this year called ‘Equilibrium’ and Joanne has just put out ‘White Sugar’. Both are great singers and guitarists and their records are well worth investigating.

Here’s a sneak preview of the Joanne article:

“If you think of women and the Blues, you think of Koko Taylor and other singers,” she says. “In terms of guitar playing, there are a lot of great female guitar players out there, but they have yet to have the same recognition as the men do.

“But that is changing, in the past year I have met three or four new girls on the scene who are starting to come through. The next few years could be quite interesting.”

I’m sitting in a pub with a pint of London Pride and I’m treasuring the book that I’m reading. I’m having my time, me time. The kids are asleep in bed, so I’ve nipped down the boozer. It is always quiet on a Sunday night, except on bank holidays of course. I used to read a book a day on holiday. Not any more. When it was just me, I’d pack at least ten books in my bag and lie by the pool in under a hot, foreign sun and read. Once I read eight Ian Fleming James Bond novels back to back… in sequel, of course. These days I get frustrated – too many books that I want to read, and I don’t have enough time on earth to read them, and more are getting written every day. I need another life. I need to be reincarnated. But, right now, I have got a good book and some time off work, so I lose myself in the pages enthusiastically, only disentangling myself from its power to jot a note or slurp some Pride. I consider how, if I could turn back the clock before children, I would bang out a few books myself and maybe a hundred articles – and good articles at that – life changing books that would be on the shelves and roll off the nations tongue like Trainspotting or The Football Factory or The Beach – but I never did write them – so here I am – working hard, two children, a property to maintain and essays to write for my Uni course (I’m already behind) – but I’ve got this book and I’m reading it carefully – an old friend called David recommended it to me – titled The New York Trilogy – and so far, it’s so good. It is the kind of book that I devour late at night by low lamp light when my wife is sleeping next to me, hoping that the light doesn’t disturb her as she sleeps – like the other night I did just that and I suddenly felt hungry and got up out my bed and rummaged in the cupboard and found a packet of pistachio nuts and I ate about fifty of them, dropping the shells into a bowl, but the nuts irritate my sore throat so I get a Solero ice lolly out the freezer… it’s been sitting in there since the summer… but I eat it and love it. I glance at the kitchen clock and I realize that it is the night before New Years Eve and I don’t have to get up in the morning so I go back to the bedroom and lie on my front with my pillow under my elbows and I carry on reading having my time, me time, reading with the lamp on low and the missus sleeping gently to my right with my eight week old son sleeping between us and my two year snores next door with a bottle of milk resting on her pillow – armed and ready for the three o’clock in the morning wake up – locked and loaded with half a pint of full fat milk to consume before she nods back off to sleep – and now a movement to my left jolts me upright in my chair, I’m in the pub with a pint of London Pride and I smile as I close this notebook and close the New York Trilogy because three of my mates have walked into the boozer and it’s time for drinking, there’s no work tomorrow and life could be worse.

Blues Matters

Issue 49 of Blues Matters is now done and being printed as we speak. The lovely Joanne Shaw Taylor is on the cover – whom I’ve interviewed, but not for this particular magazine – and this issue contains my interview with the legendary Bonnie Bramlett.

There are also reviews galore on this one, including some great records by Jersey Budd and Mike Farris.

I’m now waiting for the next batch of CDs and books for issue 50, which will be out later this summer – and it looks like I will be interviewing Kill It Kid over the next few days.

The July 2009 issue of Maverick has two features written by muggins. The first is an interview with Canadian Celtic rockers Enter The Haggis (left). It was done over email a couple of months ago. 

They rock with bagpipes! Ok, so that might sound all that inviting, but their song ‘The Litter And The Leaves’ is one of my favourite songs of 2009.

The other interview is with Swedish trio Baskery. I had planned to meet the ladies them when they played the Freebutt in Brighton, as part of their winter tour. Things went a bit pear shaped when snow hit the south coast for the first time in years – which meant they struggled to get down to Brighton and I struggled to get out of the front door of my house. In the end, we opted for a phoner interview the following day.

 Please check them out. And yes, I was gutted not to meet them in person.

Bonnie Bramlett

It’s another edition of the one that got away. This interview with blues/rock legend Bonnie Bramlett was conducted in April 2008, and will feature in issue 49 of Blues Matters!

It’s also worth pointing out that Delaney sadly passed away in December 2008.

But enough of my yacking…

They say if you remember the 60s, then you weren’t there, but Bonnie Bramlett can remember everything and she was smack dab in the middle of it all. As a teenager growing up in St Louis, she sang with Ike and Tina Turner, Albert King and Little Milton, but when she moved to California things really got interesting. As one half of Delaney and Bonnie, she became one of the biggest female blues singers in America. When the band and her marriage to Delaney came to end, she released a series of solo albums, including one with the Average White Band. Over the years, she has also turned her hand to acting and still sings and records. Blues Matters! caught up with her to talk about her new record, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and some guy called Eric Clapton.

BM: Congratulations on the new record “Beautiful”. You’ve teamed up again with producer Johnny Sandlin, who produced two of your big LPs in the 70s.

Bonnie: It’s great to back with him. We’ve been in touch. I’ve been to a lot of his sessions. He calls on me quite often, but it was so good to get back in the studio with him

You have a stella cast backing you on this record, including your daughter Bekka Bramlett and Randall Bramblett.

Absolutely! Randall wrote two of the songs. He wrote ‘Shake Something Loose’ and ‘Witness For Love’. He sang a duet with me. Doesn’t he sound good?

What was it like singing with your daughter?

That’s the hardest thing to answer! Because it gets asked a lot, like what was it like working with Eric Clapton? It’s so unique. To me, it’s like riding in a Cadillac as opposed to riding in a Bentley. It’s just an easier ride, because we’ve all grown into our talent.

There are also covers by Stephen Stills and other songwriters. How did you choose what went on the album?

When I stopped thinking about making a hit album, which happened a few years back, it really released me. I’m able to stick to my guns. All my work is my work. If you notice, all the writers are from the old school. It just fell into place.

How long did it take to put together?

Oh not long! We did two days cutting tracks and three days vocals. I sing while they’re cutting. You want to be there when the energy is in the room. Johnny had more work.

What’s the track you are most proud of?

That’s a hard one to pick, but the one which means the most to me is ‘Some Of My Best Friends’. The writer Gary Cotten is from around Nashville. He’s had this song for a long time and no one would touch it with a ten foot pole! I told him six years ago I would do it. I loved that one. I loved ‘For What It’s Worth’ by Stephen Stills. I think he’s probably one of the greatest songwriters who ever walked this earth.

You actually grew up in St Louis and started singing when you when you were very young, and you used to hang out with people like Herbie Mann and Stan Getz.

There was a place at the time called Gaslight Square. It was pretty much like Bourbon Street in the French Quarter (New Orleans – JH). It was where everyone worked. It was strange for a young girl my age being able to carry a song vocally, so I was intriguing to everybody. Everyone would come in. It wasn’t like a hung with them, because I was too young. My dad and mother would pick me up and took me home straight away. I wasn’t able to go to breakfast with them after the gig.

You were playing with people like Albert King and Little Milton.

Yeah, I was 14 or 15 years old.

It must have been an incredible experience.

Yeah it was. When I got out from there, I realised that this doesn’t go on all over the place – calling people on stage. Artists didn’t do that in Los Angeles. Nobody sat in with anybody. Where I came from, if there was a musician in the room you had to ask them. It would be rude not to. Saxophone players would always bring their own mouth pieces to gigs, because it was all about jamming. When we got out to California and Delaney and I got together, we got into that. It was not just famous people. The worst thing which could happen was they would say no and you would get on with the night. The best response was yeah, let me play!

You were also an Ikette and the first white person to join Ike and Tina Turner’s band.

I didn’t get to stay long because of the racism. But, I’m still in touch with some of them. On the album before last I had the Ikettes singing with me, all three of them. I miss Ike so bad. You know he wrote the liner notes on my last album. He went down in history as an asshole, but he has done so much for our music and none of that is ever mentioned. He had the first rock and roll record ever – ‘Rocket 88’. Nobody gives him that credit yet. There wouldn’t be a Meters without Ike. He broke BB King. He broke most of the black artists. Don’t get me started!

You moved to Los Angeles in 1967. Was it mainly because of the music?

I went to Los Angeles to be a star! Just like everybody else. You either had to go to New York or LA. Although it’s now Austin, Texas.

How did you first meet Delaney?

He was in the houseband (the Shindogs – JH) . I came down from San Francisco. I was hanging and working with Sly Stone before they broke. He was a disc jockey and he put me in touch with this guy, Sam the Soul. I was singing duets with him. We were booked to go down to LA for three weeks. Delaney was in the houseband and they wouldn’t back us. He didn’t want to back a girl, so I told him to go f*** himself. After he heard me sing, he came out and said oh man! We started off on a hard note and I wouldn’t speak to him for a whole week. He was bringing in everybody to hear me sing every night. He brought in Leon Russell and all his friends. Then on the last day, he said “I’m so sorry, can I please have your phone number?”. I said ok. He was drop dead gorgeous (laughs). He came over and we sang, and he never left. We got married seven days later. It was magic. How romantic, huh?

How did Eric Clapton get involved with Delaney and Bonnie?

I think we got involved with him playing on the Blind Faith tour. George Harrison took our tapes back to the UK. Gram Parsons brought George Harrison to hear us. They taped it on a little cassette at the club. George took it back and played it to Eric, and Eric hired us for the Blind Faith tour, to open for them. It was a huge, big break. When we got on the road we were all on the bus, partying and having fun and at that time they (Blind Faith) were not even riding in the same limo together. They just wanted to put this supergroup together and they didn’t give anyone a chance to breath. Eric heard us play and he was up there playing tambourine with us! Can you believe that? They wouldn’t let him play guitar. Eric would ride the bus with us; him and Rick Grech. Steve and Jack Bruce rode the limos. We were full of energy. It was old hat for them. Eric just jumped on the bus and we just had the best time. That’s how we got the “Live On Tour With Eric Clapton” album on Atlantic.

It sounds like a lot of fun.

I don’t know if it was so much more fun than it is now. When you’re doing it, fun is fun! It’s just as much fun for the young ones coming up now. They have to work a little harder than we did. There’s so many of them out there. If wanted white power singers back then, it was me and Janis (Joplin). Now you need to have two or three pages to list them all. I like to think Janis and I had something to do with that.

What was Janis Joplin like?

She was a doll. She was full of pain. She would just try and make it through the day. My heart broke for her, but you know what? She was a good girl. She was a brilliantly educated girl. It’s not about your voice or your vocal ability, it’s about how much ability you have to get up there and be vulnerable. It’s about picking songs you can embrace and interpreting them. That’s what she could do!

Delaney and Bonnie also did the famous ‘Train Tour’ where you took a train across Canada with lots of other musicians.

From Toronto to Calgary! There was The Band, Grateful Dead, Ian and Sylvia, Buddy Guy – everybody! There was everybody you could imagine.

Looking back, you were making music history. Did you ever think that at the time?

Nah! I didn’t think about it. I was just trying to make it through the gig. It was so much fun. I wasn’t thinking about making musical history. I really wasn’t. I’ve always sung. I thought maybe I’ll be famous after I’m dead, like Billy Holiday or Van Gogh. We didn’t think about making musical history.

After you went solo, you cut a record with the Average White Band (Sweet Bonnie Bramlett- JH) – how did you discover them?

Bruce McCaskill, who was Eric Clapton’s road manager, called me one night and played this band to me over the phone. It was a little cassette. I was like ‘oh send this band to me immediately’. So I brought them to the United States and I think I broke them.

You also did a lot of backing vocals during the 70s for people like Greg Allman and Little Feat!

And Carly Simon. You know ‘You’re So Vain’ and Paul and Linda (McCartney), and Doris Troy.

You also sang backing vocals on ‘Giving Up For Your Love’ by Delbert McClinton.

Oh that was so good! I loved it. Delbert has a blues cruise and all the bands are on it. We’re all on the same page when we are there – for the music. Sometimes Delbert would say I need to have a Bramlett sandwich, with Bekka on one side and me on the other, and Delbert in the middle.

You did a lot of acting in the 1980s and 90s.

I didn’t do a lot, but the pieces I did were really good (laughs). I was just learning.

You were in the Doors movie. Did you know Jim Morrison and what did you think of Val Kilmer’s take on him?

I think he did a phenomenal job. I said at the time people are either going to love it or hate it, but it was just like it happened. When were doing the read through of the script and Val was already in character. He came to the reading in a pair of black leather pants and a white t-shirt. I was sitting across the table from him and he reaches over and touches my hand and says did you know Jim Morrison? I said a little. He looked me in the eye and said did you know he was going to die before he did? I said yeah. He was a walking dead man. Sooner or later it would get to him. He was so tortured. He (Val) walked away from the table and he nailed it. I think he did a phenomenal job. Jim was a genius. He was a tortured soul, but he sure made the world a better place musically.

You also appeared in the sitcom Roseanne.

I had so much fun. Roseanne was a fan of mine. She approached me and said she knew every word to every song and said do you want to be one my show? Absolutely! So they wrote me in.

Your Roseanne co-star John Goodman is a bit of a blues singer too?

He’s from South Street, St. Louis as well. Everyday we would sit around the dressing room and jam a little. He lives in New Orleans now. He sure knows his music. He loves it.

Do you still enjoy singing?

It’s like asking me if I enjoy breathing! It’s the thing I do. I enjoy it. Praise God that I can get up every morning and sing my brains out. I’m so blessed. I don’t take it for granted at all. JH

It’s true – click on the link below for a video on Bearded Magazine…

Bearded Magazine – The Movie!

Oh yeah, I’ve been interviewing a few people recently. Jon Allen and Enter The Haggis – I’ll explain all later…

It has just gone five o’clock and its rush hour on a Friday in late February. I’ve had the day off and I’ve been down the boozer since lunchtime. Commuters are packed in around me, and while I look at them I think to myself that normally I look just like you, stressed out needing to get home, punching the buttons on my mobile phone – often feeling like I want to frisbee the thing into the Thames, I coped without one of the stupid things ten years ago – so right now I want to tell them to chill out – I mean it is a Friday and it’s been a lovely day weather wise because we’re approaching March – cropping up are daffodils and snow drops, crocuses and tulips signifying spring time – so whatever it is you’re wound up about there’s no need, chill out, whatever it is, its not that important. The train doors whoosh open and a girl gets on, opens her book with the words RING DAD written in black ink on the back of her left hand. She’s not really reading her book, she’s aware of me looking at her, so I turn away and look out the window until the train slows towards its next stop, and a pigeon darts past my window, the train stops, the doors whoosh open, many citizens get off, several get on, and I look up at the ring-dad-girl and she wasn’t quick enough to get a seat, maybe she was distracted looking at me when she should have been thinking about getting comfortable for the rest of her journey home.

I think about a lad I know called Duke. And he is a bit of a lad. Duke is 14 and lost his virginity at Christmas. I hope he used a condom. The local youth club dish them out for free. I can’t help thinking that if Duke had three pounds is his pocket, he’d probably buy some Golden Virginia tobacco and a packet of Green Rizlas, not invest in Durex. Duke himself is one of six children, and right after Christmas his dad kicked his mum in the face before walking out on her. She showed me the bruises – well to be honest it wasn’t hard to miss them seeing as they’re all over her face. There they were, right where he kicked her; Booted her; Smashed her up. It’s been seven weeks since that happened, nearly two months since Christmas. I wonder if Durex Duke ever feels like ringing his dad.

The train starts to slow as it comes to my stop. The doors open and I step out into the cold air, the sun sinking now. I walk by the River, keen not to bump into anyone I know – countless, incessant examples of Durex Dukes and of fatherless children and their fatherless mothers and most probably fatherless grandmothers spinning around my head, even fathers that are present can be despicable human beings, cursing their children instead of breaking the cycle – the twisted world grinding me down now – I need to think about something else, I look out over the River and dig my hands into my jacket pockets – a bargain off ebay – and purposefully walk the long way home worrying especially about Durex Duke when a thought comes to my mind, a painting from yesteryear called the Accolade, Guinevere knighting Sir Lancelot, the acclamation he needed, I don’t know why it pops into my mind and I don’t know how it fits in, but I’m sure it does and will somewhere, somehow.

Finally I get home and inevitably (I’ve been thinking about this the whole time) pick my little boy up. His name means the sun. Sunshine. Brighten up my life. Lighten up those around you. He smiles at me. Four months old now. I walk around the living room with him, holding him close, the fresh clean scent of his clean baby grow soothing me as I listen to his gentle breathing. I wonder if the ring-dad-girl on the train remembered to
Give him a ring. I hope he told her that he believes in her, supports her, cherishes her and loves her. She needs him. The world needs dads. Especially surrogate ones.