Glen Matlock the Former Sex Pistol and Rich Kid Called Himself ‘Blind Lemon Matlock’ Before He Became the Punk-Blues Godfather
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Glen Matlock The former Sex Pistol and Rich Kid called himself ‘Blind Lemon Matlock’ before he became the punk-blues godfather. Words: Claudia Elliott y introduction to the blues was listening to The Mike Raven Blues Show Rod Stewart did it, then I did it, when I played with on Radio 1 in the late 60s. It was a formative radio programme for so the Faces. It’s a fantastic song. many of us. Listening to the transistor at home in Kensal Green, north London, you had a choice between Mary Hopkin and Lightnin’ SCREAMIN’ JAY HAWKINS M Hopkins – and Lightnin’ won. I Put A Spell On You When I was teaching myself to play guitar, from Bert Weedon’s Play In A Day, I learnt the Okeh, 1958 blues progression. I’d sit up in my room bashing out the blues like I was Blind Lemon I also heard this on the Matlock. It spurred me on to look into it a bit more. I went to our local record store in jukebox when I was Harlesden, looking for a Blind Lemon Jefferson or Robert Johnson album, but they working at Malcolm didn’t have any. The guy convinced me to get The Story Of The Blues double album, which McLaren’s shop, Let It Rock on the King’s went right from the early recordings up to Chicago blues. Road in London. It’s not purist blues but it’s I was aware of the blues boom in the 60s but I was too young for it. I knew where the finest vocal by anyone, any time, ever. He don’t half sound like he means it, and Cream were coming from though. I really liked Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac – Oh Well, that’s the difference between pop songs and Black Magic Woman and Man Of The World. Later on, when I was working at [Pistols the blues. They tend to be a bit more heartfelt manager] Malcolm McLaren’s shop, he had a jukebox with Smokestack Lightnin’ on it. The with it, you know? vocal performance is fantastic, stuff like that knocked the socks off anything else that was on the radio at the time, it just seemed more real and heartfelt and soulful. MOSE ALLISON In the 80s I was touring the States with Iggy Pop and we did One For My Baby (Set Em Up Parchman Farm Joe), which is a creeping blues. [Damned guitarist] Brian James did a fantastic solo and it Prestige, 1957 brought the house down every night. On our night off in Chicago we went to a down- I’m a big fan of Mose Allison home club hoping to see Muddy Waters, and this white, middle-aged housewife came and some of the jazz stuff. It’s got a totally different out and played guitar. She was pretty good, but it wasn’t quite what we were looking for! groove. There’s also I’m Not When you’re a musician you have to be aware of how the blues kinda works, it really Talking, which The Yardbirds covered. The Who is the basis of everything. It was important in my musical education. Even a song like would be nowhere without Mose Allison. It’s all Anarchy In The UK – it goes round all the progressions and revolves in the same way that over My Generation and they did Young Man Blues, a blues song has to – start at B then up to F, goes to G and comes down again. The another of his songs. blues permeates all decent modern music, even if you don’t know how to play a Dobro or broken bottleneck. SMALL FACES You Need Loving Decca, 1966 STARS OF SON OF A Willie Dixon song, of THE APOLLO GUTBUCKET course. I know that Robert Columbia, 1972 Liberty, 1969 Plant was a big fan of the I couldn’t afford a whole Someone at school had the Small Faces. Steve Marriott’s load of blues records, so first album in the series, vocal break is very like I used to get samplers. which was called Gutbucket Whole Lotta Love. These were all singers (An Underworld Eruption). We I first saw them on Ready who’d performed at the Apollo Theatre in also had Son Of Gutbucket. It was Steady Go! in 1965. And then Harlem. It had Aretha Franklin doing Evil Gal Canned Heat, The Groundhogs I followed them through until Blues, Bessie Smith’s Gimme A Pigfoot, Butterbeans and Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation’s Marriott went off and did Humble & Susie, who were a risqué husband and wife Sugar On The Line, they all dovetailed into Pie, who were much bluesier. The GETTY x double act in the 1930s, a bit like cheeky chappie each other. Those bands influenced lots of us. Small Faces were heading in that direction with 2, REX Max Miller and his missus – ‘Here’s a funny thing’. Chicken Shack had a hit with I’d Rather Go Blind, Wham Bam Thank You Man. One of the best gigs 28 CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM 705fccf7-89e7-4571-bcf1-12d3e6fc4deb.indd 28 6/30/2015 10:15:25 AM Are you feeling lucky, punk?: Matlock with the Sex Pistols. I ever saw was Humble Pie supporting Grand The Stones would have gone Funk Railroad in Hyde Park in about 1971. In right up the 12-bar on this 1968/69, I was 12 or 13 years old so I wasn’t going song but The Kinks didn’t – ‘Blind Lemon Matlock’: to see who was on at the 100 Club at that time, they moved it up a semitone the Rich Kid gets but I started knocking around the Portobello – and it was the birth of rock the blues. Road a bit later on and the record shops in music, as in hard rock, as Golborne Road. I remember buying Long Player opposed to R&B and blues. by the Faces, purely because it was in a cardboard PETE SEEGER sleeve with etching on it and looked like an old LITTLE Goofing-Off Suite blues 78, with the Warner Brothers label poking WILLIE JOHN Folkways, 1954 through the hole. It’s all kinda mixed in there I’m Shakin’ I didn’t even realise Pete somehow. I was mates with Faces keyboard King, 1960 Seeger was a banjo player player Ian McLagan, who passed away last This is an early R&B classic. until I listened to it. There’s December. He was a fan of Otis Spann and Jack White covered it [on something going on in his Professor Longhair and wanted to have that New 2012’s Blunderbuss album] lyrics, a bit odd, a bit different somehow. I thought Orleans sound. I can just about master a bad and I thought, I know that fucking song from it was a silly record, but it would be played on radio version of Tipitina on the piano. somewhere – ’scuse my French. I’d wanted to programmes such as Ed Stewpot’s Junior Choice and do it when I had a band called The Spectres in Forces Favourites. He also did that song Little Boxes. THE KINKS the early 1980s, with Steve New of The Rich Even when I was young I realised there was a bit You Really Got Me Kids and Budgie, the drummer from Siouxsie more to it than a silly song about boxes. It’s got Pye, 1964 & The Banshees. I always knew I’m Shakin’ was a whole hidden meaning to it. I think The Kinks are very important in the a good one to cover but Jack White actually history of music, just by dint of You Really Got Me. did it and put it out. Keep up to date with Matlock on Twitter @GlenMatlock. CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM 29 705fccf7-89e7-4571-bcf1-12d3e6fc4deb.indd 29 6/30/2015 10:15:28 AM.