Sliding All Over

Bombay Times "It’s a bit scary having your face splashed all over town," said slide guitarist, JEREMY SPENCER, when asked how he felt about being in Mumbai. The ex-Fleetwood Mac guitarist, who was only recently inducted in the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, is in town to perform three concerts for the National Association for the Blind. We attended the first one held at St. Andrews auditorium last Friday. The first half of the show comprised of Broadway style, song and dance sequences, by the Heart to Heart show group. The second half of the show was what made our day. The reticent guitarist six-string weapon did all the talking while the rather noisy crowd didn’t allow him enough breathing time between numbers. As for the music Jeremy played, all we can say is, could you be here to play for us more often, Jeremy? We don’t get to hear a blues slide guitarist like you, so when you’re here, you’re all we’d like to hear. His repertoire included Presley, Cliff Richard, ‘emphatic blues’ and other numbers like You Don’t Have to be Black to be Blue and Talk To Me Baby – a conversation with his wife that he played on his guitar. It’s the kind of show that leaves behind good memories. If you missed the first concert, don’t miss the second at Nehru Centre tomorrow and at Rang Bhavan on Sunday.   Spencer Regaled Fans at Live Show The Afternoon, Mumbai, January 29, 1998 If you haven’t heard the legendary slide guitarist and former Fleetwood Mac band member Jeremy Spencer, January 30th and Febuary 1st is your last chance to catch him in action, live at Nehru Centre and Rang Bhavan respectively. If anyone can get an electric guitar to weep, talk, thrill, enchant and pump up the adrenaline, Jeremy is definitely one of them. The guru of blues who is to be inducted in the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’ this year, enthralled the packed St. Andrews Auditorium on January 24th, with a repertoire of classic, rock-n-roll and blues numbers and some of his own compositions. Jeremy took centre stage after a tight hour long act by his 25 member international troupe had the audience instantly swinging and clapping to the rock-n-roll beat in their seats. "Go on Jeremy, go on man," enthusiastic screams from the audience rent the auditorium each time Jeremy paused in between songs. Salt and pepper beard and a balding pate Jeremy in his 50s gave an electrifying two hour long performance which would have given the fresh chocolate faced boy band a run for their money. His blues composition ‘Talk to Me’ had the audience crying for an encore as he worked out a conversation between a lover and his girlfriend. Jeremy spoke and the girlfriends reaction was played out on the guitar and the meaning was loud and clear to understand. Another interesting original conversation was a blues song based on TV and it’s effect on today’s generation. Jeremy also rendered a few songs by Cliff Richards who he announced was his major influence in the early days. He also played a tribute to the whizkid of Bollywood A.R. Rehman by his own version of the song Vande Mataram sung by the troupe’s base guitarist. The song was rendered more or less flawlessly in his accented Hindi, but the audience did not mind as the effort to learn an alien language was clearly evident. The young dancers of the troupe dressed in white carrying the national flag in simple choreographed steps completed the picture of the grand finale of the concert. In the first half the singers of the troupe sang songs ranging from hip hop to soulful ballads with Celine Dion being the hot favourite. Where is the Love and Because You Loved Me were rendered beautifully by Rachel and Sunny James. Rachel sang an original composition, Peace in the Midst of the Storm a special dedication to the visually imparied. All in all the show by Heart to Heart was packed with pulsating music and dances, but the night clearly belonged to the small white man who sang all the way.

A String Of Songs

Bombay Times
Last week Fleetwood Mac's, slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the 13th Annual induction ceremony, held in New York, they also honored all-time greats, The Eagles, Carlos Santana Lloyd Price, Gene Vincent besides other members of Fleetwood Mac "I feel honored by it, but I didn't know such a thing like The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame existed," says the guitarist with characteristic humility. He hasn't heard of this honor, where artists become eligible for nomination only 25 years after the release of their first album? Jeremy's obviously kidding.

He couldn't be present in person or the felicitation, because Jeremy is in Mumbai with the Heart To Heart musical show. They will be performing at three places in aid of the National Association for the Blind. Heart To Heart, based in Bangkok, has been touring Asian countries extensively for the last seven years, the proceeds of the concert going to various charitable trusts. "l like to play for a cause" says the reticent Cancerian.

Incidentally, the sun signs are of much interest to him. The band of five musicians of various nationalities have a wide repertoire: rap to pop, rock to jazz to techno. To commemorate India's golden jubilee, on this tour, the band will perform Vande Mataram "I haven't heard much of Indian music. The first I heard was Anand Shankar in the hippie days and rather liked it. On this visit I heard Rahman whose track we'll perform in India," informs Jeremy, who is now settled in Brazil.

Jeremy was born in West Hartlepool England "My dream was to learn to play the guitar and sing like Cliff Richard."

When in his late teens, he heard Elmore James, a 50's electric slide guitarist, he was deeply influenced by his sound "Elmore James was the first to electrify it, before that it was a microphone type pickup and very rustic." The opportunity to learn how his idol played came when Jeremy was ground with a broken leg when he was 17.

It was his desire to play a more pure form of blues which was less jazz oriented that prompted him to leave Fleetwood Mac after recording six albums with them. "I left basically to get a different perspective on life. I wasn't satisfied with myself or the type of music I was doing I just felt I'd dried up."

Speaking of fusion music, Jeremy says, "Some swear by it, some detest it I don't see anything wrong with fusion. Everything is a fusion of something. Blues is Hawaiian fused with country music. But I don't think I like it just because it's a trip There's a lot of hype about it if there's genuine interest it fusion, then it's good. But then there are bandwagon jumpers and music companies pushing it 'cause of the ethnic thing. Their attitude is 'We've got to do it and make money. That's when it goes wrong," he feels.

On this tour, Jeremy's second to India his band will be accompanied by local musicians Adrian Fernandes (Indus Creed drummer) Rupert Fernandes, and percussionist Taufiq Qureshi. The five core members of the band include vocalists Christy Gibson (19) from Holland and Sunny James (22) from Canada, keyboardist Mike Creswall (31) from Australia and guitarists Vas Meyers (23) from the US and Mac Nobuka (20) from Japan.

As for India, Jeremy says, "People are very sweet. I had a very good time the first time I came. and that's why I'm here again." Heart to Heart will perform on January 24 at St Andrews Auditorium, January 30 at Nehru Centre and February 1 at Rang Bhavan.

 

Interview with the Asian Age

Asian Age. Mumbai, January 18, 1998
In the 1960s, a wild-haired Jeremy Spencer, one of the world’s finest slide guitarists, and the legendary Mick Fleetwood were banned from the prestigious Marquee Club in London for using obscenities and sexual aids during a concert. Nearly 30 years later, on Thursday, a very much balder Spencer was in Mumbai with the Heart to Heart band as part of the National Association for the Blind’s fund-raising efforts.

At a press conference in the Cricket Club of India, Spencer, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this month, said the band would perform in a series of concerts in the city. This is Spencer’s second visit to India and he said, "I think Indian audiences are very knowledgeable and tend to see things through a showy bits some musicians put up."

His Heart to Heart band has a wide range of talent from around the world including three musicians from India: Adrian Fernandes, Rupert Fernandes and Taufik Qureshi, brother of the legendary tabalchi Zakir Hussain. The band is based in Thailand and has a large group of musicians and dancers who play music as diverse as techno, jazz, pop, and rock. The group has toured India before and as part of the fiftieth anniversary celebrations, will perform their version of A.R. Rehman’s Vande Mataram.

Born in 1948, Spencer was discovered when he was just 18 by Mike Vernon, a leading talent scout of the day, while playing for the Levi Set Blues group, a Birmingham based band. In London he was introduced to Mick Fleetwood and the duo with Peter Green went on to form one of the most enduring rock acts in history – Fleetwood Mac.

Spencer however quit the band in 1970 and went his own way.

Speaking to the Asian Age about being the latest to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he said, " It’s obviously an honour and a recognition of what is seen as my influence on music."

"But influence is a relative term, my earliest inspiration was Elmore James and I wanted to become a blues musician after hearing Cliff Richards and the Shadows. So influence is a never ending process."

About the type of music he plays, he said, "It’s hard to consider myself as a hardcore rocker. I play mainly Chicago Blues from the ‘50s and a lot of Rock ‘n Roll from the earlier years. A lot of my stuff is simple, very similar to the music played by Robert Johnson."

Spencer’s love for the blues and for Elmore James’ music is well known. It once prompted Fleetwood to say. "Jeremy was way past copying Elmore James.

He was a chameleon in the best sense of the word. He acted the blues, lived the blues with the connection that really matters in music." Spencer’s ability to parody music greats such as Elvis, Little Richard, Buddy Holly and Cliff Richard is legendary. In his early days he even played in a band that performed only parodies. From parodies to where rock music is going.

"I don’t really make a conscious effort to listen to music anymore. I heard a lot of stuff over the last 20 years but nothing really struck me as out of the ordinary. Most of it sounds the same to me, but perhaps to someone who listens to music from a certain genre, the nuances would be more evident. The only person that really strikes me as outstanding is Mark Knopfler. He’s the kind of musician you listen to and say, ‘that sounds good’."

"I don’t really think that rock is dying though, perhaps blues inspired rock is, but with the recent revival of some of the big names from the past, I guess people realise that there’s still money in rock music."

"Then there’s fusion. I heard a bit of your Rehman and thought his music was very good. We plan to perform his version of Vande Mataram during our performances."

About his plans for the future Spencer said, "I play the piano too and so compose a lot of music that I play and record. It’s not necessarily the blues but a lot of stuff off the beaten path."