Billy Connolly recalled being in a room with you, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake and John Martyn. Did you feel you were collectively doing something special? poscopyThat might have been at the Royal Festival Hall [in 1969], where Fairport Convention had Nick and John as openers and Billy must have been backstage. He’d have been in the Humblebums with Gerry Rafferty, before he evolved from a banjo player who told jokes into a comedian who played a bit of banjo.
He was always a fantastic bloke and we’ve been friends for a long time. There was a great camaraderie between the stable of acts Joe Boyd produced: Fairport, the Incredible String Band, John Martyn, Chris McGregor. We felt different, not special, and didn’t feel successful because we weren’t.
None of these people really sold many records in their lifetimes, but people are still discovering them now. This album is my latest attempt to sell some units. Have you ever been on a 1952 Vincent Black Lightning and did that inspire the song? llamapacaI’ve never ridden a Vincent Black Lightning.
There’s only about 15 left, but when I was a kid one of the neighbours had a Vincent Black Shadow – a very similar motorcycle – and us kids thought it was one of the most beautiful things we’d ever seen. I was casting around for a British equivalent to American romantic imagery, so thought it would be a good object to build a drama around. Boy, girl, motorcycle, armed robbery … The narrator in your song Cold Kisses is one of the most chilling characters I’ve ever met in a song.
How much of that rogue is you? If it’s none, where did you summon him up from? LeroyDeSwoonHe wants to compare himself with her old boyfriends.
Some of us have been there – not necessarily going through someone’s drawers, but looking at someone’s diary or emails, trying to find out more about a new partner. It’s a sneaky thing to do, obviously, but in the guise of entertainment songwriting can dig below the surface of what’s considered civilised and into an area that’s slightly uncomfortable. On the new album, the song Cocaine Walking, Booze Talking is based on people I met in the psychedelic era who were a bit edgy or violent.
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