great dalliances, almost like romances with
different musicians and their input. Different
sounds and the way contemporary recording
changed in the mid-eighties, the fond farewell to
analogue recording. All that sort of thing. I think
I had so much experience of the acceleration of
creativity going into chaos for a period in the
seventies, that I really just wanted to keep doing
different things all the time. I do interviews with
people and they say: “Have you thought about
writing a book?” I go: “Fuck off. Everything that I’vegot between my ears, or between
my legs, is my business and
nobody else’s. I know too many
things, and when I finally depart
this mortal coil I don’t want my
family to think that I was some
kind of weirdo.” So I keep it hid. One of the tracks
off my last record [2017’s Carry Fire] is about just
that – Keep It Hid. And that’s what you have to do.At the same time as guarding your privacy, the
podcast aims to throw light on parts of your
back catalogue.
Talking about the creation and development of
music is a double-edged sword. I recently did a gig
in Roskilde, Denmark, and Bob Dylan wanted to
talk to me about touring. So I met him where allthe buses are parked, at this big festival, and we
eyeballed each other and smiled in the darkness. It
was pissing with rain, two hooded creatures in
a blacked-out car park, and I said to him: “Hey,
man, you never stop!” He looked at me, smiled and
said: “What’s to stop for?” But I couldn’t ask him
about his songs, because as much as I’ve been
affected by his work you can’t talk about it. My
work is not anywhere near as profound in what it’s
trying to do. At the same time, you can get to know
the motive and circumstances behind a particular
song, without it being Masters Of War.Through discussing certain songs on the
podcast, have you discovered a unifying
thread to your work?
In a way. There was always a reticence with stuff,GET
TY
x 2“Everything that I’ve got between my
ears, or between my legs, is my business
and nobody else’s.”
The Band Of Joy, circa January 1968:
(l-r) Kevyn Gammond, Robert Plant,
John Bonham, Chris Brown, Paul Lockey.Plant and fellow^ Band^ Of^ Joy^
members^ with^ a^ group^
of protesters^ in^1967.28 CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM