T
he veteran guitarist/vocalist
and former Gong member
previews three shows in
celebration of his first four solo
albums, released between 1975
and ’78.What inspired you to revisit
your Fish Rising, L, Motivation
Radio and Green albums?
This is something I wanted to do
before I get too old and decrepit. But
it’s a massive undertaking. We got
a good offer to do Shepherd’s Bush
Empire, which allowed us to add
Manchester and Cambridge.Of all your albums, why revisit
those four in particular?
Because they’re the main ones,
and I want people to know that
I’m not doing any new, modern
stuff. Having spent six months of
preparation I’m really excited by it.Along with your partner
Miquette Giraudy you’ll be
backed by the current members
of Gong at these concerts.
I’ve recently done quite a few shows
guesting with them and we’ve got
a really good chemistry. I asked
each guy individually, and they
were enthusiastic... so here we go!Will they be long shows?
Well we’re not doing all four albums
in their entirety [laughs], the set
will be drawn from those albums.
It will be a ninety-minute show.
I’ve got it all worked out in my head
already. It’s a journey that covers all
the bases.If these shows go well might
you decide to do more of
them, or could the concept be
repeated with other albums
from your catalogue?
I would think so, yes, but I’d like to
get these shows away first.Classic Rock hasn’t spoken to
you since the losses of Gong
co-founder Daevid Allen
four years ago and then Gilli
Smyth in 2016. You once told
our sister magazine Prog that
you and Miquette sat around
with those two “for hours on
end discussing music, politicsand weird shit”. Are they still
regularly in your thoughts?
Yes. Daevid and Gilli were big
inf luences on me and I will
continue to pay tribute to them.Given your ongoing relationship
with Gong’s 2019 line-up,
it seems fair to assume that
you’re comfortable with a Gong
without Daevid.
Firstly, and very importantly, it was
Daevid’s dying wish that they would
continue. And secondly, even when
I was in Gong there were periods
when Daevid and Gilli weren’t there.
Gong was never Daevid Allen plus
backing band. The band has a life
of its own, attracting some very
brilliant and individual musicians.
The whole was greater than the sum
of the parts.How likely is it that revisiting
these songs might inspire
the making of a new music in
their imprint?
Nothing is planned, but in the
words of the great Jim Kerr, who
I produced in the band Simple
Minds, everything is possible. DLThe tour begins in Cambridge on
June 6.Steve Hillage
All aboard the time machine, and set the controls for the 70s.
“I want people to
know that I’m not
doing any new,
modern stuff.”
A
s you’d expect of an artist
mentored by Warren Haynes and
Derek Trucks, Deep South-born
Marcus King is a rather special musician.
Still touring his band’s revealing Carolina
Confessions album released last year, the
guitarist/vocalist plays more UK dates
this month.
Carolina Confessions, your third album,
which Classic Rock described as “a classy
fusion of brassy soul, blues and velvety
southern rock”, has been widely praised.
Was it criticised anywhere?
I have a good team around me, and if there
were bad reviews then they hid them
from me [laughs]. Overall, though, I’m
immensely gratified that people really seem
to dig the record.
According to your press biography its
central theme is that “none of us are
blameless at the end of a relationship”.
Deep stuff for a twenty-three-year-old!
Those emotions are stronger and more
cogent in one’s youth, but it really has
nothing to do with the amount of trips
around the sun you’ve had. I feel in the
prime time of my life to be writing about
such things. I’m blessed to have had the
amount of heartache I’ve had.
In October last year you played your
biggest British tour so far. What made
you return so soon?
When we find a market that treats us right
we like to come back straight away. It’s
a combination of striking while the iron’s hot
and leaving the fans wanting a little bit more.
As well as playing three headline dates you
also have a spot at the Black Deer Festival
Of Americana & Country Music in Kent, on
the same day as Kris Kristofferson.
I’m stoked about that. Kris Kristofferson is
a badass. He’s awesome.
You’re also appearing at the Isle of
Wight Festival.
Oh man, I grew up hearing about that
festival. All my favourite groups played there.
We are talking on the day that Woodstock
Fifty, at which you’re also billed to appear,
was postponed and then reconfirmed.
I don’t know one way or the other as to that
situation. The line-up is very diverse, and
I was looking forward to appearing there.
I really hope it happens. DL
The last of the dates is on June 21.
Look out for them on tour
and at festivals this summer.
Marcus King Band
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