Apache John

I spent a significant percentage of my childhood and teens at my Grandparents' Croft on The Isle of Skye. Much of the images presented in my songs originate from those prolonged Summer visits to the Inner Hebrides.My interest in music began in 1962, when as a boy, I heard the song 'Oh My Darling Clementine' sung at a Boy Scout Campfire. The combination of melody and lyrics moved me to my very soul. I was determined from then on to use melody as a vehicle for story stelling. I was a young boy then and did not understand that 'Clementine' was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. I took it very seriously at the time.A few weeks later I was given a couple of 78 RPM Lonnie Donegan singles by someone who felt pity on a young boy who had no records to listen to other than his parents 'Scotland A Go-Go' LP. The Lonnie Donegan singles changed the world for me! Tom Dooley/Rock 'O' My Soul/ The Grand Coolie Dam & Nobody Loves Like An Irish Man were nearly all stories put to melody! My parents bought me an old jazz guitar with f-holes and I started to learn a few chords. The first song I wrote was called 'Auntie Nell Made A Smell'.Three years later in 1965 I was watching a TV pop program called 'Ready Steady Go' and came across a young folk singer called Donovan who I perceived to be performing the same type of songs as Lonnie Donegan. I was totally blown away because this was my type of music! I quickly found out about Dylan and became very excited when I came across songs such as 'With God On our Side' and 'Mr Tambourineman' and as a consequence of this, I deluded myself into thinking that had I been older these would have been the very songs I'd have written myself! It was so unfair being so young! Anyway, that's how it felt at the time!In 1973 I performed one of my own songs on a London Broadcasting Radio Show hosted by Jimmy Saville.As well as writing more songs than I can perhaps remember, I fronted The G String Skiffle Band in the Eighties (the brainchild of fellow Song Writer, Len Abraham) and we played extensively through The East Midlands and quite regularily at the coalmining clubs in places such as Mansfield. The Band was televised performing live with Noddy Holder on London Weekend Television in 1986. Later that year the BBC featured the band performing another of my songs on the streets of London.Today, with the help of my wife 'Amazon Jan', and the musicianship of Andi & Julia; to complement our band, we aspire to bring an acoustic, raw sound, reflecting our musical, emotional and social history.If you 'click' on the links below for 'The-Muzic' and for 'Lemonrock' both these interesting sites will take you to more of my songs, which you may download, or just listen to, if you wish. Hope you like them. ............................................................ ............................................................ .....................................

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............................................................ ............................................................ ....REVIEWS/COMMENTS........................................ ................ THE PUMP HOUSE THEATRE WATFORD:- A truly magical evening The PumpHouse Arts Centre, Watford on Tue 2nd Oct 07 "Really mellow vibe"... you're not kidding! These guys have got mellow vibes by the bucket load, not to mention great songs, excellent musicianship and the kind of real togetherness that you rarely see in "live" music these days. Amazon Jan underpinned everything with a steady bassy beat on the Tubano whilst Apache John sang and played his own compositions. With Mike's weaving harmonica ducking in and out the three of them created a really full sound. There was some good banter too... before each song Apache John let us in on some of the ideas behind the writing... some good hippy stuff with an edge of hard reality thrown into the mix. A truly inspiring PumpHouse evening... can't wait to see some more! Ellie, Wed 3rd Oct 07 ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ...........................................................K EEF JACKMAN, THE ACOUSTIC CLUB, BISHOP'S STORTFORD, 20th JUNE 2007 ;- "Without any question at all The Pyramid Stage (Glastonbury) is missing an act this year.....Apache John - a phenomenon."................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ................................................DAVE AT ST ANNE'S CASTLE 22nd APRIL 2007, commenting on a Dylan Night 21st April 2007, "Thank you so much for your excellent contribution.." ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ....................................THE-MUZIC Dec. 2007 ( http://www.the-muzic.com) No.1 In The-Muzic Charts for 3 Weeks With 'The Big Issue Christmas Song'....................................................... ............................................................ ............................................................ ......................................................APACHE JOHN BAND June 5th 2008 - "The Sunshine Boy"Video by Christopher Smith....................................................... ............................................................ ............................................................ ...........................................................