.. Livin' The Blues ... ..
John Yellowlees Website
John first picked up a guitar (someone else's) when he was twelve. 40 years, 20 guitars and a whole lotta bottlenecks later he's still steeped in the blues.
Ground-shaking moments along the way for John, were : My Generation by The Who; Shapes of Things; by the Yardbirds (with a love for the blistering solo on the 'B' side ... Mister You're a Better Man Than I); Robert Johnson : King of the Delta Blues; Red House by Jimi Hendrix (plus, who could forget a televised Jimi knocking the stuffing out of the 'Lulu Show'); Pink Floyd's 'Meddle'; 'Dark Side of the Moon' and 'Division Bell'; everything by David Gilmour; Bob Dylan's 'Hard Rain'; 'Physical Graffitti' by Led Zeppelin; Cream's 'Crossroads'; Bert Jansch's 'Needle of Death'; Jack Bruce's 'Consul At Sunset'; John Maclaughlin's 'Peace Piece'; and 'Between Nothingness and Eternity'; Chicken Shack's 'Unlucky Boy'; Ry Cooder's 'Vigilante Man' on the Old Grey Whistle Test (and everything else by maestro Cooder); John Hammond's 'One Kind Favour'; Talking Head's 'Life During Wartime'; ... and that Little Ol'; Band from Texas, ZZ Top ... live in Newcastle.
It's the haunting grit of the Delta Blues that has inspired John's own playing, with that extra dimension of bottleneck/slide guitar to set the skin tingling. Inspired by Ry Cooder and John Hammond, John has brought his own soul to the blues ... and his guitar work and voice tell their own story, often with the overall bluesy feel giving way to spanish, classical and jazz influences.
John wonders at the harshness of life and tenacity of spirit that gave rise to the original blues music and musicians of the Mississippi Delta, and it is with respect and deference that he draws on the legacy of these bluesmen.
But we live in troubled and violent times, and, if it can be true to say that anyone really playing the blues has probably lived the blues too ... then John is no exception and he brings all his soul to the music.
John's first album : 'Rumble Strip' took 2 days to record but 35 years to get to the studio. It's a rough album, 'live in the studio' with no overdubs. The August heat beat on the roof and some of the squeaks on the strings can be heard in 'Air on a Shoestring' as John's sweaty fingers go from one end of the fretboard to the other. No apologies for these 'imperfections' ... it just adds to the feel of the album. Some of the tracks can be accessed here on the MySpace Player. Want the album? ... email John at
[email protected] Following the album, John is looking to reestablish his profile as a live musician ... this took a back seat to his career as a social care professional for 20 years.
Before that, across the years, John played solo and in various bands including : 'Purple Dustbin'; and 'The Briquant Brick Ensemble' (with Ian Watt); 'JAPP' (with Alex 'The Improviser' Campbell and Phil 'Tone Generator' Penny); 'Hot Roach' (with Pat Mason); and 'Knotted Piano Swamp' (largely anonymous, thankfully ... pre-punk chaos-rock).
In recent years, John has taken his blues music into prison environments, hosting blues workshops then working with individuals on their music and their difficulties.
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.. Livin' The Blues ... ..
