ONE of fusion's most skilful guitar soloists, John McLaughlin has been an electric guitar trailblazer since the 1960s. As a session player he jammed with John Coltrane, Clapton, Hendrix and Jimmy Page, but it’s for his work with Miles Davis on landmark recordings like In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew that he’s probably best known.
This Monday, he’s back in Liverpool to play a gig at the Phil.
“It'll be nice to be back in Liverpool,” he smiles. “I haven't been for a long time. It must be 15 years since I played a gig there. I was beginning to think you'd gone off me.
“It's a good, warm place and I love the sense of humour. That's what saves the UK. I mean, the weather is terrible, but you laugh so much you don't care.”
John grew up in Doncaster, but left for New York in 1969.
“I'm an old hippy. I grew up with The Beatles. The early stuff wasn't my cup of tea, but by the time they got to Revolver and Sgt Pepper – wow – that had a really big effect on me.
“You look at Liverpool in the 60s and it was a real hotbed of talent. Not just The Beatles, but Gerry and the Pacemakers, that whole Merseybeat scene.”
John went on to work with George Martin.
“It had all been in the mid-60s – I was in a studio working with Tom Jones and Petula Clarke. George Martin was in there producing. I walked into the canteen and there were The Beatles, all four of them.
“They shouted 'Can we have your autograph?'.”
He laughs at the thought. In the years that followed, John became a pal of Ringo’s.
“I've known Ringo a long while, and I knew George,” explains John. “Ringo used to hang out when he lived in Monaco, but his wife wanted to move to LA. Eventually, they went. We miss him. He always knew how to make us laugh.”
