JACK GREEN Q&AQ) Were you just amongst the layers of guitars ? A) Most of the time, yes Q) Did you have any creative/artistic input ? Q) If so, which songs, or parts etc. ? A) The Guitar riff on "Exploding Mouth": I made up the riff and was playing about with it in the studio. Steve picked up on it and we were just jamming. Marc walked in and said "Keep playing that" picked up his Les Paul and played the 10th that cuts across the riff. The next thing we new it was recorded. I also sang a harmony with Marc, Gloria and Pat in the one that goes: Dit Dit Di Di Di Dit, I can't remember the name of it. Q) Did you respect Marc Bolan as a Musician/composer/song/lyricwriter/person/guitarist A) As a composer, very much so. As a songwriter myself I always have the greatest respect for somebody who can keep turning out hit after hit. A first album is always easy. You're burning to record emotions that you've been carrying around all your life. But as the albums pile up you've then got to look for the inspiration. As a lyric writer he was brilliant. He was very clever in his use of words. Paul Simon once said "The more obscure the lyric, the more intriguing" He also managed to put some humour into his lyrics, which I personally like. As a person: When I met him he was already a big star, it can be hard sometimes to see the person behind the star. We used to laugh a lot. I think we both used to find each other quite funny. He had a cruel sense of humour and was always trying to make me lose it on stage. Like the night we played in Glasgow (Which is my home town) He introduced me to the audience with: "I suppose you've noticed we have a new addition to the band, He's from Glasgow and his name's Jack Green" (Big cheers, I wave) Then he turns to the mike and says "And now he'd like to say a few words"..... I almost died, he thought it was hilarious. Ha Ha.
As a guitarist: You must remember Marc at that time had only been playing electric guitar for 5 years. Had he lived I think he would have got a lot better, but some of the stuff he played then was quite naive. Q)Did you enjoy your time with T-Rex? A) Yes. I was 22 and I had a fantastic time. I'm actually writing a book about the time I was with T-Rex. It's full of reminiscences and road stories. When it's finished, you'll be the first to know. Q) Which band member did you get on with best ? A) Steve and Mickey Bill was always a bit of a loner but I got on well with him too. Marc was my boss. Q) Which were the best live gigs ? A) It's hard to say after so long. I don't remember ever having a bad reception. I've read that we had a hard time in America. This is simply not true. We went down a storm every night. I think people have said this because the album sales for Zinc Alloy were not as high as his previous albums, but this did not affect the live gigs one bit. The biggest gig was Toronto Expo, 160000 people. Q) Do you know what they are doing now ? (Davy Lutton, Dino Dines, Miller Anderson) A) I haven't seen Davy since 1979, which is a shame because we got on really well. The last I heard, he'd given up the business. I met Dino and Miller for the first time at the memorial in London. I think Dino has a band and Miller was working with Spencer Davis. Q) Do you know anything about the new Pretties Tribute etc. * A) I'm having a bit of a dispute with the Pretty Things at the moment. I wrote a lot of the Savage Eye and Silk Torpedo albums but my name was never put on the writing credits, an error which they said they would correct .Even after re-releasing the songs on loads of later albums they still haven't put this right. Tracks like "Sad eye" was just me and a double tracked acoustic guitar, and "Is it only love" was written by Gordon Edwards and me years before we even joined the Pretty Things. Even last week somebody sent me a recording I made in 1972 with "Country Joe McDonald " My group "Sunshine" played all the backing yet on the label it said "Country Joe and the Pretty Things. Q) How many solo Albums/Singles have you released ? A) 4 Humanesque, Reverse Logic Mystique Latest Game I don't know how many singles came off them. Q) What is your favourite self penned song and where can we find it ? Q) Are you recording any new material, if so what is it ? A) I've been writing songs professionally since I was 16, so it's hard to pick out one song that I like the most, but if pressed I would always like the newest song that I've written. While I was in the new T-Rex band I wrote three songs with Rolan Bolan in mind. I had the idea of him singing these songs and being backed by his Dads' old band, but the rest of the band were not interested. I would like to send Rolan these songs when I am able to get in touch. Thank You Jack. Answers written by Jack on the 2nd August 2000. * A little info on Jack Green. When Jack joined T-Rex in 1973 he was already a veteran in showbiz circles. At the age of 16 he had written two major hit singles in Holland and Germany, then had spent two years in the cast of the musical, "Hair," playing the part of, "Woof," on the West End stage, and he had an album with his own band, "Sunshine," released on the Warner Bros. Label. He played with T-Rex from 1973 to 1974 touring the world and playing on the singles, "Truck On," and "Teenage Dream," and on the albums, "Zinc Alloy," and, "Light of Love," (released in the U.S.A.) When Jack left the band he joined the, "Pretty Things," who had just been signed to the newly formed, "Swansong Records," (Led Zeppelins' label) and played on the albums, "Silk Torpedo," and, "Savage Eye." A period back in the West End followed, with Jack playing, "Simon Zealotes," in, "Jesus Christ Superstar." Then came a short stint with, "Ritchie Blackmore's - Rainbow," and then a solo career with R.C.A. followed. Success came in Canada and the U.S.A. in the form of a gold record for his first album, "Humanesque," (on which Ritchie Blackmore played). Next came the album, "Reverse Logic," and then, "Mystique," from which came the track, "Walking in my Sleep," – the first solo hit for "The Who's – Roger Daltry," and finally came the album, "Latest Game," on which Jack worked closely with "John (Cougar) Mellencamp." Jack has only recently returned from living in Spain, where he has been writing songs and film music.
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