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Almost
50
years have passed since Mighty Baby sadly
dissolved and the world lost a band of musicians
who had a unique alchemy. Yes, there have been
tremendous spins offs, such as the Habibiyya,
Ace, Chilli Willi, Juice On The Loose and
various session work, but as I sit here in 2021,
another step up the stairway to heaven so to
speak, the likelihood of new music from the
remaining quintet diminishes with each passing
year. So it is with tremendous excitement that
Ian Whiteman has been busy recording an EP of
fabulous new music labelled "Poor Man's Prayer"
from his recording shed in Andalusia Spain. Ian
kindly agreed to respond to some interview
questions about his music that I have copied
here for you to enjoy.
Scene
setting:
Ian Whiteman talented multi-instrumentalist with
Mighty Baby, the Habibiyya and much sought after
session player in the early 70’s has produced
his first set of solo songs in the
singer/songwriter idiom, labelled Poor Man’s
Prayer...
Q:
Ian, firstly, congratulations on the release
of a marvellous set of personal songs; what
was behind the inspiration to make the EP
record after all these years?
Ian:
I
don’t know. I must have been nuts. Suddenly my
private personal internal world is splattered
all over the internet. It’s a surreal experience
compared to 50 years ago when the whole thing
was run my managers and record companies. I have
had a lot of musical ideas floating around for
years as I’m a pretty compulsive musician and I
can’t stop the ideas coming — most which just
disappear after a bit. In 2018 I had to have a
quite serious operation, and when you lie in an
emergency room in a hospital and think it might
be your last view of the world it’s a wakeup
call. Recovery was slow but I quickly wanted to
put all this music down before it vanished or
more importantly before I did. I wasn’t quite
sure how to do it as I wasn’t up to getting in
to a studio because of the cost and for creative
reasons. You have to understand the computer has
become another musician now and it’s an
instrument which is easier to manage than actual
people, heretical it might be to say so. I got
spoilt playing with very good experienced
musicians in the past and to find that kind of
talent where I live in Spain is not easy. So I
opted for recording it all in my garden shed. I
had to improve my equipment a bit but it was
much cheaper than hiring a studio and musicians.
My voice was also a bit rusty singing solo
songs. I’ve had to adapt my vocals as my voice
is not the smokey kind, one pickled by chain
smoking and whisky it’s not a loud voice either.
Q:
You’ve made these songs during the Covid
lockdown, which must have presented a number
of challenges: what sort of home studio set up
do you have?
Ian:
It’s
a 5m square wooden shed very solidly built and
insulated and I had to run electricity and
Ethernet into it from my house. COVID has not
presented any problems other than me not wanting
to bring in musicians into close sweaty
proximity! The equipment is mostly quite old
which I’ve accumulated over the years, stuff I
brought down from the UK in 2003 when I moved to
Spain. The old Mac computer is one I bought ten
years ago and does the job although it can’t be
upgraded anymore. When you start connecting to
the current internet it demands you have the
latest of everything which I don’t have. But
everything works fine. I’d love more physical
space but I manage. I’ve grown up with the
computer revolution when I got an Atari in 1987
with a great program called Creator which much
later became Logic Pro X which I now use. It’s a
phenomenal programme although I probably use
only 25% of its capabilities. But I’ve given
myself a crash course in recording, balancing,
mixing and mastering. It’s hard work actually.
There’s many secrets which I’ve uncovered but
the recordings will never be like Abbey Road or
many of the American studios which are streaks
ahead of European ones in my opinion. I listen a
lot to recordings by people like Rudi Van Gelder
who recorded all the jazz albums by Coltrane and
the Blue Note jazz artists of the late 1950s and
early 1960s. All in mono too on analog tape with
valve amps and it sounds fantastic.
Q:
Run us through the instruments you play on the
recordings
Ian:
The
computer is the big instrument which if you
don’t master it, it masters you. Actually the
whole shed is really an instrument which you
have to learn how to play. But I limit myself to
only a few sounds the computer is capable of
producing although I’m always looking for better
versions, particularly of pianos. I’ve collected
other physical instruments which I play with
varying skills. I love the guitar but I’m not
very good at it. I just don’t have big enough
hands. But it’s so different from a piano or any
keyboard as it doesn’t have the fixed notes of a
piano and you can experiment with tunings. Its
better I stick to keyboards as it’s the
instrument I’m most at home with. I have a cheap
alto saxophone, a flute and a couple of
shakuhachis as well as an oboe for 50 euros in a
car boot sale here but not much demand for that
in my present musical mood. I have a very nice
Martin guitar as well as some basic classic
acoustic guitars which I would like to explore
more. Plus a 30 year old Les Paul on loan from
one of my sons. A few hand drums lie around but
I don’t use them much, if at all. I have a small
plastic egg shaker which I use a lot. I try to
mix computer music with natural music often. I
use trap drum samples less and less. I like
bossa nova rhythms and lightweight percussion
mixed with artificial sounds I’ve dug up from
sample libraries. The cajon (pronounced cakhon)
is going to be on my next recordings. It’s
basically a wooden box but often used by the
cante honda singers down here in southern Spain.
With this current record I’ve stripped
instrumentation down to bare essentials. It
really helped.
Q:
The opening track “Song of the Soul”, starts
with a very effective Danny Thompsonesque bass
line reminiscent of his work with John
Martyn’s Bless The Weather/Solid Air
recordings (and of course you played on the
sessions of the former) – What was the
inspiration behind the lyrics, a reflection of
your faith?
Ian:
I’ve
tried to keep religion out of all this like Dave
Chapelle the great American comedian who very
publicly said “Islam is a beautiful religion but
I’m not talking about it as I’m not a very good
example”. Having said that we all share certain
ultimate realities like birth, life and death
and so on so it’s something everyone can related
to. Song of the Soul, which I had doubts about
including, is from a poem by the late Daniel
Moore who I knew very well over many years. He
was one of the celebrated City Lights beat poets
from 1960s San Francisco along with Alan
Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti and his
poetry is a challenge as it’s mostly in free
verse, which doesn’t make for easy song writing.
The form this track took was meant to be jazzy
and simple like Peggy Lee’s big 1950s hit Fever.
I found that snapping your fingers for five
minutes is not easy at all. Yes, shades of Danny
Thompson or even Charlie Mingus his great
inspiration. It could have been a big production
with Elvin Jones drumming, saxes, French Horns,
brass and McCoy Tyner piano as on Africa Brass
and Olé, the two terrific Coltrane albums. Worth
trying one day with flesh and blood musicians.
It was a difficult track actually and I’m still
not sure I should have included it. It had
potential.
The
words
of the poem are curious but very Daniel Moorish
who could skilfully edge around quite deep
spiritual realities of God, Prophets and
Cosmological realities without it sounding
pretentious and which would in turn create a
kind of God Rock which is so nauseating. The
Muslims have their fair share of all that as
does the Christian right.
Q:
Your piano playing comes in around the
mid-point of the song and then sets a, what I
can best describe, as a dreamy French café
ambience, as it repeats the song’s main theme
but with changing twists....beautiful
playing....and I’m pleased to hear that the
song concludes with the trademark Whiteman
keyboard flourish that we’ve come to expect!
Was that chord progression something that
you’ve had in your mind for some time, or did
you just come up with it when recording the
song?
Ian:
To
tell the truth I didn’t know how to end it. I
wanted to get in meaningful chords straight off
the jazz records I just mentioned. According to
today’s Guardian there’s a jazz revival right
now. But to me jazz is too much of a genre now
and people get stuck in it. But I like to take
things from it. Also my hands can never forget
the chords.
Q:
Next on the EP is the “Did I Ever Say I Love
You”, which sounds like a very personal
reflection, is that song aimed at someone
close to you?
Ian:
No
I don’t think so. Writing a love song is
actually quite hard and avoided by most people
for probably good reasons. Actually I had a
musical theme which I knew from my knowledge of
North African songs which is actually the main
theme of the song and the words were designed to
fit that. I’ve tried it with other tunes. It’s a
rich resource. It’s an odd way to arrive at a
song. People seem to like it as its simple and I
could see other people performing it.
Q:
The song also introduces your trusty flute and
what appears to be female backing vocals, was
that your daughter Hannah?
Ian:
No
it’s me singing falsetto. Anything to strengthen
my rather weak vocal.
Q:
The third track “Deep Green” includes some
bird song, I presume they did not charge a
session fee, as their timing is immaculate?
Ian:
The
nightingales were making such a din just outside
my shed door and it got picked up on an audio
track – not by design. The song is about
nightingales but I can’t remember which came
first, the words or the bird song.
Q:
On first listening I thought that the lyrics
to Deep Green were about the environment, but
I’m not so sure, what was behind the lyrics to
this song?
Ian:
A
bit of a mystery even to me. I’m not sure what
it’s about. You have to imagine what it’s like
being a nightingale in a forest and the kind of
deep intensity they experience. It’s almost
beyond explanation. It segued into a personal
experience I had many years ago which also is
beyond explanation. I played it to two different
women who both wept. So it’s pretty hot stuff
emotionally evidently!
Q:
The EP title song “Poor Man’s Prayer” appears
to comment on your experience of adopting the
Sufi faith...”I am just a poor man, who had
tried to hear your call”...are you still a
practicing Sufi, or is this a retrospective
song in that sense?
Ian:
You know I wrote this around 1997 to an old
Algerian tune I knew and it had to fit the songs
metre. The original song was on some spiritual
subject and I couldn’t use prosaic worldly ideas
in the words. I actually used some strong
Qur’anic imagery of the dawn breaking and the
sky shaking but then made it personal and the kind
of bewilderment that you can experience when you
contemplate these ultimate realities over many
years wondering if what you do is bearing any
fruit. I think it was in the tradition of Mighty
Baby, whose song lyrics were about real things
and what was going inside expressing our hopes,
desires and disappointments etc. We could never
sing songs about riding on white swans like Marc
Bolan did, before he embraced a tree on the
Thames embankment and left this world. Actually
without
getting too technical Sufism is not exactly a
faith but it’s a coined English word which
loosely describes the hidden inward dimension of
Islam. Like the apple has a core and without the
core you don’t have an apple, geddit? As you are
going to ask me about the Happiest Man in the
Carnival, I should explain that the late Martin
(Stone that is) is the one who wrote the words
of that song and was responsible, bless him, for
dragging people like me into all of this
religion stuff. And with no regrets. It’s just
that I always get the blame for some reason.
Q:
The next song on the EP, “Raspberry Juleps”
starts with some very tasteful guitar playing;
have you always played the guitar, or is that
something you have taught yourself in later
life?
Ian:
As
I said I’m really not a guitarist but I know
what I like. I listen with envy to Brazilian
bossa guitarists. No idea how they can do it.
Hands like giant crabs. Until I can find such a
guitarist I’ll have to fill in as best I can.
Same with bass and percussion. There have always
been guitars lying around in my houses. As I
said earlier they are a nice contrast to the
strictures of a piano keyboard. The oud is also
a beautiful instrument to play if you can find a
good instrument that is.
Q:
“Juleps” also introduces the organ, obviously
not a B3 in the “House Without Windows” vein,
but nether-the-less a very welcome variation –
What sort of keyboard do you have at home!
Ian:
I
have just a neutral midi keyboard that has no
sounds but plays whatever you want in the
computer. But I have nice quality portable
Yamaha piano which I’ve used at a few gigs round
here. I’ve played in studio and concert halls on
many of the world’s best pianos, Steinways,
Bechsteins, Bosendorfers etc., and it’s hard
playing on anything less. Same with Hammond
Organs, Rhodes and Wurlitzer pianos. The samples
are now pretty good and take up a lot less space
than a grand piano and a B3.
Q:
Tell us what inspired “Juleps”... I know the
Alpurrajas region of Andalucía where you live
is a very fertile area with all manner of
fruit (not just lemons!) and nuts growing
wild....is this a local home brew you make?
Ian:
Juleps
was another of Daniel Moore poems which I put to
music more than ten years ago. I’ve never been
to sure what any of it meant, but the more I
lived with it, the more it took on meanings. I
imagined Jerry Garcia doing it as it had that
west coast zany quality. Daniel’s poetry is like
an IKEA flat pack wardrobe. Doesn’t mean much
till it’s unpacked and assembled. I’m working on
another of his poems at the moment. Poetry is an
interesting way into a song and I want to
explore it more.
Q:
The final track on the EP is a reworking of
the Mighty Baby “Happiest Man at the Carnival”
from Jug of Love which will need no
introduction to this audience – What was
behind that particular choice, which is a
fitting conclusion to the EP to my ears?
Ian:
Using
the song, which I have always loved, was like
just looking over my shoulder and acknowledging
the band and the curious, original music we
experienced and it’s deep influence on me. I
thought it worth revisiting, just 50 years
almost exactly to the month when we were first
putting the song together. I was a bit younger
when I sang on that track and now I’m older
slowing it down seemed appropriate. The song has
a curious structure that grew out of Martin’s
words rather like those paper Chinese flowers
that open up and take shape when dropped in
water. It has a poignancy about it.
Q:
Now that you have “broken” the home recording
barrier, are you tempted to write any further
songs – just thinking out loud, but “At A
Point Between Fate & Destiny” would
probably suit your treatment if you were
tempted to include an oldie but goodie?
Ian:
That
song along with I’m from The Country were
recorded in Pye Studios off Marble Arch. If I
remember right there was no producer and we sent
the engineer home and did it ourselves. Not
perfect but in some ways a better sound than a
lot of the other tracks. Musicians weren’t
allowed near mixing desks in those days. Not
sure I could revisit At A Point Between Fate and
Destiny. It’s a weird song in some ways and
expressed the strange muse the band was riding
on at that time in 1969.
Q:
Do you think if the right conditions presented
themselves you would like to perform these
songs live? Again selfish from my perspective,
but I can just visualise a band made up of
Susan G-A on flute, Roger on
percussion/tablas, Barry Melton on guitar and
yourself on vocals and keyboards, there I’ve
said it...we’re allowed to dream aren’t we!
Ian:
I’m
not really into performing any more for which
you need a certain fire, although I enjoyed the
few times I’ve played locally. I found it
exhausting but I was recovering from my ops at
the time. I’d never say never. But just lugging
equipment is enough to put me off.
Q:
How can fans access your EP, I believe you
have put them on the usual streaming sites,
but for us “traditionalists”, is there a CD we
can order ?
Ian:
I’m
expecting any day a short run of CDs
manufactured in Granada next door to where I
live, nicely packaged. When I can establish what
the postage will be, I’ll post on-line how they
can be obtained. Each one will be numbered and
signed like a Banksy Lino print.
Q:
Finally, it’s fantastic to know that you are
writing and recording music again; it’s been
one of the few good news stories to brighten
what has been a long dark year for most! I
know I speak on behalf of Mighty Baby fans
(and fans of your work generally) in thanking
you for sharing your new music and taking the
time to talk about here.
Ian:
I’m
flattered but I always remind myself I’m only as
good as my last disaster.
With
his
creative juices now flowing, Ian is
contemplating a follow up EP, let’s hope that
see’s the light of day in due course, as such
talent deserves to be heard....
Ian's
new
music is readily available on the usual
streaming sites (Deezer, Apple & Spotify)
but you can obtain a signed copy of a 100
limited edition by following the link on Ian’s
website here:
POOR
MAN’S
PRAYER | Ian Whiteman
Written
and directed by Martin Fallace
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