Introduction

Guitarist Fareed Haque said, “That John McLaughlin is one of the most remarkable and incredible guitar players is understood. However, I think in many ways guitarists and musicians tend to overlook his genius as a composer. No one before John had combined elements of modern jazz harmony, complex Indian rhythmic formulae, the passion of rock and the blues, and beauty, save perhaps Coltrane.”

Musicologist Kevin Michael believes that a few hundred years from now, music historians will understandably conclude John McLaughlin could not have been just one person. After all, there being several different John McLaughlins could be the only logical explanation for such a vast and diverse body of work. I hope Follow Your Heart will be around in some form to dissuade them of that hypothesis.

This book focuses on John McLaughlin’s music once he took full responsibility for it as leader of his own bands and recording projects. Every official recording led or co-led by John McLaughlin from 1969 through 2010 is covered. Forty-two albums and two hundred and ninety-eight individual cuts are discussed in detail. Special limited album releases, compilations and movie soundtracks are not included.

The idea to write a song by song listener’s guide came from two sources. In my book about The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Power, Passion and Beauty, I wrote in detail about each of the band’s tunes.  I continue to receive mail from readers who found it particularly rewarding to read these sections as they listened to the music. I was also influenced by the music journalist and educator Ted Gioia who believes reviewing individual cuts can add much more to the understanding of the music. The existence of this book is proof of my agreement.

Some essays in this book are elucidations of my reviews that appeared at Gioia’s Jazz.com. However, this is not a book of reviews. Instead, each entry should be seen as a part of a travelogue of John McLaughlin’s music.

Some of the chapter introductions are expansions of my material published at Michael Ricci’s Allaboutjazz.com. In some cases, I also expound upon my views which appeared in my Mahavishnu Orchestra book.

Follow Your Heart concentrates on the songs on which John McLaughlin participated either as composer/player or player. More attention will be given to the music McLaughlin composed. Greater emphasis is most often given to the first appearance of a piece rather than its subsequent interpretations. As a general rule, more is written about John McLaughlin’s individual role than those of the gifted musicians appearing with him. 

Each album and song has a different story. The performances are described as they are heard by my ears or felt by my heart. Throughout the text, influences are cited and measured. All great composers have revisited and refined their work. Therefore, threads are suggested that connect one tune to another. I may describe the structural elements of some music in greater detail if I believe it is important. Other times I focus more attention on a tune’s emotional impact or its history.

Many contemporary musicians of varying instruments, styles and genres have recorded John McLaughlin’s music. This is not just because he is one of the world’s greatest guitarists; it is because there is true depth found in many of his compositions. All of the commercially available interpretations of McLaughlin’s compositions are listed after each song entry. It would be a worthwhile experience to listen to them to obtain a greater appreciation of his composing skills.   

I am not a musician. I have always written about what I hear. Clearly, I could not take on this considerable undertaking thinking my ears alone would get me through it. Some added expertise was needed to help answer some of my own questions. I was so fortunate to obtain the assistance of some remarkable musicians and educators who have extensively studied John McLaughlin’s work for many years. I can’t overstate the importance of their contributions or my gratitude to them.

Multi-instrumentalist Marco Anderson helped me with John McLaughlin’s early work in particular. Guitarist and music arranger John Curtin, who worked alongside John McLaughlin to help produce The Mahavishnu Orchestra scorebook, was invaluable to my understanding of that band’s music. Noted jazz pianist and Berklee College of Music Professor Marc Rossi aided greatly in the dissection of the music of Shakti and some of McLaughlin’s orchestral pieces. Italian guitarist and recording studio owner Massimo Morrone was an asset for some of John McLaughlin’s European-leaning acoustic work. Guitarist Nat Janoff was able to give me some valuable insight into the machinations of The Guitar Trio music. By no means were their contributions limited to the areas of expertise I just mentioned. Their research and dedication to the project was, in many cases, above and beyond the call of duty. The impressive biographies of these musicologists appear in the back of this book along with my humble thanks to all of the wonderful people who helped me make Follow Your Heart a reality.

The opinions in this book are mine. I will admit some of my views were changed by spirited exchanges with Anderson, Curtin, Rossi, Morrone and Janoff. Each had the opportunity to review their input, and that of their fellow contributors, before this book was finalized. Because of this process, they became de facto editors. It is another service for which I am grateful to them.

John McLaughlin has composed music that is played by jazz and rock bands, big bands, country music performers, flamenco and Indian classical musicians, classical string quartets, symphony orchestras and by musicians from many cultures – and yet, he calls himself a tunesmith rather than a composer.

During an interview, I informed John that I was writing this book. I told him that the evidence was in and the case was closed. He was a composer whether he thought so or not. The proof was in the pudding. John answered back, “Well Walter, the proof is in the eating.” And so it is.

Unless otherwise indicated, all John McLaughlin quotes were given specifically for this book.

I am very proud of the words that appear on these pages. I know where each and every one came from. However, listening to music is a very subjective experience. It is my hope the views expressed in this book will provide fans, music students and educators material for both fun and serious discussion.

In the course of writing Follow Your Heart, I spent hundreds of hours listening intently to John McLaughlin’s music. You would think four decades of paying close attention had already given me a great understanding, but there was so much more to be uncovered. I want the readers of this book to have the same experience. Follow Your Heart could also serve as a gateway to introduce more listeners to McLaughlin’s music. There would be no greater satisfaction than knowing this book led to new discoveries.

From the Johnny McLaughlin Electric Guitarist chapter:

Are You the One? Are You the One?

Musicians:  John McLaughlin (guitar), Tony Williams (drums), Jack Bruce (bass)

“We all are the one. This question comes from the book The Last Temptation Of Christ. One of the protagonists in the book is asking this question. It hit me right away between the eyes. Are you the one? Do we dare be it? Do we have enough courage to be the one we truly are? This is quite a question.” – John McLaughlin

Only the absence of organist Larry Young, who was ill and soon to die tragically, prevented this from being a studio reunion of the quartet version of The Tony Williams Lifetime. Each player screams out the title phrase in exultation and/or exasperation. This is a hard driving, in-your-face question and answer jazz-funk assault. McLaughlin’s guitar sounds like a tuba played through a wah-wah pedal. There is a constant gravitational pushing and pulling as McLaughlin fills spaces Williams vacates and vice versa. In fact, Williams and McLaughlin are like two celestial bodies orbiting each other. The end result is a perfect equilibrium. Bruce’s solo includes every bit as much funk – even if it is European funk – as the other two. What a treat it is to hear this fusion power unit having so much fun!

There was a rumor floating around after Electric Guitarist was released that McLaughlin, Williams and Bruce were going to tour as a trio. It did not happen, but that sure would have been something.

McLaughlin has often revived the vocal aspects of “Are You The One? Are You The One?” in live performances over the years with the Trio Of Doom, the One Truth Band, the eighties Mahavishnu, and on the recording Live At The Royal Festival Hall, when the phrase hilariously shows up in “Blues For L.W.”

Also recorded by:

Gary Husband:  A Meeting Of Spirits

Nat Janoff Group:  Mahavishnu Redefined II

From the Music Spoken Here chapter:

Aspan

“Aspan was just a working title for the song that I was never able to get a real title for.” – John McLaughlin

“Aspan” is a delight. The character of the piece is European with a strong prejudice toward Spain. Chord vamps dominate the backing as John McLaughlin and keyboardist Katia LaBèque engage in some to and fro. The progression owes some gratitude to Miles’ Sketches Of Spain. The 3/4 time chord-laden interlude you hear will return for a guest appearance on the Free Spirits’ “Mattinale” in 1993. When LaBèque and McLaughlin play rapid-fire note for note her tone blends in perfectly. A bit of McLaughlin’s playful reverence breaks out from time to time as he jumps into a hyper-active Django Reinhardt bag. Also of interest is drummer Tommy Campbell’s echoing attacks. This band took a bad rap from some corners as not being up to McLaughlin’s previous standards. While it is true no one in this band was going to challenge McLaughlin, they were the right players for him to get his point across about how wonderful an acoustic guitar could sound in a fusion setting.

John McLaughlin song by song:

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to the people who helped me with this project. The depth of their expertise and generosity of their time will never be forgotten.

I thank Chick Corea for his thoughtful foreword.

I thank Rod Sibley for his friendship and many tough editing sessions; his belief in me is why he pushes so hard. I am also grateful for his legendary transcribing skills. I also thank Rod’s wife, Demetra Burton, for resisting the urge to kill her husband whenever he was editing.

I thank Ted McCallion for his friendship and editing. His support over the years has been very important to me. Ted was instrumental in the research resulting in the listing of the John McLaughlin compositions recorded by other artists.

I thank all of my other editors. They include Marco Anderson, John Curtin, Massimo Morrone, Nat Janoff, Marc Rossi and Hatty L. Tsai.

I offer a special thanks to the editor’s editor, Anna Kolosky.

I thank Michael Ricci of Allaboutjazz.com and Ted Goia of Jazz.com

My utmost gratitude also goes to the editors who had the first shot at some of this material when it appeared in earlier forms. They include Nils Jacobson, John Kelman and Alan Kurtz.

I am grateful to the gifted musician and graphic artist Joe DeRenzo for his wonderful cover design. I give my utmost thanks to Jeffrey Frank, John McGloin and Pavel Korbut for their amazing images used for the cover.

I thank Jeffrey Frank, John McGloin, Beat Pfaendler, Ina McLaughlin, Massimo Morrone, Souvik Dutta, John Bouchet, Nikolai Shienok, Rajiv Pandey, Leo Mankiewicz, Graham Crawford, Pavel Korbut, Jose Horna, Chris Poisson, David Phillips, Jorgen Angel, Hugh Lelihan Browne, Dennis Chambers, Sven Hoffmann, Ron Apeksha Bacci, Rod Daniels, Joseph D’Anna, Guido Harari, Bob Blumenthal, Bhashwar Hart, Kerstin Baramsky, Sigi Baramsky, Ray Seitzinger, Jim Beard, Otmaro Ruiz, José Miguel Rodríguez, Ernesto Juan Castellanos, Pranavananda (Anthony Hixon), The Cuban Ministry of Culture, Elliott Sears, Warren Senders, Dinky Dawson, Glenn Abbott, Richard Laird, Hatty Tsai and Anna Kolosky for their efforts to supply this book with such wonderful images. Most are being published for the first time!

Special thanks to Ernesto Juan Castellanos for negotiating the use of the historic Trio Of Doom images with the Cuban Ministry of Culture.

Thanks to Bill Rooney, Fernando Fernández, Raúl Mannola, Lola Molina, Narada Michael Walden, Jonathan Sacks, Souvik Dutta, Shweta Dutta, John Angello, Jim Walsh, Elliott Sears, Stephanie Pappas, Gayle Moran, Gary Husband and Kevin Michael. I thank my wife and daughter for their patience and support.

And last, but not least, thanks to the one and only, John McLaughlin