Bridget St John: “All of them had form hearts”

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A brand new mini-album celebrates her misplaced ‘brothers’: Nick Drake, John Martyn, Kevin Ayers and Michael Chapman. Bridget St John explains all to Uncut…

UNCUT: On Protecting My Brothers, you pay tribute to 4 artists who had been essential to you. Did you are feeling like a sister to them?
BRIDGET ST JOHN: They had been my brothers – by no means lovers! They had been those who stayed in my life, aside from Nick, who died so younger. I noticed John Martyn three months earlier than he died, he got here to New York [where St John has lived since 1976]. Regardless that I didn’t see them on a regular basis, the connection was there, like it’s with good pals.

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You’ve actually put your individual stamp on these songs, together with an experimental tackle Michael Chapman’s 10-minute “Aviator”.
I solely cowl a tune if it’s got inside me. I can sing these songs as a result of I relate to them as if I’d written them. “Aviator” was a few private factor for Michael, an issue with the Inland Income, however for me it’s in regards to the world and what’s occurring now. So I modified a couple of phrases, together with his spouse Andru’s blessing. Michael’s model is far more aggressive than mine – I believe he was actually indignant when he wrote it!

You cowl Nick Drake’s “Fly”, and also you knew him again then too – as a lot as anybody might…
I associated to him very strongly as a result of we had been each so shy – it’s arduous to be so shy and be onstage. I don’t assume I used to be as introverted as him, however I felt he was a kindred spirit.

Yours and Kevin Ayers’ voices labored very nicely collectively – nearly like female and male variations of one another.
I at all times liked enjoying with Kevin. I’m not an ideal singer, I usually don’t sing precisely on the beat, and I believe we simply might really feel the place the opposite one was. Right here, I play “Jolie Madame”, which we recorded collectively initially. I can converse French, however Kevin was correctly bilingual, so it was fully completed when he performed it to me.

The oddity on this EP is your model of John Martyn’s “Head And Coronary heart” – a demo you made for 1974’s Jumblequeen, misplaced and just lately found.
John was initially going to supply the album, so I recorded some demos for him. There have been six songs, and “Head And Coronary heart” was certainly one of them. I’d completely forgotten doing it till final summer season when Mhairi, John’s daughter, obtained in contact and stated, “I’ve this reel-to-reel.” I actually like this model.

John was the primary of those 4 you met, wasn’t he?
I met him in 1967, after I was at Sheffield College, via Robin Frederick who additionally knew Nick Drake. He was the one who took me to Al Stewart‘s home to file my first demo, which obtained to John Peel, which led to the whole lot opening up for me. John Martyn helped me purchase my first steel-string guitar, as a result of I solely had a nylon string. I did a number of gigs with him, till it turned clear that he was thus far forward of his time, with the Echoplex and his method of enjoying… his viewers didn’t relate to me a lot, as a quiet singer-songwriter, so we did fewer gigs collectively, however nonetheless some, and typically with him and Danny Thompson.

Did you attempt to sustain with their hell-raising?
No, after two glasses of wine I’d have to go to mattress! However all my ‘brothers in music’ had form hearts. They may have had tough edges, or deeper than tough edges… however I believe I’m drawn to the great and the depth of individuals.

What have you ever obtained developing after this launch?
I’ve obtained a few songs I undoubtedly wish to put down, so I’ll in all probability go to the studio upstate, the place I recorded “Aviator”, in Might or June.

Protecting My Brothers is obtainable on 10” vinyl by Shagrat Data

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