John McGeoch Book Incoming!

[stevejamsecono]

Quite excited about this! Guess it's already out in the UK and have to wait until late June to get it here...

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/ ... xsie-sioux

[budda12ax7]

Wow,,,,need to read this....

[Straight6DOHC]

'John McGeoch Book Incoming!'
About time too!

[stevejamsecono]

Just finished reading this one and would highly recommend. Very heartfelt writing on the subject. Also plenty of gear tidbits for the Yamaha SG fanatics like myself!

Only thing about it that caught me -- and this may just make him more interesting in the end -- is due to the lack of interview material with the man himself over his lifetime he still comes off somewhat mysterious in the end? His warmth, humor, work ethic, and breadth of interests are all well represented but there is something still mercurial about him. Quite fascinating, really.

Anyway, check it out! I give it four out of four MXR flangers on a stand.

[cestlamort]

Anyway, check it out! I give it four out of four MXR flangers on a stand.

Haha. That’s perfect.

I agree with your assessment, but hadn’t put my finger on it, he remained a little elusive even after reading. But: highly enjoyable read and I learned a ton, both the early years and the later era.

[stevejamsecono]

Definitely. Very happy I got it and still sad at how he ended up.

[timtam]

I've just finished the book. McGeoch is my favourite guitarist of all time, by a considerable margin. Post-punk was the most exciting musical period for me. So I had high expectations of the book.

The author Rory Sullivan-Burke takes a light touch with the book - basically letting the story tell itself, in the words of people who were there. That's the strength of the book, that so many people were happy to talk on the record. The only two from the bands/circles in which McGeoch moved who I noticed were missing were Robert Smith and John Lydon. Of course also missing is any real insight into McGeoch's own thoughts, except where he had told them to others. It's nice to hear the sense of regret from some people who wish they might have done things a little differently at the time, although there's little reason for them to feel guilty for what happened in the moment within Magazine and the Banshees. The author doesn't try to inject himself into the story too often. Commentary on McGeoch's playing is left up to the likes of Johnny Marr, John Frusciante and Keith Levene. And basically it's assumed that if you're reading the book you already know the music. So there's little music journalism-style sycophancy.

I enjoyed the first half most, covering McGeoch's most important Magazine and Banshees days (3 albums with each). It has allowed me to clear up my memory on the sequence of events and people movements around that time. Especially those around the time I got to see Magazine downunder in 1980 - except Robin Simon (ex-Ultravox) played guitar as McGeoch had just left - and also when I got to see the Banshees downunder in 1983 - except Robert Smith was playing guitar as McGeoch had just been fired. So I never got to see McGeoch live.

The book's second half was good for filling in details of McGeoch's later career. For me, music in general by the mid-1980's wasn't as exciting as it had been in the late 70's/early 80's, so I wasn't really listening to what he was doing later. The book has encouraged me to go back and listen to that later work (I was surprised to see that in his time in PiL he recorded 3 albums).

[eggwheat]

It’s a shame I didn’t know about the book being written, since I have his original 1977 SG1000. They could’ve used pictures of it in there rather than the Eastwood copy..which was done for product placement.

[stevejamsecono]

It’s a shame I didn’t know about the book being written, since I have his original 1977 SG1000. They could’ve used pictures of it in there rather than the Eastwood copy..which was done for product placement.

Might be worth reaching out to the author anyway just to see. I'm sure he'd love to hear from you.

Also pity he hadn't found this -- McGeoch in his own words about his setups circa The Armoury Show: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/arms-the-man/11948

[davidpggarrett]

Quite excited about this! Guess it's already out in the UK and have to wait until late June to get it here...

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/ ... xsie-sioux

Oh, thanks for the heads-up!

Fan of the McGeoch era Siouxsie & The Banshees. In fact, Siouxsie is from my neck of the woods, Bromley (specifically Chislehurst).

[timtam]

A team is now hoping to raise kickstarter money to make the film ....
https://www.guitarworld.com/news/john-m ... ocumentary
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/in ... -out-of-me
https://youtu.be/fWim7nXF43I

[UlricvonCatalyst]

Also pity he hadn't found this -- McGeoch in his own words about his setups circa The Armoury Show: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/arms-the-man/11948

Great article, thanks for the share. Whoever put the names to those chord shapes needs to go back to music class, though....

[dinosaurkale->]

https://bid.omegaauctions.co.uk/auction ... 8&pn=1&g=1

[stevejamsecono]

Dag. World's most expensive Peavey amp!

[eggwheat]

Dag. World's most expensive Peavey amp!

Wow..never expected it to go for that.