John Fiddler - Medicine Head Interview
When and where were you born? What was your childhood like growing up? When did you first begin to fall in love with music, more specifically the guitar? What was it that initially fascinated you? Was music relevant around your household growing up?
BORN 9.25.1947 IN DARLASTON, IN THE “BLACK COUNTRY” THE MIDLANDS OF ENGLAND. FATHER DIED WHEN I WAS ONE YEAR AND TEN MONTHS OLD. A VERY MATERIALLY POOR TIME, BUT VERY EMOTIONALLY AND CREATIVELY RICH TIME THANKS TO MY MOTHER AND TWO SISTERS. I BELIEVE IN SOME STRANGE WAY I WAS A VERY LUCKY YOUNG BOY. SINCE THE RADIO WAS ALWAYS ON, OR… MY TWO OLDER SISTERS WERE PLAYING THEIR 78RPM RECORDS ON THE WIND-UP GRAMOPHONE, THE BIRTH OF ROCK ‘N ROLL. THEY BOUGHT LITTLE RICHARD, JERRY LEE, FATS DOMINO, EDDIE COCHRAN, ELVIS, AND THE FIRST RECORD I BOUGHT WAS ALSO A 78 FOR THE WIND-UP GRAMOPHONE. BUDDY HOLLY, “PEGGY SUE” I LOVED WHAT I THOUGHT WERE THE DRUMS ON THIS RECORD, BUDDY PLAYED THAT GUITAR AND SANG HIS HEART OUT! HOWEVER, ONE FATEFUL DAY, MY SISTERS WERE LISTENING TO RADIO LUXEMBOURG, (THEIR FAVOURITE, THE ONLY STATION PLAYING ROCK ‘N ROLL, WHEN I FIRST HEARD “THE BLUES” IN ALL ITS GLORY. IT MUST HAVE BEEN MUDDY WATERS SINGING SOMETHING LIKE “ROLLIN’ STONE”, OR “I’M A MAN”. I HAD NEVER HEARD ANYTHING LIKE THIS, AND IT TOOK SEVERAL YEARS FOR ME TO HEAR ANYTHING LIKE IT AGAIN, THIS MUSIC WAS NEVER PLAYED ON BRITISH RADIO. MUDDY PLAYED GUITAR! THE SOUND OF HIS GUITAR WAS RAW AND THE SOUND OF LITTLE WALTER ON ELECTRIFIED HARMONICA WAS MIND-BLOWING AND MESMERIZING. I WAS HOOKED.
Do you have any siblings? What would you and your friends do for fun growing up? When and where did you see your first concert and what kind of impact did that leave on you? Who were some of your earliest influences?
TWO OLDER SISTERS. BEHIND OUR HOUSE THERE WERE WILD FIELDS AND A CANAL, WE WOULD BE PIRATES ON THE CANAL IN OLD BATH TUBS AND WE WOULD SET THE FIELDS ON FIRE AND THROW IRON RAILING SPEARS AT EACH OTHER. I’M QUITE SURPRISED THAT ANY OF US SURVIVED. OUTSIDE THE HOUSE AT THE BACK WAS A HUGE ELECTRICITY PYLON CARRYING POWER TO ALL OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSES AND BEYOND, THEY WERE HUGE, AND JUST MADE FOR CLIMBING. YES, SOMEHOW, WE LIVED TO TELL THE STORY. SOON, ONE OF THE OLDER NEIGHBOR KIDS GOT A CAR AND THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW CHAPTER OF LEAVING AFTER SCHOOL ON FRIDAY TO DRIVE ALL OVER THE UK TO FIND ALL KINDS QUESTIONABLE “CONSUMABLES” AND GET HOME IN TIME FOR SCHOOL ON MONDAY MORNING.
How did you initially meet Peter Hope Evans in the late 60s? When and where did you guys first get together to jam and what was the overall chemistry like right off the bat between everyone? What initially led to the decision to form the group and how did the name come about? When and where did you guys play your very first show and what was that experience like?
PETE AND I MET IN 1961 WHEN WE BOTH WENT TO THE SAME BRAND NEW “GRAMMAR SCHOOL” THAT WAS PULLING IN STUDENTS FROM ALL OVER THAT PART OF THE MIDLANDS. HE’S FROM SOUTH WALES, HIS FATHER HAD BEEN RELOCATED FOR WORK REASONS. AN AMAZING COINCIDENCE! I SAW THAT HE HAD A HARMONICA STICKING UP OUT OF HIS JACKET POCKET, THAT WAS HOW WE FIRST MET. AFTER THAT WE WOULD PLAY HARMONICAS IN THE SCHOOL YARD. I DIDN’T HAVE A GUITAR, BUT HAD A PIANO AT THE HOUSE, AND HAD BEEN TEACHING MYSELF TO PLAY MY VERSION OF “THE BLUES”, I COULD ONLY PLAY IN F, SO PETE HAD TO GET A B FLAT HARP, WE PLAYED FOR HOURS! WE DIDN’T MAKE A DECISION TO FORM A BAND, AFTER DROPPING OUT OF ART SCHOOL WITH NO IDEA OF WHAT MIGHT BE THE FUTURE, IT JUST HAPPENED. I DON’T REMEMBER OUR VERY FIRST GIG, WE JUST USED TO SHOW UP AT PLACES AND ASK IF WE COULD PLAY. LATER ON, WHEN WE HAD A GUITAR, THE BASS DRUM, HI-HAT CYMBALS AND A COUPLE OF AMPS, WE USED TO SHOW UP AT A CLUB BEFORE ANYONE ELSE AND JUST GATE CRASH OR PRETEND TO BE THE BAND BOOKED FOR THAT NIGHT. BY THAT TIME I WAS PLAYING KICK DRUM, HI-HAT CYMBALS, GUITAR, HARMONICA AND SINGING, LIKE A “ONE- MAN BAND” PETER PLAYED HARMONICA, JAW HARP, MOUTH BOW, AND ASSORTED BITS OF WOOD AS HOME-MADE PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS. IT WAS PURE MAGIC TO PLAY.
Tell me about writing and recording the band’s debut LP “New Bottles Old Medicine” in ‘70. What did you guys want to achieve and express with your music? What was the overall approach and process to creating that album? How did the deal with the late/great John Peel’s label, Dandelion Records come about? What was the first order of business once the album was released?
THE FIRST ALBUM WAS RECORDED LIKE A GIG, WE HAD NO IDEA HOW TO RECORD IN A STUDIO, SO WE TOOK IN EVERYTHING WE HAD, INCLUDING OUR SMALL PA SYSTEM, CHEAP MICROPHONES ETC, I SANG THROUGH THOSE, AND THE ENGINEER PUT THE EXPENSIVE NEUMAN MICS ON OUR PA SPEAKERS. TRUE LO FI, BUT THE FEEL ON THAT ALBUM IS WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT, DON’T LOOK FOR HI-FI. THERE WAS NO APPROACH, OR PLAN, WE SIMPLY GATE CRASHED A CLUB WERE JOHN WAS PLAYING AND THANKFULLY HE LIKED WHAT HE HEARD. WE HAD NO ORDER OF BUSINESS, BUT WE WERE PLAYING MORE GIGS THANKS TO JOHN’S HELP, MORE AND MORE, UNTIL WE SUPPOSEDLY PLAYED MORE GIGS IN THE UK THAN ANY OTHER BAND, AND HIT THE RECORD BOOKS. WE LOVED TO PLAY...
What eventually led to the decision of Peter leaving for nearly a year, with you running and keeping the band afloat after the group’s follow up “Heavy On The Drum”? What was that experience like for you with him gone? You guys became a duo once again for “Dark Side Of The Moon”, correct? Can you tell me about writing and recording that wonderful album?
I REALLY DON’T KNOW WHY PETER LEFT, I DON’T THINK HE LIKED THE SUCCESS WE WERE HAVING WITH SONGS LIKE “(AND THE) PICTURES IN THE SKY”, MAYBE HE FELT LIKE WE HAD SOLD OUT. SO, WHEN HE LEFT, THERE WAS JUST ME SCANNING THE STARS AND WONDERING WHAT TO DO NOW. WE HAD BEEN WORKING WITH KEITH RELF (YARDBIRDS FOUNDER AND VOCALIST) AS PRODUCER. WE HAD BECOME GOOD FRINDS SO I ASKED HIM IF HE WOULD JOIN FORCES FOR A WHILE. SO, KEITH PLAYED BASS, I ADDED JOHN DAVIS ON DRUMS, AND WE RECORDED DARK SIDE OF THE MOON AS A TRIO, WITH KEITH ALSO ON PRODUCTION DUTY. I HAD A FEELING THAT PETER WOULD BE BACK, I TRULY HOPED HE WOULD COME BACK.
“One and One Is One” was the group’s last album, released in ‘73 on Polydor, a break from the Peel world. What was the overall vision for this album and how much had changed within this group from the beginning in ‘69? When you reflect back on your time in MH and with your musician partner PHE, what are you most fond of?
WE ACTUALLY RECORDED ANOTHER TWO ALBUMS AFTER ONE AND ONE IS ONE: “THRU A FIVE” AND “TWO MAN BAND” (WHICH I HAD WANTED TO CALL “LITTLE BIG BAND” BUT CHAS CHANDLER (HENDRIX/SLADE) WANTED PEOPLE TO HAVE NO DOUBT IN THEIR MINDS ABOUT WHAT WE WERE! WE HAD COME FULL CIRCLE FROM A DUO, TO PETE LEAVING, I CONTINUED WITH A TRIO ETC...PETER CAME BACK, WE ADDED BASS, DRUMS AND GUITAR, THEN RETURNED TO THE DUO...THE TIME I AM MOST FOND OF IS THE TIME BEFORE HIT RECORDS, WHEN WE WERE JUST STARTING OUT. THAT WAS THE TRUTH OF US.
I understand you began playing with the British Lions towards the late 70s as well as Box Of Frogs. What have you been up to in more recent years? Are you still currently working on music? Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
BRITISH LIONS HAPPENED AFTER PETER LEFT MEDICINE HEAD FOR THE LAST TIME, IN 1976. I WAS FRIENDS WITH THE GUYS FROM MOTT THE HOOPLE. IAN HUNTER HAD LEFT, THEY HAD TRIED TO CARRY ON AS MOTT, WHICH SADLY DIDN’T WORK OUT FOR THEM AND WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE TO GO FROM THERE. MORGAN FISHE CAME OVER TO MY HOUSE FOR DINNER AND ASKED IF I WOULD LIKE TO KNOCK SOME IDEAS AROUND IN A REHEARSAL ROOM WITH THE GUYS. I HAD BASICALLY AN ALBUM’S WORTH OF SONGS ALREADY WRITTEN! BOX OF FROGS CAME ABOUT IN THE EARLY 80s, MOST LIKELY BECAUSE I HAD MET THEM ALL THROUGH KEITH RELF AND THEY WERE LOOKING TO REFORM THE YARDBIRDS. BOX OF FROGS WAS RELEASED IN 1984 AND WAS QUITE A SUCCESSFUL DEBUT. UNFORTUNATELY, THE OTHER BAND MEMBERS DIDN’T WANT TO TOUR, SO THAT, AS THEY SAY, WAS THAT. SINCE THE LATE 80s I HAVE WORKED MOSTLY SOLO SHOWS ON STAGE AND LATELY I’VE STARTED RECORDING AGAIN AS MEDICINE HEAD. I RELEASED AN ALBUM IN SEPTEMBER 2021 UNDER THE NAME OF MEDICINE HEAD CALLED “WARRIORS OF LOVE” CURRENTLY, I’M WORKING ON A NEW MEDICINE HEAD ALBUM FOR RELEASE LATER THIS YEAR, OR 2024. CHECK OUT https://medicinehead.rocks MAYBE I’LL GET BACK ON THE ROAD AND SET FIRE TO THE NEVER-ENDING TOUR. WARRIORS OF LOVE (the album, and single) IS ON ALL DIGITAL PLATFORMS TO STREAM, OR DOWNLOAD AND THE CD IS AVAILABLE AT: https://medicinehead.rocks
