John Simms - Clear Blue Sky
John Simms taught himself how to play the guitar at early age by listening and playing along to his favorite records as a kid. He began going to live shows in his own thriving music community and before he knew it he was also participating in the scene. Simms played in groups such as Jug Blues and Matuse before he toured Germany early on. Clear Blue Sky was shortly born thereafter and as the trio of teenagers recorded their album for Vertigo Records, well the rest is history! I spoke with Simms about his early days catching all the famous acts in London and what his music career would soon entail. Enjoy!
When and where were you born? Are you originally from West London? What was growing up like for you? When did you first become interested in playing music and what led to your interest in playing?
I was born in West London, in December 1951. I grew up in West London, remaining until 2003, when I relocated to rural Essex. I had lived through the best times in West London. The music and social scene had been amazing; there was so much original creativity. My home life was difficult, but music was a central theme in our home. I started to play guitar as a child and found it a great way to escape difficulties in the home. I essentially created my own personal world and playground. I took guitar lessons initially, but I was a hopeless learner. People laughed at me. My friends could play guitar, but I could not. It was humiliating, but my love of guitar kept motivating me. I began teaching myself, playing along to vinyl recordings of the original early blues daddies. Eventually it just clicked. With hindsight, I am glad I could not learn through a teacher, as I developed my own style.
Where would you go to see shows in your local community? What was the first concert you ever attended and what group left a heavy impression on you in those early days? Can you tell me about participating in the group ‘Jug Blues’? You guys had formed this group while still attending school, correct?
There were gigs everywhere in those days. The music scene was vibrant and thriving. The first live gig I attended was to see Alexis Korner and Howling Wolf, and a local blues band, the name of whom I have forgotten. I related to the blues, liking its emotional content and free range guitar styles. The Yardbirds, Cream and The Who impressed me. The Who were a west London band, and John Entwistle and I became friends. Also, at London’s Speakeasy club one night, Jimi Hendrix and his drummer Mitch Mitchell were there, out on the town. He was informally invited to go up on stage and play. It was a privilege to see this spontaneous combustion. The guitar he was given was for a right-handed player, Jimi was left-handed, so he turned it round the other way and delivered a sensational session. Sadly, his bright light went out far too early, but his music lives on, and remains in the top of the range of original music and guitar players. As for Jug Blues, well yes, we were so young, still at school, and rehearsed and played at the local Youth Club. But we soon left school to play gigs regularly. It was an incredible experience at such a young age.
What was touring Germany like? What were those experiences like for you and at such a young age? What memories of that period still stand out to you to this day? When did the transition from covers to writing your own material happen and what had initially led to that? You guys also played under other various names such as ‘X’ and ‘Matuse’. Can you tell me about that?
Germany… Well it was the first time I had been abroad. But we were fearless, and actually, it was a great experience, especially playing with other bands. The experiences really helped us tighten up as a band, and we certainly learned our craft. As for memories, it was listening to all the different musical styles and techniques that stood out and remains, as it was a real learning curve for such a young mind. I began writing original music at home, exploring my own creativity. I would then take it to rehearsal, and we would try it out, and perfect it. This all happened around the late-ish 1960s, after we had gained the experience as a blues cover band. The band names changed due to different management, and their varying ideas.
You guys shared the stage with legends such as Joplin, Taste, Country Joe & The Fish, Free, etc. What were those experiences like for you guys to be among some of the greatest musicians around? What was the band’s process for writing music at this point? What direction were you taking and what was now becoming the overall vision for the band at this point?
Again, we were so young, and it was good to experience the polished skills of the legends. But some were very egotistical, and some had great humility. It’s amazing the variety of personalities. It was an honor to have played alongside them, and there are so many. The appreciation has magnified, as I have got older. I look back and think, ‘Did I really do all that at that young age?!’ The direction I decided upon was to become original, if possible, for the band to have its own identity. I was overflowing with ideas, and by now had strongly developed my own style. I liked the varying textures and light and shade of musical composition and enjoyed creating musical landscapes that reflected this. I never really wrote ‘safe’ songs. They were always adventurous! Many of the original songs are still around, never been published. We re-visited some of them a while back and were surprised how we remembered them all these years later! The music was truthful; it was what simply came out of me in the moment. That remains so today. None of my music is forced or planned. It is what it is. I never follow trends, or try to imitate. I do what feels right for me at the time.
Tell me about meeting Nirvana's producer, not that Nirvana, Patrick Campbell-Lyons. What were your first impressions of him like? What led to the decision to change the name of the group to Clear Blue Sky? What inspired that? In the Spring of ‘70 you guys were signed to Vertigo Records and are now label mates with some of the most progressive and unique bands on the circuit. What was this experience like for you guys?
First impressions of Pat were good. It was nice to have professional interest from an established recording artist. Pat had a great interest in us, and when he heard our original material, he was impressed, and his enthusiasm was tangible. He brought the powers that be from Vertigo to us live, and we got signed up. I was 17 at the time of the recordings and had just turned 18 when the album was released. I’m informed we were the label’s youngest signing. It was a great feeling being signed; we were there for the thrill and love of the music, but like so many other musicians, we did not understand the harsh reality of the business side of things. Management issues sadly clouded the experiences. In fact, it was a nightmare. The name Clear Blue Sky came from a brainstorming session, and captured the fresh start for the band with our original music, we really did feel the sky was the limit musically!
The band went into the studio in the summer of ‘70 to record their self-titled LP, can you tell me about those sessions and where that all went down? How long did it take to record the record from start to finish? Can you walk me through some of the backgrounds of each song that was featured on the record? What was it like to work with engineer Roger Beale? How did choosing Roger Dean for the cover art come about and what was the concept behind that illustration?
That first album was recorded at Island Studios, west London. But it was recorded within 24 hours. There was so much more I would have liked to have done, and wasn’t overly keen on Pat’s production, although he had some good ideas. However, it was more or less a live album, with a handful of overdubs, and I think it captured the band’s rawness, which people seem to like. The songs chosen were not always my choice. I would have chosen other songs from our repertoire, which I feel would have been better, but there we are. Roger Beale was a great person, very talented, and so helpful. It was a fabulous experience working with him and his great ideas. Jon Field from Jade Warrior played flute on the track ‘Birdcatcher’. Led Zeppelin were recording elsewhere in the building. I do wonder how much better it could have been if we had been given more time. When I did the vocals, Pat had me record the vocals separately, but it just didn’t work.
Pat noticed it had lost something; it just didn’t have the same feel. So it was all recorded more of less live, with me playing guitar and singing at the same time. It regained the power and desired effect as a result and delivered a live overall feel. The background of the songs is quite simply that it was all spontaneous creativity, emerging from my inner world to the outer. The song “Birdcatcher’ also featured an interesting effect created by us marching around the studio with microphones recording our steps! On ‘Tool of My Trade’, we had a piano player. I forget his name, but he was apparently part of Tom Jones’ musical ensemble. The Roger Dean art came about due to the original album name ‘Play It Loud’ being taken by Slade. So, they had to change the artwork to something else, and it was actually much better, by Roger Dean, who was only just emerging as a known artist.
After the album was released in January of ‘71 there were some changes to the original lineup with bassist Mark Sheather replaced by Andrew Chard. Can you tell me about touring heavily and what that time in your life was like for you? Are there any gigs that still stand out in your mind to this day?
The band line-up changes presented a lot of problems, challenges, and chaos, as well as management issues. Constant touring was exhausting being on the road, expensive, and all these issues took the fun out of it all eventually. However, I remain firm friends with both Mark and Andy to this day. Mark gave up music, but I personally preferred the intimacy of small venues such as The Marquee in London. I particularly enjoyed being around Rory Gallagher, because not only was he a phenomenal talent, but also, he was such a gentleman, a real pleasure to be around. A gig we did with Graham Bond and May Blitz was quite an experience too. But there were so many. The first album has been re-issued so many times I have lost count. The most recent was by Cherry Red Records, and I helped restore the album to its original content, including the ending of ‘Birdcatcher’, which had been missing from every re-release after the first issue on Vertigo.
Who was managing the band at the time and what initially led to the decision to stop performing live and hang up the towel? When you reflect on those early days in CBS, what memories are you most fond of as well as proud of?
I had simply had enough. I had zero support from the record company. I was exhausted from it all, burned out, and needed to have a break. I did join Tangerine Peel for a while, which was a different direction and quite refreshing. I was offered all kinds of opportunities, over the time.
What have you been up to in recent years? Are you still involved in music, or have you taken a completely different direction in life? What do you think of this new generation appreciating your music 50 years later?
I have always been active musically, one way or another. I was with The Ginger Baker Band as lead guitarist and vocalist for quite a few tours. The bass player, Ian Macdonald and I had been in a trio called ‘Separate Energy’ and were actively gigging, and played the last great Stonehenge festival with Hawkwind, and we have the film footage of it. Ian and I were swiftly headhunted for Ginger’s new band. Ginger was of course, a notoriously difficult character to be with. But he seemed to really like me, perhaps because we did the big gigs with no rehearsals and pulled it off successfully, and he kept inviting me for more tours. They were huge gigs, all big stadiums, and the like. Ian was tragically killed in a car accident this year.
We were all devastated. I did record with John Entwistle, who also is sadly no longer with us, and I don’t know what happened to the recordings. Through Ginger, I met his son Kofi. We hit it off musically and our friendship endures still. We did a lot of good recordings, fusion-rock, and all original. We recently started more original recordings. But the music biz has changed beyond recognition now. There are very few record companies now, and the independent ones all collapsed in a very short time with the arrival of the digital era.
Every year we think there won’t be any more interest in Clear Blue Sky, and every year there is. It may surprise people to know there are 7 album releases from Clear Blue Sky, and there is unreleased stuff in the archives still. We played the Isle of Wight festival in 1990. I have been involved in many other projects too, lots of session work, and including some recordings with the band Census of Hallucinations, and OHead, which is the successful project of David Hendry. We are planning a joint album together. It is essentially space-rock with all kinds of additional elements. I featured on the very last album Bernie Torme made before he died.
He had just finished it, and we were having a catch up, and he was telling me he had a flu-type illness he couldn’t shake off. He paid out a lot of money to do the album, but Pledge Music didn’t pay him as they were supposed to, and they failed so many and stopped trading. Bernie developed double pneumonia and it took him down. That was a deeply sad event, as he was a wonderful person. He had no big ego at all. We toured together in the very early 1980’s. I have a lot of fond memories. Music remains a central focus in my life, and it will be until my end. I still practice every day and am constantly writing and recording and setting up new projects.
Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
Yes indeed. First all big thanks to all who have interest in my music and have supported it throughout the years. But also, I need to state I have continued creating music, it is not just about the first album. I currently have a fresh project, entitled ‘John Simms’ Light Trails’, and have recently released an album entitled ‘Chromatolgy’, meaning the colors of music. It is entirely original, self-produced, and demonstrates where I am musically today. ProgPlanet declared it as one of the best releases of the year, so it was well received. It also features Ohead, Tim Jones and Maxine Marten.
These days everything is much more audio-visual so there are a lot of videos now of my music, created by David Hendry and Maxine Marten. It’s important to have a great working relationship and friendship, and we certainly have that. You can check out the videos on the web site. Here is the latest video from Clear Blue Sky, which was recorded in 2021, with a brilliant line-up, I remain the original member and band leader. I am currently working on another album for John Simms’ Light Trails. I also present radio shows on Clear Blue Sky radio, and enjoy promoting worthwhile music, and interacting with other musicians and those who love music, as I do.
Another original song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNxABQQaVLY
John in the video for ‘Hello Earth’ by Clear Blue Sky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXFXUg96KlU
John in video ‘Stars’ by Census of Hallucinations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q32_nRLq_5Q
Youtube video compilation for all the Clear Blue Sky albums: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkv9Ovy1iD8
E-mail: info@clearbluesky.co.uk
Dakota Brown
