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Digger talks to Jim McCarty of The
Yardbirds.
The Yardbirds are one of a handful
of greatly loved and much respected bands who emerged out of the
British invasion - a household name around the world and popular to
this day with emerging generations. They are often called a 'seminal'
band, in that they produced some ground-breaking material, pioneered
the British R&B boom and the so-called British invasion, provided
a vehicle for many top-name guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy
Page and Jeff Beck as well as spawning several new bands in the
process. Jim McCarty was a mainstay of the band. Here is the interview
Jim kindly gave to me.
As founding member and drummer, Jim
was there in their early days and lived their
rise to stardom, co-writing much of their most
popular material ( Shapes Of Things, Still I'm Sad ),
witnessing the personnel changes and eventually deciding
to split with Keith Relf to form Renaissance while
Jimmy Page moved on with the New Yardbirds,
( soon to be renamed Led Zeppelin ). Jim has been
active musically ever since with Renaissance
and in various projects including the reformation of
The Yardbirds in the mid-90s.
( ........... Phone rings )
Digger: Hello Jim, it's Digger.
Jim: Hello Digger. Are you an
Australian?
Digger: No, I'm in Bedfordshire. No. A couple
of so-called friends of mine called me
Digger after the pot-bellied, grey-haired
character in Dallas. I don't know why.
( Both chuckle )
Jim: Oh, I see. That's where it's from.
Digger: Your webmistress, Germaine,
seems to be
looking after you very well.
Jim: Well yes, she's very keen isn't
she?
Digger: How did you get to meet her?
Jim: You know she's married to Hilton
Valentine?
Digger: God, no!
Jim: Ah! She didn't tell you?!
Digger: Another interview lead! (
Both laugh )
Jim: 'Cos we reformed just a few
years ago
just to play live. Myself and Chris we got a
new band together. And we toured in, er...
'95 or '96 I think we went to the States -
no, let's get it right, probably '97 we went
there with The Animals and that's where
Hilton and Germaine met - she turned-up
at a couple of gigs.
Digger: She seems like a very nice lady.
Jim: Yes, she's very nice.
Digger: Not having met her, but just
through email
you can often get a vibe about somebody. Who
runs the other website?
Jim: It's run by someone called Mike
Ober. He's an
old fan. He did some recordings. Have you heard of
The All-stars?
Digger: Oh yes!
Jim: He recorded some of them.
Digger: ... Let's think, you had
people from
The Pretty Things.....
Jim: .... The Downliners Sect. Eddie
Philips
from The Creation.
Digger: Oh wow! All those names! ( Jim laughs )
Did you ever mix with The Creation?
Jim: Not really, no, no. I never
really knew them.
Digger: I'd have LOVED to have seen
them live.
Jim: Yeah, they were supposed to have
been
really good.
Digger: Have you got any of their albums now?
Jim: I've got the one I think. The
re-release.
Digger: Oh yeah. I've got the CD 'Our music is red.....'
and just playing it really loud, it's glorious, although
everyone else in the house tells me to turn that row down.
Jim: They're one of those bands that,
over time, have
got better as you listen to them.
Digger: Yes....... So shall we
go through the questions
I sent and if you don't mind me asking the odd
extra one - if you don't like them then just tell
me to naff off.
Jim: Okay.
Digger: Can you tell us what you're working
on at the moment?
Jim: Yes. So we reformed as I said.
Do you know
the line-up of the band?
Digger: I've had a good rummage at
the website,
so yes. I didn't recognise a couple of the names......
Jim: Gypie Mayo from Feelgood and
Alan Glen
from Nine Below Zero.
Digger: Is that Dr. Feelgood from
Southend?
I saw them at the Kursal in the 70s.
Jim: Yes. And an American guy - John
Idan, who plays
bass and sings lead and he looks a bit like Keith
- he's got long blonde hair. He's a bit younger
than us. He's the front man.
Digger: What sort of material are you doing?
Is there some new stuff?
Jim: Yeah, we're trying to get some
new songs - mainly
songs that I've written - into the act and also it looks
like we might be doing a new recording in the studio.
Digger: Oh! That'll be good. Is it
unusual for the
drummer to be a songwriter?
Jim: Em. I Don't know? I got that
impression
from your question.
Digger: I think maybe it's just me!
Jim: I don't know whether Phil
Collins writes songs......
Digger: Well, that's true. Of course
he does, doesn't he.
No, it's me!
Jim: I sometimes play other
instruments.
Digger: What do you consider The
Yardbirds' biggest
professional and musical achievements?
Jim: Er....... Actually, I hadn't
finished because I'm also
working on some solo stuff. Funnily enough I've nearly
finished an album with John Hawken and Louis Cennamo......
Digger: Oh my God!
Jim: ..... and Jane Relf amongst
others. It's a follow
up to a solo album in 1993 called Out Of The Dark
( Higher Octave label ). But this time focusing on
the Renaissance side with members of the original
band. Hopefully it will be out in the spring or
summer of this year, though I still have
to sort out a contract.
Digger: So you're all still around and all still in touch?
Jim: Yes. John's actually living in
New Jersey now.
Digger: Where are you based?
Jim: I'm in south-east London.
Digger: So you haven't been tempted
over to the
States like the Peter Noones, Gordon Wallers
and Eric Burdons?
Jim: I was tempted but I've been
there for a bit, you
know. Into Los Angeles, but, I don't know........
It's a bit strange.
Digger: I do know what you mean.
Jim: It would be very odd living out
there. Who was
that guy?..... Kim Gardner, do you remember him?
Digger: Em, I think so, yes.
Jim: From Ashton Gardner and Dyke.
Digger: Oh yes, yes, yes, yes.
Jim: He's got a pub on Sunset Strip
in Hollywood.
We played in B.B. King's club in the summer - July.
He came down to see us. He was a bit of a character.
Digger: They've created a mini-England there in a way
except that it's not 'cos the weather's too good.
Jim: Yes, it is odd, isn't it?
Digger: They get all the English
papers and play cricket....
Jim: You never see anyone walking
over there.
Digger: Did you see the Steve Martin film,
LA Story? ( laughs )
Jim: Yeah, I know.
Digger: When he went to his next door
neighbour's
in the car?........ ( both chuckle )
Jim: Sorry, I'm diverting now. I did
some recording
with The Pretty Things in Chicago, some blues albums
with Dick Taylor and Phil May. Er, we were staying
in this suburb of Chicago where the producer lived
and every morning we got up and it was snowing at
the time so we had to walk from the hotel up to
a little cafe to have our breakfast. I think people
thought we were aliens walking in the snow - these
beings with long hair. ( Both laugh )
Digger: And people were still trying
to drive were
they and skidding all over the place?
Jim: Yeah! All driving.
Digger: So. You managed to evade question number
two before!!!! Would you like to try again?
Jim: Musical achievements, wasn't it?
Digger: ( chuckles ) Yes.
Jim: I suppose, um, it's a bit of an
achievement
to still be famous, in a way.
Digger: You've never been not famous amongst
a certain generation.
Jim: Hmm. Still being held in high
esteem. We never
thought that the music would go on and on like it has done.
Digger: Do you think ...... you know
that the Americans
go more crazy over things - do you think you're
more popular over there?
Jim: Yeah, I think they're more loyal
over there.
They play the records on the radio more because
they have a more extensive variety of stations.
Digger: We're catching up these days
....
Jim: We're catching up.
Digger: What about youngsters?
Jim: Yeah, it's quite strange. Quite
a high proportion
of young people that could never have seen us before-
they're too young. Em, they seem to know all
the words of the songs.
Digger: I suppose that information is
more accessible
these days as there's all these different technologies,
the internet - and there are many books on these subjects.
Jim: I know, I know and they're quite
intensely
into it all.
Digger: What was.... Renaissance seemed to have a
'second generation' and didn't have any of the
original people at all, didn't they? What was the
name of that lady who took over from Jane?
Jim: Annie Haslam.
Digger: 'Cos I saw her last year at
The Marquee. Caravan
were the main group and she did half an hour.
A northern lass, isn't she?
Jim: Yes.
Digger: She was brilliant. And very down-to-earth.
Jim: Yes, she's a very good singer.
Well, what happened
was Keith and I left because we were fed-up with all
the touring and we got pretty stressed-out.
Digger: But you had to go back,
didn't you?!
Jim: We thought it would just be easy
now,
but it wasn't like that, it was difficult.
Digger: But the Renaissance stuff was
very studio
based, wasn't it?
Jim: It worked in the studio because
we had worked
it out as a live set. I lived down in a little house
in Molesy at the time. Every day we set-up
the gear and rehearsed the set until we got
it right.
Digger: That first album was such a glorious album.
My sister and I would sit cross-legged, smoking
and 'getting into' that album.
Jim: That's right - we put a LOT of
energy into that
album. And everywhere we played we always went down
a storm. It was all so rehearsed.
Digger: Was it Bach-inspired?
Jim: It wasn't so much Bach as
Beethoven really. It wasn't
really inspired by them but John would go into
playing a bit of Beethoven stuff which was quite a
new thing at the time.
Digger: It seems as though you've kept in
touch with everybody.
Jim: Yes. I kept in touch with Louis
as well because we
did a few recordings that were ..... well I suppose
you'd call them 'new agey'....... for relaxation.......
Digger: Whale sounds and pan pipes
and things?
Jim: Yeah, that's it. Well I got up
to playing keyboards
- we were just having fun and Louis played acoustic
guitar which wasn't really his instrument either.
Digger: What sort of drums are you
playing
on For Your Love?
Jim: For Your Love? ........ Just a
regular kit......
Digger: Was there somebody else in on that
session then? ......
Jim: Yeah, a bongo player called
Denny Pearcey. He was
actually a BBC radio announcer - he used to introduce
Saturday Club type things. That was the other
string to his bow.
Digger: Did he get a credit?
Jim: I'm sure he did.
Digger: Why do you think that young men from London
and the provincial cities were so good at reproducing
such an authentic R&B sound?
Jim: A funny one that, isn't it?!
Digger: Hmmm. Where did it come
from?!
Jim: I don't know! I always thought
that it was really
weird that Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page
were all were born and brought up within fifteen
miles of each other........
Digger: Hmm.
Jim: ......Very strange because
they're three of the
top guitarists, blues and rock guitarists there are
really. And I mean why? I suppose we were
good at copying.
Digger: But it wasn't just you, was
it? It was The
Animals from the north east and The Manfreds and
Spencer Davis. And there were some scousers as well.
Jim: Yeah, that's right.
Digger: But then YOU'RE a scouser, aren't you?
Jim: I'm a scouser.
Digger: You don't sound like one at all!
Jim: ( Laughs ) I was born in
Liverpool and then
my family moved down to London.
Digger: Because you sound VERY
London. I was
expecting somebody out of Brookside!
Jim: ( Laughs ) No, I've lived in and
around London
all my life, since I was about two.
Digger: I wondered why you were down here when
all the Liverpool groups were happening!
Jim: All the Liverpool groups I
thought were
totally different from us.
Digger: They certainly were.
Jim: They were more like rockers. I
don't know why
we were different. I'm talking about 'we' -
The Stones, The Pretty Things.......
Digger: There was definitely a little
'clique'
down Richmond way, wasn't there?
Jim: It was like an art school type
of thing. Not that
I went to art school, I went to Grammar school.
Digger: Same here.
Jim: Eric and Keith and Chris all
went to art school.
And The Stones went to art school.
Digger: It was all very middle class,
really. Trying
to give an image of bad boys.
Jim: Yeah. It was also a time when
that music sprang up
and became popular - the R&B stuff -
we heard these great records.
Digger: Thank God it did 'cos it blew away all that
saccharin stuff that was around.
Jim: Craig Douglas and all that? I
don't know whether
you cover all that on your site?
Digger: I try not to! I have to make
reference to it -
I try to draw a line but I don't like being snobby
about music. People were snobby about music in the
60s weren't they saying "You can't like this or that".
And I think people should be allowed to like
anything they want.
Jim: Oh yes!
Digger: It was naff and suddenly 'Whoosh!',
there was a big explosion.
Jim: It was Chuck Berry - I think he
was one of the
first that we 'discovered' and I went to see
Joe Brown and he was playing Chuck Berry.
Digger: He was an interesting one -
he 'pretended'
to be a Cockney though he came from the midlands.
Jim: Oh right!
Digger: So he was an 'impostor'! (
laughs )
Jim: He was one of the bands that I
really liked. Then
there was Howlin' Wolf and all them that appeared
and it was so exciting and you thought
"What's all this music?"
Digger: So why drums?
Jim: ( Laughs ) I started - I was
actually in the
boys brigade.
Digger: Aha!!!!
Jim: I used to love playing the ....
well it was the
marching snare drum then. Yeah, and then I just tuned
into the drums on Buddy Holly and The Crickets,
The Everly Brothers, Gene Vincent and
all that old stuff!!!
Digger: Which drummers do you admire then?
Jim: I suppose all the old rock
drummers really.
Some of the jazz ones. Buddy Rich, Art Blakey.
I used to like Joe Morello who played with Dave
Brubeck. And the guy in The Crickets - I can't
remember his name now........
Digger: Sorry, it's a BIT
before my time,
I'm afraid.
Jim: ..... And Elvis's drummer D.J.
Fontana. All those
rock drummers I liked. I remember when I was
a kid there was a band rehearsing around the corner
and I was just getting into it and I thought "This is
AMAZING", you know, to hear the band all
playing in the same room as me. And I was
completely over the moon on the drums.
Digger: What age were you when you
started?
Jim: Maybe fourteen or
fifteen.........
Oh! Tony Meehan I liked too.
Digger: Oh yes!
Jim: The Shadows.
Digger: Yes. Well they're on the
site,
of course!
Jim: Yes.
Digger: They HAD to be. So what
prompted
you and Keith to go in a folk/rock direction
and form Renaissance?
Jim: Um......... I think it was for
the variety, really,
a reaction to playing all that heavy stuff for so
long. We were travelling all the time and playing
a gig every night somewhere or other.
Digger: It was the same sort of reaction that
The Beatles had, they just got sort of 'gigged-out'.
Jim: Shell shocked. Yeah, and it took
a LONG time to
recover actually once we'd left the group. And
we started to listen to Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and
all folky stuff and a bit more off-the-wall stuff.
Digger: That was another weird thing,
Bob Dylan had
his biggest hits not singing as himself but with
mainly British bands doing covers.
Jim: Yeah, I know.
Digger: And Paul Simon was over here for quite
a while, wasn't he?
Jim: Yes, he was.
Digger: Did you come into contact
with either
of those two?
Jim: We did a couple of gigs with
Simon and Garfunkel.
We never played with Dylan.
Digger: Renaissance's first album is
one of my
favourites. Where did you get the inspiration for
those beautiful songs?
Jim: I think it was just in us to do
the songs. It just
happened - the combination of people in the band.
John happened to be such a good piano player and he
was a great rock player as well and he could play
classic also. It all just seemed to fit in and was
spontaneous, I suppose. Well, I particularly feel
I've got a talent for melodies. I've always had fun
putting chords to ideas.
Digger: Can you describe what the sixties meant to you
and are you nostalgic?
Jim: I suppose I am a bit nostalgic
but not over
so. It was an exciting time.
Digger: Did you realise how important
it was at the
time - that you were in the vanguard if you like?
Jim: No. It was all a bit of a blur (
both laugh ). Well,
I mean it was all so fast and everything was
happening so quickly it was like a lifetime that we'd
been in the band but in fact it only lasted five years.,
Digger: How long had you been playing before
you got noticed?
Jim: In the Yardbirds? Oh no, it was
pretty quick.
Yeah, because we formed the band and then I think
we were lucky 'cos The Rolling Stones dropped-out
of The Crawdaddy - they got too big - The Crawdaddy
was a club in Richmond. Keith and Paul went to see
Georgio Gomelsky, the manager of the club.
They said, "come down and see us, we're a good
band, we can take over" and he sort of
signed us up pretty quickly and we
were playing there every week.
Digger: You were lucky to have Keith
at the front there
- he was somebody for the girls to look at!
Jim: Oh definitely, yes.
Digger: Didn't The Yardbirds appear in a film? I can't
recall which but I know that I read that the trailer
made it look as though they had a major role in the
film but you actually only played in the film for
fifteen seconds or so. It was all just hyped
to get the fans in.
Jim: Blow-up. I think Blow-up was the
only
film we actually did.
Digger: Do you still get money
whenever it's shown or
don't you know about that side of things?
Jim: No, we lost rights to a lot of
our old stuff.
We probably get something from the Performing
Rights. Not a great deal of money. It was funny that
because that set was an EXACT copy of a club in
Windsor called the Ricky-Tick.
Have you heard of that?
Digger: No.
Jim: It's a club on the circuit that
we did and the
studio was an exact replica with all the graffiti.....
Digger: ... and they probably got all the kids that
went to the Ricky-Tick to come up......
Jim: ..... I think so, yes. Crazy.
That was weird as
well..... did you see the film?
Digger: Yes, a few times.
Jim: They had all the people just
standing there
as if they were all just completely tripped-out
which was not real at all because when people used
to come to see us they used to jump about and went
mad! ( Both laugh ) They were just hypnotised.
Digger: Someone who I was also lucky to interview
was Jane Merrow who was the fiancée of David
Hemmings at that time and she said she should have
been in Blow-Up but, as things tend to go, she was
in another TV programme and missed out. She appeared
in lots of cult TV in the sixties and The Lion In Winter.
Jim: Oh right.
Digger: She runs an employment agency
now. It's
interesting what people move into.
Jim: Yes, Sandie Shaw - she's a
psychologist now.
Digger: You're joking! I didn't know
that!
Jim: Yeah. She decided to start this
agency helping
musicians who have problems with their confidence.
Digger: These performing arts are strange because
people are getting up on stage but actually when
I have spoken to some of these actors
they're really quite shy.
Jim: Oh yes.
Digger: I expect the same is true of
musicians.
Humble when you talk to them but
'Jeff Beck' on stage!
Jim: Oh, I know, totally, totally.
Jim McCarty now
Digger: What were the highs and lows of being
in The Yardbirds?
Jim: The highs would be pretty
obvious. Being in
a successful band and everyone wanting to know you
and going to parties. I was never really very
comfortable with all that. "You're a Yardbird, you
must be something special" and all that. I always
thought it was a bit unreal.
Digger: Somebody I spoke to described
it as fleeting.
Jim: Yes. I was never comfortable. I
had a flat in
London and people were coming round and it was
all a bit odd. Sometimes I just wanted to be on my own!
Digger: But you managed to do that in the end.
Jim: Oh, I did yes.
Digger: So what sort of music do you
listen to today?
Jim: A mixture. I was thinking about
that. Let me walk
down and I'll tell you some of the cds. A mixture
of stuff. Sometimes there's blues and rock n' roll
but not too much really.
Digger: We're spoilt for choice these days.
Jim: Yeah, I know. A couple of albums
by a Lithuanian
composer, Arvo Part, who does this really nice piano &
choral stuff. Then there's this guy, I'm not sure if he's
Danish or Norwegian, called Jan Garbarek - he's a
sax player. He does some interesting music. Music
with choirs and the album I'm listening to now
was done with musicians from Pakistan.
Digger: I got hooked on watching some Indian - I
couldn't call them a group - it was just a lot of guys
and I think they were at an open air concert.
Jim: Was it like a bangra type of
thing?
Digger: It WAS. That's what it was.
You get hooked.
Jim: Yeah.
Digger: You think how the hell can
they maintain that
momentum 'cos it goes on for ages.
It must be exhausting.
Jim: ( Laughs ) I've been doing some
recording,
actually, with some Indian players. I've been
doing more solo stuff and instrumental.
Digger: A touch of the 'George Harrisons'?
Jim: What I'm doing is working with
chants -
the Indian musicians bring a particularly subtle
and yet evocative sound.
Digger: They can be pretty and you
don't have
to understand the words. I suppose it's like when
the poor foreigners listened to our stuff. They
didn't need to know what the words meant.
Jim: No. I know. It's the sort of
music that some of
these companies have got all sorted out. If you don't
have lyrics you can listen in another way. On another
level. It can be quite good.
Digger: You were talking about Sandie
Shaw.
She had to record a lot of her songs in French,
Spanish, German. Sometimes she didn't know
the language at all.
Jim: Yes. We did some of that. (
Laughs )
Digger: What, phonetically?
Jim: Yes, it's very difficult.
Digger: What's the Spanish for 'For
Your Love' then?!!!!!
Jim: I can't remember! But we did a
bit of that and we
recorded in French and we did that awful San Remo
music festival - I think we were one of the first
bands that were on that in '66.
Digger: Did you appear on the German 'Beat Club'?
Jim: Yes, we did that.
Digger: That looks hilarious because
they're all so
well-behaved, the kids, and they're sitting there
politely while a rocker in the middle does his stuff.
Jim: Renaissance did that show as
well.
Digger: Oh really! ...... So what
about Graham
Gouldman. What was your relationship with him?
I mean he was writing hits for you and went on to
great things as well ( 10 cc ).
Jim: We met him very briefly but we
didn't really
know him - not as friends and we didn't hang out
with him or anything. What happened, Georgio our
manager - I think he got the demo, 'cos we played
with The Beatles at The Beatles Christmas
show in - it must have been 1964.
Digger: Do you recall what you played there?
Jim: We would have played our early
stuff -
Chuck Berry - Smokestack Lightning and all that
stuff. This was before we ever recorded. And there
was a publisher there that had a demo of For Your
Love written, obviously, by Graham Gouldman and what
he saw about us was that we changed tempo in a lot of
songs when we played. We sort of made them quite long
and played about with the tempos and this demo was
the same - you know it went into that rhythm section
and he presented the demo to Georgio who thought it was
a good song for us to do.
Digger: It was a brilliant song and
it was such a
distinctive sound and I was listening to the album
again yesterday and it's weird how you can
immediately recognise a Yardbirds song.
Jim: Yes, I know, it's funny isn't
it? It was that sort
of moody thing that we liked.
Digger: Oh, you had that moody thing on Still I'm
Sad as well. Like a chant. That da, da , da, da ( hums
it badly ) It sounds like something else actually
......... It was a bit of a steal wasn't it?!!!
Jim: I don't think it was a
conscious steal but it is a
bit like The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
Digger: That's EXACTLY what it is!!!!
( Laughs )
I'll cut that out of the interview then in case somebody
does another 'George Harrison' on you!!!!
Jim: No they won't do that! ........
Paul was very good at
all that moody stuff.
Digger: How would you choose between Jeff Beck
and Eric Clapton as guitarists?
Jim: Right, well I would say that
Jeff has the much
broader perception to his playing and all his influences
are broader and I think he's a much more gifted
musician in a way. That might sound a bit strange but
Eric is very much into the blues style and he was
very influenced by those early black players.
Digger: I can remember seeing
'Clapton Is God'
graffiti all over the walls
Jim: Yes. He very much concentrated
on his image
whereas Jeff really just stuck with the guitar -
he was just an out and out musician. Funnily enough
I saw them a few years ago sort of playing at a pub
type gig at The Hard Rock Cafe and Jeff and Eric
both got up and Eric had this flash Armani suit on
and Jeff had the leather jacket and boots on
covered in mud ( Laughs )
Digger: That summed it up really.
Well, you shouldn't
really judge a book by its cover.
Jim: Exactly!
Digger: Can you describe Keith and some of your
memories of him, if that's okay?
Jim: Yes. Keith and I really hit it
off - we really got
this great communication thing going.
Digger: Do you think he's still
around?
Jim: Probably. Well, I don't know,
maybe
he's reborn or something.
Digger: I'm wondering whether he gets into your
mind and says "Do this musically" or whatever.
Jim: I did dream about him last
night.
Digger: Isn't that weird?
Jim: Yeah. He was there - I'd done a
song and he put
some things into it - like he put a middle eight
and a couple of little ideas in.
Digger: Was he as he was 25 years ago
or had he aged?
Jim: As he was. And I thought
"This is good - you've
improved this song Keith, it's a good idea" .
Digger: Is that the first time that's happened, then?
Jim: No, I've dreamt a few times. I
had another dream
about him where we'd reformed the band and it was
an idea - he was actually dead in the dream but he
was sort of there. He was going to come on at the
end and sing a song but everyone knew he'd died.
( Laughs ) It would have been the biggest show ever,
you know, suddenly there's a dead person appearing.
Digger: It's what they've been trying
to do with
The Beatles for years, isn't it?
Jim: Yeah. He was great. He had a lot
of problems.
A lot of psychological problems. Health problems too,
he had a weak chest - he only had one lung and
he suffered a lot from bronchitis and asthma.
Digger: Even if he hadn't had that terrible accident
then it's possible he wouldn't have been with us now?
Jim: I think that's possible. He did
all the wrong
things, he smoked, he drank quite heavily.
Digger: There seems to be a huge list
of casualties
from that time ....... and there are people like you.
Jim: I went a bit crazy - I went
through terrible
times. We used to take drugs and what have you.
Digger: You had to because others were doing it?
Jim: Well, yeah we just joined in and
it didn't
really agree with me. I was quite upset for a long
time and it took a long while to get over it - I had
a sort of breakdown and depression.
Digger: But you're back now!!!!!
Jim: Oh, I'm alright now.
Digger: Well, it's been great talking
to you Jim.
I'm just conscious of the clock as you said
you had an appointment.
Jim: Alright. Well, did you get
enough stuff?
The modern influences.......
Digger: I think so, yes. I was just conscious of
the clock. But if you want to give me some more.
Jim: That's very nice of you. I was
just going to
say I also like that Cuban - The Buena Vista Social
Club - it was a film with Ry Cooder. He's done some
really interesting stuff. I listen to quite a bit
of Irish stuff as well.
Digger: A lot of pop people are in
Ireland now. It
seems to be the place to be. Marianne Faithfull
is over there, of course.
Jim: Yes. And Donovan. Have you been
there?
Digger: That's where my lot are from! I'm going
to a family wedding there this year.
Jim: The McCarty's are from Cork.
Digger: Really? That's where my
sister lives.
Jim: I love it over there. I haven't
been
for a couple of years.
Digger: If you want to go to Kerry,
I'll try and
sort something out for you.
Jim: Great. I have been there and
it's
really nice down there.
Digger: Well, it's been great talking to you
Jim - you've been very easy to talk to.
Jim: Alright Digger! Or is it David?
Digger: Digger is fine. That's my web
persona.
I'll write this up. Would you like to see it before
it goes up on the site?
Jim: No, I'm sure you'll do it
alright. If you have
any problems or anything you want to know
just get in touch.
Digger: That's very kind. Well good
luck.
Jim: Thanks.
Digger: Talk to you again sometime.
Jim: Bye.
Many thanks to Jim for a very
enjoyable and
informative interview and for his time.
And to Germaine the Yardbirds webmistress.
Digger, January 2001
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