Picked up in the great singer-songwriter sweep of the late 60s and signed to Elektra Records, David Ackles made four albums which went over the heads of the record-buying public, attracted over-the-top reviews and earned the undying devotion of fans like Elvis Costello and Elton John. Now Mark Brend’s book brings together an appreciation of his work with an account of his career before and after the three period when he was going to be the next big thing, taking in…

….the night he found himself supporting his biggest fan Elton John at the Troubadour in Los Angeles

….his year in Berkshire planning and recording “American Gothic”, an album about his distant homeland

…how two different record companies took him to their hearts but had no earthly clue how to promote him

…why it is that rock fans who boast of their eclectic tastes can’t deal with anything which sounds like musical theatre

…will he ever join the pantheon in which we have installed Nick Drake, Judee Sill and the other late musicians we are pleased to call a “lost genius”?

Buy Down River: In Search of David Ackles: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Down-River-Search-David-Ackles/dp/1916829228

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our patent fact-from-fiction separator goes into overdrive this week though sometimes, as Robert Wyatt observed, Ruth is stranger than Richard. High in the mix …

… FOMO (Fear Of Missing Oasis), Gen Z’s love of queuing and has there ever been a greater outpouring of joy at a band reunion?

…what’s the greatest musical city?

… Kevin Rowland – cheat, burglar, arsonist, menswear salesman – and his capacity for self-sabotage.

… the harder to get tickets, the more people feel compelled to go.

… Kylie Minogue is a year older than Jacob Rees-Mogg!

… the best album to come out of New Orleans.

… memoirs you can read as either comedy or tragedy.

… Ed Sheeran turns Ipswich pink.

… the Salt Path saga and the pursuit of profit over truth.

… Mirrors In The Smoke, Dust On The Wind, Echoes Through the Pines: spot the AI-generated song title!

… the Beatles’ Tree in Chiswick: let’s keep local landmarks a secret!

… John Otway’s 5,300 gigs: the hardest working man in showbiz.

… and birthday guest Patrick Butler and cities with the greatest legacy – Liverpool, Birmingham, Nashville, New York, Chicago, New Orleans?

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Otway – self-billed as “Rock And Roll’s Greatest Failure” - has played 5,260 gigs in 53 years, a record possibly only beaten by BB King. There are more this autumn of course. He simply can’t stop. “People buying me drinks and telling me what a good bloke I am? Why would you stop?” We talk to him here about the art of shambling stagecraft and a life lived almost permanently on the road, which involves …

... a burning desire to perform from the age of nine.

… “Don’t think before opening your mouth!”

… the rhythm of life when you play two gigs a week for five decades. And the value of ‘Micro-stardom’ - “I’m at the bar when they walk in”.

… seeing the Move, Free and Mott the Hoople in Aylesbury.

… how people always noticed him – not least because “I was idiot-dancing by the bass speakers”.

... his first performance, a massively overwrought version of Peter Sarstedt’s Where Do You Go To My Lovely.

… best-selling Otway merch - “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Better! It’s Nearly Rock And Roll But I Like It!” etc.

… “You have to capture an audience in the first 20 seconds.”

... why playing the same size venues every night doesn’t challenge you.

… a recent three-month ‘trial retirement’.

… when he estimates he’ll play his 6,000th gig.

… and his planned and bank-breaking 2026 World Tour.

John Otway tour dates here: https://www.johnotway.com/gigs.html

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.