DEEP DEEP SOUTH SEA:

Off to Southend, jewel in the crown of Essex. Trying a new custom
amp hand built by a grand master of guitar amp design, Denis Cornell.
I saw a beautiful pair of combos he’d built for Wilco Johnson the
last time I was in his workshop & they hooked me, really sexy
look & sound. I love everything about Cornell Amps.
It’s funny eh, how a band that has always incorporated guitars
into it’s sound is always perceived as being ‘electronic’
…ah well, takes up less space on the page!
Inspired by Rick’s ever expanding modular synth, I’ve introduced the
oddest guitar stomp boxes I can find (still looking) & had
custom wound pick-ups fitted to all my telecasters. There’s been a
switch on this album, from the Gibson Les Pauls I used to use on
stage as I search for ‘that les Paul sound’ I just can’t quite get.
The Fenders have a crisp cutting precision that takes me back to
the first time I fell in love with Motown & the techno-esque
punctuations of Steve Cropper’s telecaster playing for
Booker T & the MGs. Wilco Johnson carries that tradition further &
I’ve always thought that his playing, along with that of
Pete Townsend reminds me directly of those fantastic repetitive
slabs of samples early dance music was so good at lifting off
old records.
Wilco & Pete play guitar like samplers…fabulous!

(K)