Musical Snobbery at it’s finest

The Beatles have been the greatest influence on my life, especially from a musical standpoint. My mother bought me a copy of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”, and was hooked. Never figured out where she got it, or why she gave it to me (it certainly wasn’t because she like them), but was a fan from then on. However, most of my recollection occurred after their break up. Looking back, I suppose I was a Paul fan, but have had mixed feelings about that. I always thought that Paul was the most melodic, however, has always had to deal with the triteness of his lyrical content during his Wings period. At the same time, John was wildly inconsistent with his output in his solo years, with his best outshining the other three, but there just wasn’t enough of it. His death in 1980 was a terrible thing, and have wondered many times since, what we had lost with not only the death of a musical icon, but what could have been with an older and wiser John around.

I remember getting chills the first time on hearing “Valotte” in 1984 Julian’s voice was so similar to his dad’s, and can remember thinking at the time, “How is He going to deal with being John’s son?”. Over 20 years later, I still wonder that. Much of what I’ve read has led me to believe that he has spent much of his life dealing with having a dad who everyone in the world seemed to know, but was never given the chance to know personally.

After his solo album in, Julian spent a couple of albums drifting, and in due course fell out with record buyers. The good news is that the last couple of CD’s, “1991’s “Help Yourself”, and 1998’s “Photograph Smile”, has shown a real maturity in his writing and one song in particular, “Saltwater” (which is the video you see above) showing not only brilliance, but a concern for the environment which he has expanded on in his personal dealings over the years.

With a new CD coming out soon, (“Conscious”), his work in film (his documentary, “WhaleDreamers” was shown at Cannes in 2007), and other business ventures, it seems as if maybe the world will be ready for Julian again. He understands that there will always be comparisons to his famous father; however, with maturity that comes with age, it seems as if he has come to grips with it. And hopefully, he will have the chance to share his music and his love for environmental issues to effect on his generation as well.

The video below is an interview with Julian from 1999. But it shows a man who has come to grips with his past. Enjoy….