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Trotsky View Drop Down
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    Posted: September 22 2005 at 07:04

Any thoughts on John Etheridge? ... the mercurial guitarist who replaced Allan Holdsworth in Soft Machine and played on Softs ...

I met him very briefly when he was on tour with John Williams two or three years ago, had a 20 minute chat with him, without really knowing too much about who he was ... aside from the fact that he had been in the Soft Machine and had also played with Grappelli ...

He was an interesting guy ... not afraid to bash the 80s for its plastic music, and told me that Holdsworth asked him to join the Softs, because Etheridge was the only other guy in England at that time who could do what he was doing!

His website indicates that he was in a prog band called Icarus (which we don't list), Darryl Way's Wolf, recorded albums with Andy Summers and fronts a Frank Zappa tribute band called the Zappatistas ...

The thing is I've never heard a single bit of his playing on a studio album ... anyone with any thoughts ...

BTW, here' the Rockdetector bio for Icarus ...

 Progressive heavy Jazz Rock outfit ICARUS were created in 1972 with an original line-up of vocalist Steve Hart, guitarist David Plotel, bassist Jonathon Plotel, ex UNIT 4+2 keyboardist Iain Hines, saxophonist Norrie Devine and drummer Peter Curtain. The Plotel brothers, although they played on the album, were soon supplanted by guitarist John Etheridge and bassist Jim Wylie.

The album was a strange union of the famous Marvel comic characters and Progressive Rock, with each band member taking on the assumed role of a super-hero.

ICARUS played a tour of Rumania prior to the album release, but were deported when the then President Ceaucescu witnessed one of their shows and denounced them as a corrupting influence. Returning to Britain the band was greeted with further bad news. Because of a soured business deal between Pye Records and Marvel Comics the album was scrapped with only as handful making it to the shops. ICARUS promptly dissolved.

Etheridge turned up later in DARRYL WAY'S WOLF, appearing on four albums before joining SOFT MACHINE for their 'Softs' and 'Alive Well' albums.

There's also an interesting review for Icarus here ... with a picture of Etheridge dressed up as Spiderman!!!

http://www.alexgitlin.com/npp/icarus.htm
"Death to Utopia! Death to faith! Death to love! Death to hope?" thunders the 20th century. "Surrender, you pathetic dreamer.”

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BaldJean View Drop Down
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Points: 10387 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2005 at 07:45
Originally posted by Trotsky Trotsky wrote:

Etheridge turned up later in DARRYL WAY'S WOLF, appearing on four albums before joining SOFT MACHINE for their 'Softs' and 'Alive Well' albums.


Wolf only made 3 albums, "Canis Lupus", "Saturation Point" and "Night Music". they are listed in wrong order in the archives, by the way; "Canis Lupus" was their first album


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Points: 7003 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2005 at 08:00
Wolf weren't one of the great prog bands (the vocals were a bit weak and the writing wasn't always that good) but they did some very nice instrumental work, and John Etheridge plays some very tasty acoustic lead guitar on the first album. Although he's at home paying prog, Etheridge is really outstanding as an acoustic jazz guitarist.
'Like so many of you
I've got my doubts about how much to contribute
to the already rich among us...'

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Points: 12818 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2005 at 10:11
Zappatistas is  must - the album has Phil Manzanera as a guest, and a similar line-up to Soup Song The Robert Wyatt double tribute album. And of course Etheridge stepped into Django Reinhardt's shoes by playing with Stephane Grapelli for many years.

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Points: 3577 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2005 at 12:45
John Etheridge was a wonderful replacement after Holdsworth left.  His guitar solos on Softs and Alive and Well: Live in Paris are excellent.  I haven't heard any of his work outside of Soft Machine, so I'll probably look into it.
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Dick Heath View Drop Down
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Points: 12818 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2005 at 14:57
Checked out my John Etheridge collection, all the following can be recommended, and show the broad range of John's playing. I'm holding to get him on my radio show soon to talk!

So apart from the obvious  Soft Machine albums and the recently released Soft Machine Legacy (Live at Zaadam):

with Ric Sanders: Second Vision (Blueprint) 1980
as part of Kennedy Experience: Music Of Jimi Hendrix (Sony) ~1996
As leader of the Zappatistas: Absolutely Live  (Jazzprint) 1999
As leader: Chasing Shadows (Dyad Records) 2001
As leader: Ash (The Jazz Label) 2001
Therefore I guess on at least one of the albums Stephane Grapelli made in the last ten years of his life.

John in early Summer had a week's residency at Pizza On The Park in London with different guests everynight, then went out with Soft Machine Legacy and then a couple of nights with the Zappatistas.

And a correction, now with the info beside me :
Soupsong Live (the Robert Wyatt tribute), recorded at Newark Jazz Festival , Nottinghamshire (not NJ) in late 1999, and released by Jazzprint in 2000 as double CD. Line-up includes Julie Tippetts, Ian Maidman, Annie Whitehead, Didier Malherbe, George Khan, Harry Beckett, Phil Manzanera, Janette Mason, Steve lamb, Liam Genockey - the correction being: Manzanera is on this album NOT the Zappatistas' album


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Points: 2771 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2005 at 23:14

Thanks for the excellent information and comments, folks ...  ...

So does anybody know anything about Icarus?

BTW, Dick, I think Etheridge is the ideal interviewee, soft-spoken but straight-talking and articulate with strong opinions ... even gave me a brief run-down on the Softs from his perspective ... with some interesting personal and musical insights ...

"Death to Utopia! Death to faith! Death to love! Death to hope?" thunders the 20th century. "Surrender, you pathetic dreamer.”

"No" replies the unhumbled optimist "You are only the present."
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