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About 'Diamond Head'
Phil Manzanera is best known as Roxy guitarist, the man who at the flick of a plectrum can create any of the many moods and styles embraced by that extraordinary band. He has been absolutely integral to the band's world-shattering success in the last couple of years, both in the studio and on stage - where his sinister Latin elegance and perfect delivery of searing psychedelics or rarified rallentandos as the occasion demands has made him an intrinsic element of Roxy's massive appeal.
Recently he was voted the world's fifth best guitarist in the New Musical Express poll. Phil's talents have already been deployed outside the context of Roxy, on albums by Bryan Ferry, Andy Mackay, Eno, John Cale and Nico. Now he has made his own album, called 'Diamond Head'.
The album title is the name of one of the tracks, all of which are Phil's own compositions - his writing abilities have already been proven by 'Amazona' (on Roxy's 'Stranded' album) and 'out of the Blue' and 'Prairie Rose' (on the band's 'Country Life album). A perfectionist in everything, and feeling that his musical aptitude would outshine his vocal and lyrical capabilities, Phil conceived the original idea of inviting artists whom he admired and enjoyed working with to write and sing lyrics to his music. Just how exciting the results of these encounters were is instantly evident from the first playthrough. And although 'Diamond Head' might be construed - rightly - to be something of an 'all-star' album, it is undeniably Phil Manzanera's presence throughout - in his music, playing and production - which gives it its distinctive identity and establishes it as one of the most interesting, enjoyable and fine rock albums likely to be released this year.
'Diamond Head' is actually the name of a mountain peak in Hawaii, where Phil lived for a while as a child. And those early years in exotic climes, mainly Southern and Latin America, have had a marked effect on his music, yet it's never less than splendid rock 'n' roll; as indeed it must be when performed by such as Paul Thompson and Robert Wyatt (drums), John Wetton and ex-Matching Mole Bill MacCormick (bass), Andy Mackay (horns), Eddie Jobson (strings and keyboards) and Eno (synthesizer). The lyricist-singers are John Wetton (formerly King Crimson's vocalist), Robert Wyatt, Bill MacCormick and Eno.
The Spanish-American influence - the Manzanera Effect operates in both Robert Wyatt's Spanish phrasebook effusion on 'Frontera', the manic, minor-key celebration which opens the album, and Eno's tribute to Peru (from a Peruvian point of view) in 'Big Day'. Even Eno's phonetically-linked lyrics for 'Miss Shapiro' evince a certain Brazilian feel (though "the wonder of the tundra" puts - shall we say? - the dampers on the pampas). John Wetton's song ('Same Time Next Week') is a brilliant dialogue - sung with the superb Doreen Chanter - set in a 5/4 funky rhythm, while Bill MacCormick's 'Alma', which ends the album, subtly deals with unrequited love and maybe more.
Musically the album ranges from up-tempo rockers like 'The Flex', driven along by Andy Mackay's wailing sax and Phil's churning guitar, to wistful, melodic evocations like 'Diamond Head', built around heady solo guitar and Eddie Jobson's punctuation from below on strings. Paul Thompson and John Wetton, making up what has been called the best rock rhythm section in Britain, provide impeccable backing throughout. Finally Phil's guitar work, the essence of the album, never mere display but always shot through with intelligence, imagination and feeling, is a continual pleasure, whether the self-conscious melancholic romanticism of 'Lagrima' or the classic, lucid, tuneful rocking at the close of 'Alma' which ends the album.
Listen (if you already have, to the album, then you already know): if you want to discover a whole New World (of pleasure, of treasure), play Phil Manzanera's 'Diamond Head' - a veritable El Dorado of rock 'n' roll.
Phil Manzanera was born in 1951. Eight years later he peered from behind the curtains of his parents' drawing-room and watched, enthralled, bemused and slightly scared, as Fidel Castro's guerrillas stormed the Havana government palace only a stone's throw away and blood streamed dark across the hot white dust of the piazza below the window. A cameo - and thus excusably overmannered - depicting the most vividly-remembered moment of Phil's childhood and explaining partly why a Cuban domicile was somewhat unexpectedly replaced by an English one.
And it hints at why the name Manzanera is not be to be confused with - for instance Mantegna, Mazzini or Manzarek (a painter, politician and door), but may be, and is, confusable with Targett-Adams. One parent South American, one parent English, two surnames. Phil decided to drop British-hyphenated in favour of Spanish curvilinear at the same time as dropping further education (Oxford variety) in favour of rock 'n' roll (no frontiers). It would perfectly reflect the exotic character of so much of his music.
Which requires another heady thrust through time, to the present - and to the point: Phil Manzanera is, first and foremost, one of the finest rock guitarists in Britain, voted No. 5 in the world by the public in this year's New Musical Express Poll. He is, of course, guitarist with the most original and most highly acclaimed British rock-group of the seventies, Roxy Music. And now he has made a truly distinguished solo album. That said, it's worth flashing back through history again and filling in the gaps: the full story.
Phil Manzanera spent his childhood in several different parts of the Americas - Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela, Hawaii -but in his teens moved with his family to London where he attended Dulwich College. He began to play guitar at the age of twelve, soon forming strong but not always conventional enthusiasms for rock 'n' roll. During his last year at school he organised a band with four fellow sixth-formers and, true, perhaps, to the psychedelic-surrealistic fashion prevailing in 1968, they called themselves Pooh and the Ostrich Feathers. A purely private enterprise, it aspired to event-art, believed in a kind of creative dementia, and musically looked to the Velvet Underground, Soft Machine and Frank Zappa (among others) as models. But the participants were serious enough to continue the group when they left school in 1969. Phil had determined to become a musician anyway, turning down the offer of a university place, and now devoted himself full time to the guitar.
The group renamed itself Quiet Sun and evolved a bizarre, esoteric style of music - fierce and raucous but also rhythmically and structurally intricate. During their eighteen months' existence they played several dates in clubs and colleges, a couple with acquaintance Robert Wyatt's band Symbiosis. They were even offered a recording contract, but by then the group was disintegrating for various reasons. So Quiet Sun died - to live another day (read on).
Phil consequently found himself in the summer of 1971 without a band, and not overconfident of finding one. He was a talented but inexperienced guitarist who had bypassed all the conventional rock entrees and all the restricted rock idioms in favour of a complete exploratory situation and an all-embracing technical versatility - and who now wanted to work in a similarly experimental - but, also, this time, fully professional - context. Genuine musical experiment and absolute commercial awareness rarely meet up: but there was one band, very possibly the first and last for years, at exactly that time organising itself with precisely that ambition, a combined artistic and commercial success, and possessing moreover the intelligence, inspiration, and savoir-faire required to carry it through. Those qualities were more than matched by the music the group was developing - an extraordinarily original sound.
Phil by chance came into contact with them just as they had parted company with their original guitarist. Musically and personally Phil was the ideal replacement; his enthusiasm was as great as theirs. The band had already coined the name under which it would launch itself a few months later - Roxy Music. Phil joined Roxy in December 1971, only a few months after Bryan Ferry, Andy Mackay and Eno had first encountered one another. And for the next two years the band demanded Phil's constant participation. Roxy's spectacular entry into the public arena in May 1972 and their subsequent scaling of the heights are well-known. Up to the present they have made numerous sell-out tours (of Britain, Europe and latterly the U.S.) and have produced four chart-topping albums ('Roxy Music', 'For Your Pleasure', 'Stranded' and 'Country Life') and four hit singles.
One of Phil's immense gifts as a guitarist is his ability to integrate his own playing fully in the overall musical concept, never exploiting the instrument's front-line potential with flash finger-work or superficial heroics at the expense of the proper effect. Especially in Roxy Music that masterly control and instant adaptability has been essential, and not surprisingly, as the band gained increasing attention, so Phil's beautifully structured solo playing and expertly-judged backing earned him a growing individual reputation.
It was a year or so ago that Phil, like other members of the band, first found enough time to pursue musical interests outside of Roxy. Since then Phil has recorded on a series of 'solo' albums, commencing last summer with some masterful guitar on Bryan Ferry's version of 'You Won't See Me' on the latter's album 'These Foolish Things'. Phil also played on three tracks of Eno's first solo album. 'Here Come the Warm Jets' (Autumn '73), on some of Andy Mackay's album, 'In Search of Eddie Riff' (Spring '74), and on the whole of Eno's second album, 'Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy' (Autumn '74). He also worked in the last part of '74 with two of his favourite artists, playing all the guitar on Nico's album 'The End' and acting as executive producer on John Cale's album 'Fear'.
Phil had written much of Quiet Sun's music and now he resumed composing as well. His first recorded composition, 'Hula Kula', a clever dance-along guitar instrumental with a strong Brazilian flavour, backed the Roxy single 'Streetlife' (November 1973). On the band's third album 'Stranded' he wrote the music of 'Amazona' with its compelling, gyrating structure and rococo rhythms and on 'Country Life' the music for two of the most impressive tracks, 'out of the Blue' and 'Prairie Rose'. With Eno he penned 'Needles in the Camel's Eye' and 'Cindy Tells Me' on the 'Warm Jets' LP.
With the completion of these many projects at the end of 1974, Phil proceeded to defy the logic of collapse and immediately start work on his solo album. Because he much prefers musical to verbal composition he conceived the idea of inviting several eminent musician friends to write and sing lyrics for his music. It turned out to be a highly rewarding strategy and also, incidentally, gave the album something of an all-star cast. All the album's music was by Phil, but the five vocal tracks were handled variously by Robert Wyatt (from Soft Machine, et al.), John Wetton (from King Crimson), Bill MacCormick (from Matching Mole) and Eno (from the beyond). Other musicians who worked on the album included Paul Thompson on drums, Andy Mackay on sax and oboe, Eddie Jobson on strings and keyboards, Doreen Chanter on vocals, and Brian Turrington on bass (and that's not a complete list). Despite the seeming diversity of talent involved, the finished album possesses a remarkable unity of mood, a full-blooded Latinate feel, zestful or restful, reflecting the constant presence through the nine tracks of Phil's music, playing and production.
It's no surprise that three of the five lyrics spring directly from a Spanish-American inspiration. It was also Phil's cultural past which produced the title for the album. 'Diamond Head' doesn't allude - as it just might - to the notorious, bejewelled spectacles which Phil wore in Roxy's early days, but to a massive mountain peak in Hawaii that Phil once lived beneath. Finishing 'Diamond Head' on schedule, Phil decided to maintain his production-level and use a spare day or two to realise an old ambition. Seemingly in a matter of hours he reunited Quiet Sun (Charles Hayward on drums, Dave Jarrett on keyboards, Bill MacCormick on bass, Ian MacCormick on vocals - and himself) and recorded an album of the band's original music (to be titled 'Mainstream' and released on the Island label). And with that, Phil flew to the U.S. in February for Roxy Music's third - and hugely successful - American tour. Which ends the story - at least for the present.
Lyrics
FRONTERA
Es preciso que I lleguemos a la frontera del anochecer Tendremos que hallarle dondequiera e haya ocultado Es dudoso que este actor sea capaz de desempenar un paper tan importante. Terminare por creer que Vd no quiere ayudarnos Cree Vd que podremos convencerle? Dire a mi empleado que vaya luego a la oficina de la Compania de Aviacion Niega Vd que el acusado haya injuriado al demandante de la manera mas imperdonable? Sentimos que le sea imposible a Vd asistir a la representacion Estaba contento de fijarme en que el teatro estaba lleno de gente. Hare todo lo posible pare volver a verle a Vd, Me asombro de lo que ha sucedidodododo Es preciso que lleguemos a la frontera antes del anochecer Tendremos que hallarle dondequiera se haya ocultado Es dudoso que este actor sea capaz de desempenar un paper tan importante Terminare por creer que Vd no quiere ayudarnos Cree que podremos convencerle? Dire a mi oooh
BIG DAY
Taking our time before its through
Passing our days in old shoes
Sister - think I'm returning to Peru
Wish that I never came here
They can't pronounce my name here
Everyone asks me "Where's Peru ?"
In Peru we've lengthened the day
In Peru we've strengthened the dollar
There are mountains piercing our skies
And the ocean at our shores
I will save up all of my wages
Even retail crummy cosmetics
I will work my passage in stages
As the winter slips away
Miles of golden beaches
Excellent wines and features
Mister - take a week off in Gay Peru
Penitent monks to stare at
Colonial dons in old straw hats
Everyone's there in Gay Peru
Oo-poo-Peru
SAME TIME NEXT WEEK
Sometimes when I was younger
I thought I'd found my lucky number
But she drifted away
She'd encourage your advances
Back row movies, midnight chances
Absolutely nothing to say
And as time went by I found that I was looking
For that pebble in the sky
Who was not too shy
But would always satisfy me
Same time next week
Well you've kept your tan quite well I must say
And your figure's getting better every day
But I've something to say to you
On the subject of confession
I admit to indiscretion
Nothing really just a weekend or two
Well now is that so?
I didn't Really want to know about
The details and I've got to go
To meet your little sister at nine
And maybe I'll see you same time next week
It must have come as quite a shock to you
To hear the people talk as people do
So scandalously
Hey I'm a liberated lady
Second generation sister say!
Why don't you watch it and
Don't patronise me
Well the problem is with me
You see that you have got
Exactly what I want but she
Has always had what I need
Maybe I'll see you same time next week
MISS SHAPIRO
All the peasants in the squares
At their tables and their chairs
Set to salvage certain numbers
From the wonder of the Tundra
And the muses in the gloom
Counting needles in their rooms
On the carpet in the corner
In a kind of secret slumber
While the in formation rain
Slashed the dirty windowpane to the square
Chorus:
Smoky broads and smoky windows in the square
Come come charmer come on over for the day
Disappearing cocoa forests flash and die
Fortunes crumble all demolished in the bay
Over forty pointed people
In the perfect pointed steeple
Looked to see the lucky number
Yes the wonder of the Tundra
Had come up to fame and fortune
Singing his tune, my tune, your tune
Wooing daughters of the gifted
On the carpets of the courtrooms
While the tickets were expensive
The show was quite relentless in the square
Dalai Llama lame puss puss
Stella maris missa nobis
Miss a dinner Miss Shapiro
Shampoos pot-pot pinkies pampered
Movement hampered like at Christmas
Ha-ha isn't life a circus
Round in circles like the Archers
Always stiff or always starchy
Yes it's happening and it's fattening
And it's all that we can get into the show
ALMA
Bright lights and the city are all that I need
Got away from the country life they're all friends to me
But the roar of the street and the cold window pane
Keeps me from you
Sidewalk talk in the bitter night brings a kid down so fast
Sit in bars watching cars I'm just hoping to see you pass
But the scream off the street and the cold window pane
Keeps me from you
Some way one day we're on our own
Put out my hands and touch your face
Some way can't say I'm all alone
Don't recognise this time or place I see your face in
Strange sights in the car headlights of the shop front display
See me glide on the city tide am I stealing your heart away
Or does the lure of the street and this cold window pain
Keep me from you
Back to Diamond Head
