It’s not a prerequisite for a successful musician to be an erudite figure but when they are I find it refreshing. I like the ones whom when asked a question will endeavor to answer it in an interesting or informative way as opposed to being deliberately obtuse or smart arsey without any humour to make the retort worthwhile. One man I admire greatly is Mark Everett of Eels. The music he has produced ranging from one of the best songs of the 90’s Novocaine For The Soul through albums such as Electro-Shock Blues and Souljacker to the latest release Tomorrow Morning serve to show him as not just a hugely accomplished songwriter but a genuinely interesting artist. Furthermore, when I have heard or seen him interviewed such as here, or in fronting the superb BBC documentary Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives on the life and work of his father, he seems a thoroughly decent bloke which is all the more commendable due to the hardships he has suffered in his personal life. These hardships and his many successes are brilliantly recounted in his book Things The Grandchildren Should Know, which as The Word magazine‘s quote that graces the cover states “Shares less with rock memoir than it does with the likes of The Corrections, Middlesex and The Ice Storm… I’ve never read a better book by a musician”. There are a select band of musicians I would genuinely like to have a drink with and Mr Everett would certainly be one. Due to the fact I have never met him the chances of that drink are slim so instead I will offer up not only one of my favourite songs by Eels but one of the most beautiful songs I have heard in the last few years from the tremendous Blinking Lights And Other Revelations album – From Which I Came/ A Magic World.
Image – bandweblogs