Sitting down with a music book and a pile of albums to accompany the content is analogue heaven. And when the musician has a career as rich and varied as British guitarist John McLaughlin, you can be confident the soundtrack will be both demanding and deeply rewarding. As for the book, that needs to be thoroughly researched and well-written, doesn’t it? Vinyl Connection can report that Matt Phillips’ John McLaughlin: From Miles and Mahavishnu to The 4th Dimension fits the bill very well indeed, providing an uplifting adventure in sound and music history.

If the Matt’s name sounds familiar, it should be. Author of the Moving The River blog and a musician himself, Matt is well known for his deep insights into all things 80s. But the McLaughlin journey begins not in the era of perms and day glow clothes, but in 60s London. 

Being fortunate enough to have a goodly selection of the guitarist’s work I was well equipped for beginning near the beginning, which meant dipping into the jazzy R&B of organist and sax player Graham Bond.

An amazing line-up that included two thirds of Cream and the core of Colosseum, Bond’s history deserves a monograph of its own. Suffice to say that these sides are more of historic interest than something that is going to light your inner mounting flame. Matt’s book scoots quickly through this formative period, but gathers pace and passion as we hit McLaughlin’s first solo recording. 

Recorded in early 1969, Extrapolation has been on the Vinyl Connection shelves for ages, but rarely have I allocated it the time it deserves. That is the joy of a well-written music book; it invites revisitation and provokes new appreciation. I love reading the gossamer threads of connection Matt details regarding the lead up to this particular recording date, quoting Brian Auger (another British keyboard powerhouse) who apparently recommended McLaughlin to producer and label owner Giorgio Gomelsky. “At the time, I thought he (McLaughlin) was the best jazz guitar player in Europe and on a par with the Americans. The other guy I recommended was John Surman.” The highly regarded saxophonist was already connected with McLaughlin and would be again.

Extrapolation has both structure and free jazz excursions. There are also spurts of fire that make it of interest to anyone curious about the early, tentative feelers jazz was putting out towards rock sensibilities, an eruption neatly—if inaccurately—attributed to Miles’ 1970 classic Bitches Brew. This thrilling music certainly did not appear out of nowhere, as we shall see when John McLaughlin teams up with Tony Williams.

It was the American drummer who made the call to McLaughlin not long after Extrapolation was recorded, inviting him to join a new band he was assembling. So the Englishman boarded a plane for the USA and began an astonishing new phase of his career. Within a couple of days he had befriended fellow guitarist Larry Coryell, been welcomed by Chick Corea, and visited the home of Miles Davis with Tony Williams. It was here that Davis invited McLaughlin to join him for the sessions that would produce the seminal In A Silent Way.

By mid-1969 Tony Williams Lifetime had secured a contract with Polydor and quickly recorded a double album’s worth of music. Released as both a 2LP set and as two single albums, the music blew guitarist George Benson away.

The first time I met John was at a club in Harlem in 1969, with the Tony Williams Lifetime. They were loud, man, loud and out there—a mixture of jazz, rock, avant-garde and noise. Were they a good band? Heck yeah. Would I have been able to play their sort of music? Heck, no.

[John McLaughlin: From Miles and Mahavishnu to The 4th Dimension; p.23]

The trio of Williams, McLaughlin and organist Larry Young was a monster. Leaping between virtuoso playing and wall of sound psychedelic explosions, this is the fiery birth of jazz-rock in all its high-impact glory. Anyone who loves The Mahavishnu Orchestra should check out this primordial jazz beast.

We are now a the turn of the decade, ’69 crashing into 1970. When I’ve followed the journey a bit further I’ll report back again. In the meantime I can thoroughly recommend Matt’s book and the music it charts. Musically and, er, readerily it is an engrossing stereo experience.

Matt Phillips [2023] John McLaughlin: From Miles and Mahavishnu to The 4th Dimension 

More info here.