Chris Spedding :: “Guitar Graffiti”
By the time English-based musician, producer, and all-around guitar guru Peter Robinson, known worldwide as Chris Spedding, released his monumental 1978 masterpiece, “Guitar Graffiti,” the musician had already accomplished so much leading up to that point. From playing with Jack Bruce on his first three studio albums to producing his next-door neighbors, the Sex Pistols’ early recordings in the summer of 1976, working alongside the great Harry Nilsson on “Nilsson Schmilsson,” and touring/recording with the likes of John Cale, Roxy Music, Elton John, and so many others, Spedding quickly became one of the UK’s most diverse, and sonically sophisticated artists to date. Shortly after releasing his 1970 debut “Songs Without Words,” the veteran musician briefly occupied a position in the fundamental fusion band Nucleus before honing in on his patient process with perfectly polished rhythms, anarchic approach, almighty attitude, and style seen for miles. While transcending the rudimentaries of rockabilly and anything else that would later follow, “Guitar Graffiti” grabs you by the Montgomery Ward collar, and places you directly on your ass. While 1976’s self-titled put him on the melodious map with the Top 20 UK single "Motor Bikin,” which Spedding promoted properly by sporting his iconic biker outfit, and slicked back hair that made even the Fonz look like a choir boy, on classic BBC networks like Top Of The Pops, and Supersonic, something sonically superior shifted by the time his 5th studio album “Guitar Graffiti” was released towards the end of the decade.
Photo: Jean-Luc Ourlin
A brilliant collection of songs that range from pop, straight 50’s diner rock, to moving ballads of the western world, Spedding broke through the cautious crust set by his prolific peers with a harmonious hammer like no other. It’s hard to imagine bands like Boston, Foghat, Kiss, and Led Zeppelin, to name a few, were seemingly the only ones conquering the airwaves and stadiums during the ‘Arena Rock’ era, and while these bands are great and have influenced the world accordingly, what about Spedding, who effortlessly tapped into the feverish fibers of rock and roll and mastered its poetic patterns? While the album still radiates that fabulous familiarness of Spedding’s truthful touch, there’s something melodically magical, youthful, and genuine about Spedding’s approach to the guitar and compositions on this album. Communicating through the long-lost spirits of Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Ritchie Valens, Joe Meek, and what was left of Elvis by this time, Spedding’s “Guitar Graffiti” captured something rather cosmic and complex at a time when sex, money, drugs, and more drugs were more important than the music. With songs like “Frontal Lobotomy,” “Bored, Bored,” and “Video Life,” perhaps one of the musician’s most memorable moments ever captured on tape, “Guitar Graffiti” is as classic as a summer night with no responsibilities in sight, as the spirit soars high above the town, and city worthy of escape.
“I tried it myself on ‘Guitar Graffiti’. There are certain difficulties in having other people produce for you. You have to play them a track so that they can understand what it should sound like. Doing it myself, I was able to just work from ideas in my head. In a funny, jazz sort of way, things fit when I do them quickly and improvise. But a producer is very important as a sounding board.”
