4533 Present John Head
A wise man named Mark E Smith once wrote that it’s a skill to play the second fiddle well. Few British musicians have played that role better than John Head, the guitarist whose psychedelic, soulful playing brought so many of his older brother Mick’s songs to
glorious life for over twenty-five years, first in The Pale Fountains and then with Shack.
At first, he was just an incredibly gifted, intuitive guitar prodigy. But as the albums by the Liverpudlians stacked, slowly his own song-writing emerged, along with a voice that beautifully conveyed yearning and pained experience in equal measure. His songs were a glorious foil for his brother’s, and by the time of Shack’s fifth and (so far, alas) final album …The Corner Of Miles And Gil in 2006, he was contributing a third of the twelve songs, on arguably Shack’s most adventurous set. Since then, nothing.
Rumours of a recorded solo album set fan message boards alight at the turn of the decade, but at the time of writing it is yet to emerge. His brother starting to play gigs with his Red Elastic Band, and released his own solo album, but there was no word of John… Until April, when he played two sold out gigs in his hometown. And now, he’s announced a first London show for over a decade, at The Social, on October 24. Another wise man once said that good things come to those who wait. John, we are ready for you now…
Ted Kessler, August 2019