John McLaughlin: From Miles and Mahavishnu to The 4th Dimension

by Matt Phillips

Overview

In the hierarchy of British jazz & rock musicians, the electrifying guitarist, composer, and bandleader John McLaughlin arguably holds an unassailable position at the very top.

Across dozens of official studio and live recordings encompassing solo albums, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakti, and co-headlining group projects, GRAMMY award–winner John McLaughlin has consistently enthralled and surprised with boundary-pushing, genre-defying music. He revolutionized guitar playing with his virtuosic style, carving out one of the most critic-proof and prolific careers in modern times, and was also Miles Davis’s guitarist of choice on epochal albums In a Silent Way, A Tribute to Jack Johnson, Bitches Brew, and Live-Evil.

Drawing on hundreds of sources and interviews with key collaborators, Matt Phillips takes us on an exciting journey through McLaughlin’s entire career: his early years on the London pop scene; his flirtations with the European avant-garde; groundbreaking work with Miles Davis and Tony Williams; electrifying fusion groups The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Shakti; special projects with the likes of Chick Corea, Sting, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Carlos Santana, and Jeff Beck; hugely popular acoustic collaborations with Paco De Lucia, Larry Coryell, and Al Di Meola; and his 4th Dimension band. This is the first major book to illuminate McLaughlin’s entire output from 1980–2020. Including never-before-seen photographs, it’s a thrilling ride through the life of a master musician.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538170946
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/15/2023
Pages:	306
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Matt Phillips has contributed to various magazines including Classic Pop and Jazzwise and won the latter’s inaugural Write Stuff Award for new jazz writing. He was Universal Music’s jazz catalog manager and Jazz FM’s web editor and has written the liner notes for numerous DVDs and CDs including work by Miles Davis, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, and Maynard Ferguson. He is the author of Level 42: Every Album, Every Song. He lives in London and is the founder of movingtheriver.com and soundsofsurprise.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Early Years (1942 – 1968)

Chapter 2: 1969-1970

Extrapolation, Miles and Lifetime

Chapter 3: 1970-1973

From Devotion to Between Nothingness & Eternity

Chapter 4: 1974-1979

From Apocalypse to Electric Dreams

Chapter 5: The 1980s

From Friday Night In San Francisco to Paco & John At Montreux

Chapter 6: The 1990s

From The Mediterranean Concerto to Remember Shakti

Chapter 7: The 2000s

From The Heart Of Things Live to Five Peace Band Live

Chapter 8: The 2010s

From To The One to Is That So?

Epilogue: Covid, Liberation Time and John’s Goals Beyond

Acknowledgments

Bibliography

Selected Online References

Selected Print References

About The Author

Editorial Reviews

Intriguing and insightful, Matt Phillips’s book promises to be a must-read for jazz and rock enthusiasts, offering a rare glimpse into the life and career of a true musical icon. From McLaughlin’s early days in London to his latest endeavors, this book captures the essence of an artist who has consistently pushed the boundaries of music, leaving an indelible mark on the world of jazz and beyond.

Jazz in Europe

The rare artist whose work is as deep as it is broad, John McLaughlin demands a sharp mind and no small amount of commitment from fans and collaborators alike. Matt Phillips, a former jazz catalogue manager at Universal Music Group and an accomplished drummer in his own right, is the perfect guide through McLaughlin's byzantine discography, his training enabling him to keep pace with the guitarist's baffling mastery of time signatures, and his passion earning the trust of anyone still reeling from those early Mahavishnu Orchestra flights. Despite a clear love for his subject, Phillips isn't afraid to criticise: missteps and dull performances are addressed throughout a breakdown of McLaughlin's career which nods to his early session work and extracurricular activities but largely sticks to projects of his own devising, for which “fusion” seems an inadequate shorthand. Taking an album-by-album approach allows readers to go at their own pace, though Phillips never loses sight of the wider picture. Drawing connections across decades, groups and recordings, he sketches a portrait of an artist the complexity of whose music is matched by the conceptual ideas and the spiritual and cultural pursuits that inform it.

Record Collector

Besides offering the most comprehensive overview of McLaughlin's entire career to make it into print thus far, Phillips' detailed study is a reminder of how prolific and stylistically diverse McLaughlin's long and distinguished career has been and how his work has continued to be informed by his defining passions…. This is a well-researched attempt to offer some informed perspective on the trajectory of a spectacular career that has consistently defied any attempts at tidy categorisation.

Shindig! Magazine

A wonderful insight into a true innovator and colossus of the guitar. I feel blessed to have lived in his time.

Mark King

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.

Vinyl Connection

With protean guitarist, composer, and bandleader John McLaughlin, a trailblazer in multicultural jazz fusion, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of one of his most lauded groups, Shakti, by touring the world, it’s a true boon to have jazz expert Phillips’ thorough and impassioned chronicle. Phillips covers McLaughlin's ravishingly complex acoustic-guitar techniques and sophisticated electric innovations, along with his diverse influences, compositions, bands, recording sessions, and concerts.... Proceeding album-by-album and portraying the exceptional musicians who worked with McLaughlin, Phillips is the first to fully illuminate “the least-appreciated, least-documented periods” in the extraordinary career of this wondrously free-spirited, prolific, perpetually questing artist.

Booklist

Especially if you're a McLaughlin devotee this hugely entertaining book is a required purchase. In case you're more like me, someone with an interest in (prog) music who dropped History from his exams the minute it was possible, then rest assured this exemplary educational book is one historic lesson you don't want to miss! All in all an exceptional and brilliant read!

DPRP

Phillips looks at his entire career and details the many album releases in a highly readable style that draws you back to listen again to music you may not have heard in a long time – if at all. …Informative and thoroughly enjoyable, it’s easy to recommend this book.

The Progressive Aspect

John McLaughlin is one of a kind. What he has contributed to the world of music will never be duplicated. It’s the reason why a book reflecting on his musical career should be a must-have in every aspiring musician's personal library.

Billy Cobham

For those of us who came of age with Jimi Hendrix, mourned his passing in 1970 and subsequently immersed ourselves in the fusion movement, Phillips’ book is a revelation. A comprehensive and thoroughly researched look at that era through the landmark recordings of guitar avatar John McLaughlin, it traces in great detail his rise through the ranks of London session work in the ‘60s to his place atop the six-string Mt. Olympus. A must-read for guitar aficionados and McLaughlin devotees.

Bill Milkowski

What Matt Phillips’ scrupulously researched account does is bring the John McLaughlin story up to date (he’s a grand old 81). For anyone who’s felt the guitarist’s later electric bands were a pale shadow of the first Mahavishnu Orchestra’s frenzied virtuosity, Phillips’ analysis spotlights the gems amid the slew of releases in the half-century since the break-up. Phillips writes as a fan, who first saw McLaughlin in 1984.... [T]his is a fluent career overview of a guitarist prepared to explore far further than his blues-rock peers of the 1960s.

Mojo Magazine