Lulu 2024
Subtitled “From The Yardbirds to Yusuf” and spanning his formative years, a compendium of conversations with a man who helped shape rock as we know it.
Widely know for his work, Paul Samwell-Smith has somehow managed to remain an enigma and, over a few decades, has rarely made his personal presence known. Not a lot of people were as lucky as this scribe to speak to the legendary artist at length and talk about his remarkable career, but David French did it on numerous occasions – when authoring the Keith Relf biography, when penning liner notes for the “Roger The Engineer” box set – and now the American journalist went further and convinced the musician to go for a special series of conversations to complement what was left behind those chats. And what wasn’t as well, of course, for continuity is important when one’s life’s being scrutinized – or part of one’s life, because the slim tome titled “Shapes Of Things” deals with the crucial period of with Samwell-Smith’s creative path: first, his role as an active performer and, second, his transition to a producer, the two aspects of the veteran’s existence a significant contribution to popular culture.
As a former member of THE YARDBIRDS and sonic mastermind of Cat Stevens’ classic records, he’s got a lot of stories to tell, and a lot of those tales are here. As stated on the cover, it’s a set of interviews, in a literal questions-and-answer format, rather than a narrative derived from a call-and-response exchanges by a ghost writer and a celebrity. The original transcripts imbue the book with personality – Paul’s, not David’s. What should help propel it forward is that French, immensely respectful to his subject’s body of work, can’t be called a fan per se, so there’s curiosity focused on events of Samwell-Smith’s course through the ’60s and ’70s, his thinking and his methods, rather than gushing about his substantial claims to fame. Only fame has never had any appeal for Paul. “To stand on stage and have 5,000 girls screaming at you – ah, who cares? It wasn’t what I wanted to do,” he confides in David. “And since I didn’t really get a buzz out of being onstage, it was like learning a living. It never seemed very successful.” But then, he doesn’t projecting false modesty on the artistic side of things and admits, “Having listened to some of my bass parts, they’re amazing” before allowing: “If there’s one thing I’d like to be known for, it is backing vocals” which rendered the likes of “Still I’m Sad” – pieces Samwell-Smith cowrote with Jim McCarty who he often refers to as “the drummer” while consistently calling Relf by name as if to draw a line between friendship and professionalism.
Equipment and technique get touched upon too, as does the veteran’s personal life that, in certain ways, contributed to his becoming the people-oriented producer Samwell-Smith has been almost since the start of his taking care of this business – the independent producer, the “independent” attribute a key to understanding his stance. Yet the reason why all of it happened – and never mind the pretty much coincidental “Y” at the beginning of both THE YARDBIRDS and Yusuf names – still puzzles Paul and makes him muse over “a problem with being successful and not quite knowing why” and stating, “I’m not sure I was ever able to separate artistry from success and royalties and all of that. I didn’t do things just to make money.” Samwell-Smith’s digging deeper into cuts defining his approach to music in the “Playlist” addendum to the book, where “For Your Love” is made a big deal of – deservedly so, – with a proper space dedicated to the role of harpsichord in it, but without a single mention of Brian Auger who handled the instrument – unlike those who played guitars in the ensemble as Paul’s characteristics of them reflect his own psyche.
This book could do with some editing, yet the irritating repetitions strewn across its less than a hundred pages let the reader drop in at any place and not access Samwell-Smith’s stories in chronological order the author’s questions adhere to – especially given the fact that they don’t venture beyond the several pivotal years David’s interested in presenting. “It always was a strange job,” remarks Paul here, and for all the flaws on offer, “Shapes Of Things” is a great introduction to his mysteries.
***1/2
