Jack Answers Your Questions!

Rachel F asks, "Do you perform acoustic sets around Ryde?"
Jack replied, "No I don't perform at all any more. About 10 years ago I had a Rock and Roll Band and we were quite popular on the south coast of England. We played Rock & Roll and Rhythm & Blues and were called "The Fabulous Jack Green Band" named after "The Fabulous Thunderbirds" who are one of my favourite bands. We used to play a lot of their material, sometimes I'd throw in one of my own songs but I'd tell the audience it was by someone else.

Max K asks, "How often do you go to Spain these days? Do you still visit Spain? How long did you live in Spain? How well do you speak Spanish?"
Jack said, "Max, I don't go to Spain as often as I'd like. One of these days we'll move back there. A little piece of my heart will always be in Spain. We lived there for 12 years and we both miss the lifestyle, the weather, the people, everything. Entiendo muchas palabras, pero me gramatico no es muy bueno.
(The English translation is 'I understand many words, but my grammar is not too good.)

Matthew asks, "What is the best thing about being who you are that you like?"
Jack's reply is, "The best thing about being me that I like is, not being somebody else who I don't get on with"

Nathan's question is "What was in like being in Marc Bolan's band? What was it that made you decide to join his band?"
Jack's very interestng answer is this, "I was asked to join his band. Since they were the biggest thing in Britain at the time, and I was starving, it seemed like a good idea."

Mirelle asked "What kinds of guitars are you favorites and what do you recommend for a beginner to play, guitar-wise?" and "Where were you and how old were you when you first realized that you would be a singer/songwriter and musician?"
Jack shared, "I use a Takamine acoustic, as it's one of the few acoustic guitars that sounds just as good plugged in, as when it's not. I also use a Fender Strat and Fender Tele. For a beginner, I would suggest buying a guitar that plays well (It doesn't matter what it looks like) It's also a good idea to buy a decent make as it will keep its value or even go up in value. There's nothing worse for a beginner than trying to play a bad guitar as it's an uphill struggle to know whether it's you or the guitar that's not sounding quite right."

Emma T asked "How and where did you meet your wife Jackie?" and "Do you two play music together?" and "Who does the cooking at home or you both like to cook together?" and "How long have you been married to each other?" and "Do you have any pets, if so what are they and what are their names?"

Jack wrote in reply, " I was introduced to Jackie by Gordon Edwards my ex song writing partner and Pretty Things and Kinks keyboard player. He’d met her while she was at art school in Southampton but it was when she moved to Goldsmiths College in London that we started going out together. We don’t play music together, Jackie’s more of an artist than a musician. She has this knack of knowing when I’m even thinking about a piece of music and will leave me alone while I work it out. She has always treated me like an artist, for which I’ll always be eternally grateful. We both like to cook. We’ve been together for 34 years and we’re still the best of friends. We’ve had loads of pets over the years, we moved two cats (Soldier and Miff) and a dog (Duke) over to Spain when we moved there, but animals never last very long and it always breaks my heart when they die, so we decided not to have any more. (Secretly though, I’d love another dog.)

Andrew from Messina, New York, U.S.A. asks and "Do you produce any new or local bands where you live?" and "What is your favorite meal breakfast, lunch or dinner, fave beer and bottle of wine, favorite tea, favorite dessert, do you like barbeques and do you have guests over for dinner a lot?

Jack said, "Ok Andrew, food, obviously something close to your heart.
I like interesting food. I’m not a plain food fan. I like Indian food, chicken korma is good, I can’t take the really hot curries any more. I’d have that with aubergine pickle, and yogurt and cucumber ratha and nan bread. I like Greek food, mousaka is one of my favourites, with a greek salad and feta cheese. Spanish paella is a fantastic meal too, made with fresh seafood.
I like German beer, so much more taste than other varieties. Cabernet Sauvignon red is a good wine. We found one that comes from Venice and it is just delicious. We tend to buy Fairtrade tea at the moment, it’s good stuff. We used to have barbeques a lot in Spain but in England it’s rare as the weather is so awful. We do have people over for dinner but not that often."

Andrew also asked, , "What are your best experiences during your career?"
Jack says, "My best experiences??? That’s a hard one to answer; there have been quite a few. Including, getting signed up to a London music publisher when I was 16, getting in to the musical "Hair" when I was 18 and performing on the West End stage in London. Getting a record deal when I was 20, getting asked to join T-Rex, getting a solo album deal, getting a gold record. (Editor's Note, and it's a Canadian Gold Record too...) Playing 1000’s of gigs, travelling the world and of course meeting so many interesting people. I’ve been very lucky.

Jack