Jack Green Answers Your Questions!!!

Gord asks, 'What are the interesting similarities and/or strange quirks of working with Ritchie Blackmore and Marc Bolan? Were they difficult to work with? Were either of them egotistical?'

Greetings El Presidente and Hi Gord,
Yes, they were both hugely egotistical but in different ways.
Ritchie had some strange quirks, like he would not be in the same room as a Fender Rhodes piano and would have it removed before he entered, and would only stay in haunted hotels
having sent a roadie out beforehand to scout them out. He is an intelligent and well read person as well as being a fantastically proficient guitarist,
so all his idiosyncrasies just made him all the more endearing.

Marc on the other hand, during the time I was with him was going through some difficult times. He believed all the hype that was written about him and would make up some
more for good measure. He was a hard guy to work for but I was very pleased to be working with him and will always be indebted to him for giving me a break.

Jack

Allison McDonald of Aberdeen asked, 'Do you make notes for songs as you go along or just get into full blown writing mode, like a big cup of coffee and a comfortable chair, pens and paper? Do you like to write outdoors? e.g. sitting in a cafe, etc'

Hi Allison,
How’s the Granite City?
The most important thing to do when you’re writing is to try to get yourself into an inspired frame of mind. Sometimes I’ll make notes; sometimes I’ll watch
a film and jot down pieces of dialogue or phrases.
In the 80s I was, for a time, a house writer for RCA. What that is, is my publisher would put me together with other signed writers to write songs. I would
turn up at their door, having never met the person and be expected to write something. This would usually involve them saying “Do you know such and
such a song?” I’d say yes, then they’d say “Let's write something like that” I found that was a really soul destroying way of writing songs. I’m not a big fan of
writing outside, unless it’s in my own garden. I like to have my own things around me when I write. I also enjoy writing with people I trust and being able to
bounce ideas around. I hate being in a café by myself.

Jack

David B of Sydney, Australia is interested in knowing, 'What was your favorite recreational drug of choice? Have you ever done hallucinatory drugs? If so, what was you most vivid memory of a drug experience? Worst drug experience?'

Hi David B of the Australian Drug Enforcement Agency
You’ve got to remember I was a flower child of the 60s, one of the beautiful people.
I was no different from anybody else that I knew. There were very few musicians I knew who didn’t take drugs. We all did. Mostly Hash rather than grass.
I also took just about every other drug going, but settled down with Hash. We took drugs in those days to “Expand our minds” I watched a lot of people
expand their minds so much they just exploded and became gibbering wrecks. Those people usually did too much LSD. I don’t do anything anymore.
It gets harder to handle when you get older.

Jack

Mel Borget of Witchita, Kansas, U.S.A. asks 'Are you more of a night owl than a day person?' 'What are your peak creative hours of the day/night?' 'Does Jackie like to write songs?' 'Who does the cooking in the home you both share?'

Dear Mel,
I used to be more of a night time person when I worked in the music industry but nowadays I wake up early and go to bed early too. If I’m making
films I find mid morning quite a creative time and for writing music, late afternoon/evening.
We both cook.

Jack


Stacy Wilson of Long Beach, California 'What is your favorite sport, both to watch and participate?' 'Have you ever taken nude pics?'

Dear Stacy,
My favourite sport is Football, or what you would call Soccer. The English Premier League is the best in the world. There is no particular team I support; I just like to watch good football.
In answer to your other question: The best form of contraception for a man of my age is to take his clothes off.

Jack

Harris of London, England has a multi-question, 'What is your favorite guitar chord? What is/was your least favorite? Favorite amplifier? Modern equipment or vintage? Least favorite instrument you've ever made the mistake of buying? Ever smashed a guitar (on purpose)? Accidentally broken a friend's instrument?'

Harris of London – Sounds like a clothing manufacturer. (Sorry Harris, only joking.) That is a very strange question. All the chords are of equal importance, depending on which key you’re playing in.

Favourite Amplifier? Hmm.. I’ve liked so many amps over the years. I would use different amps for different sounds. Marshall 4x12 for big powerful chords. Fender twin for clean country picking. Mesa boogie for lead.

Modern amps, vintage guitars every time. I was once given a blank cheque by Marc Bolan to go out and buy a guitar. I bought a reasonably priced Gibson Melody Maker (After watching Hank Marvin play it in the shop and give it the thumbs up) I should have bought a Les Paul.

I could never bring myself to smash up an instrument. Once when I was at Shepperton studios, I asked Pete Townsend what his favourite guitar was. He shrugged and said he wasn’t bothered. Seeing the expression on my face, he motioned me to follow and showed me into a film hanger which was almost full of guitars for as far as the eye could see. So for him, smashing up a guitar was no big deal but for me, every instrument is precious. I’ve never broken a friend’s instrument, if I did, I’d be mortified.

Jack

Becky LaMontage of France asks, 'How do you keep your love life interesting?' 'Have you ever had sex before a concert? Backstage or otherwise?''

(Editors Note: Becky is very curious...)

Dear Becky
Why do you want to know? Do you have any suggestions?
In answer to your other questions
Yes, Yes and Yes

Jack

Mille of Bern, Germany is interested in knowing, 'What is the strangest place you've ever woken up in?' 'Have you ever woken up beside someone you couldn't remember their name?' '

Dear Mille
When I was living in Ibiza I got quite ill. My weight dropped to about 8 stone and I thought I was dying. It wasn’t till much later that I was diagnosed as diabetic. I had all the classic symptoms such as a raging thirst. That is when I first started drinking. I had never been a drinker before that time. I knew something was really wrong when I woke up one morning in the garden with my arms wrapped round the dog. When I got back to London I got myself checked out and was very pleased to find it was diabetes and that I wasn’t dying after all. I was put on Insulin, and I’m now probably healthier than I was before I was diabetic.

Jack

Edmondo De Silva of Portugal would like to know 'Are you afraid to fly on an airplane? What are you main fears (Spiders, certain people, heights, places) ?'

Dear Edmondo,
As Woody Allen said, “I have no fear of flying; I just have a fear of falling” As far as I know, I don’t have any phobias. My main fear is being duped, of having the wool pulled over my eyes. I can’t think of anything worse. Well I can, but I’m not going to.

Jack

Simon Vello of Calgary, Alberta asks 'What is the last concert you attended?' and 'Has this J. Green Society helped connect you with friends from the past?'　

Dear Simon,
The last concert I saw was Desmond Dekker not long before he died. He was fantastic and so was his band. Jackie and I also went
to the opera recently and saw Verdi’s Aida.

(And regarding Simon's other question regarding people contacting Jack)

Yes, you wouldn’t believe the people that have contacted me that I hadn’t seen for 30/40 years.

Jack

To all Jack Green Apprecation Society Members, a personal note from Jack.

'A big thank you to you all for participating in this site and to all the J-Gas members for helping me to re-live all these memories.

Jack Green'