Go Ahead John: The Music of John McLaughlin [Paperback]

Paul Stump (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2001

Go Ahead John, takes the reader on a journey through a myriad of musical climates; from the drug-fuelled sixties, through the heady days of jazz rock and ethnic fusion in the seventies, to McLaughlin's re-establishment in the nineties as a grand master of the jazz guitar.

PUBLISHER COMMENTS: Over a long and varied career spanning three decades, John McLaughlin has become one of the premier jazz guitarists of modern times. Nurtured by Miles Davis, his career really took off when he appeared on classic albums like In A Silent Way and Jack Johnson.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: SAF Publishing (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0946719241
• ISBN-13: 978-0946719242
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,029,081 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Go Ahead John: the Music of John McLaughlin, May 21, 2000

By 

jason mckenzie (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Go Ahead John: The Music of John McLaughlin (Paperback)

The book starts off very well with interesting antecdotes of McLaughlin's early years. As it progresses, however, there is very little information about McLaughlin the man. There is also very little discription about his years with Miles Davis and the time he spent in India with Shakti. Most of the book seems to focus primarily on reviewing each album one after the other, but many of the reviews are not positive.

Granted, the book is subtitled the "music" of John Mclaughlin, and there is definitely some worthwhile information in the book for McLaughlin fans. A book about his life is long overdue. Its unfortunate that it could not have been written by a closer source or perhaps from the man himself.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Why Write A Book Like This ?, May 21, 2010

By 

Jon Mcfaul - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Go Ahead John: The Music of John McLaughlin (Paperback)

I paid around $4.00 because I found it through Amazon marketplace , and due to that I suppose I got my moneys' worth for the extensive discography appendix included at the rear of the book . Paul Stump , the author , finds something wrong with every single album recorded over a very long 40+ year career . The tone of the book was bitter enough to make me question why Stump would even want to write about McLaughlin in the first place . I found out about guest appearances made by McLaughlin on other artists' albums that I did not know about due to the discography mentioned earlier , other than that , the book was a very difficult read due to the attitude of the author . I would compare the pleasantness of reading this book to having several teeth extracted at the same without the benefit of anesthesia .

9 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Do Not Buy This Book, May 5, 2004

By 

Edward T. Shaw III "bassist19" (Parker, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Go Ahead John: The Music of John McLaughlin (Paperback)

I have just read this tome and I am totally disgsuted. Not only is it no more than a poor extended record review but this author has made some HUGE mistakes. 1) pg38 "..the presence of two of the Band of Gypsies, Buddy Miles and the bassist Billy Rich.. His name is Billy Cox!!! 2) pg51 "..when he regarded the astronomical sucess his (white, with the exception of Herbie Hancock) proteges would win... When did Herbie turn white? The mundane droll that ensues could possibly be tolerated if the book was not riddled with such blantant mistakes. I would suggest anyone interested in this book purchase John McLaughlin cds instaed.