Paul Weller as a songwriter? Dylan Jones unpacks his “Imperial Phase"

Paul Weller’s been writing songs for 50 years now and he’s chosen over 100 of his lyrics for the new and gorgeous, picture-packed publication ‘Paul Weller: Magic – A Journal Of Song’, each accompanied by his memories of how and why he wrote it compiled from interviews with long-time admirer, multiple author and old pal of the podcast, Dylan Jones. No-one was better qualified for the job. The teenage Dylan saw the Jam countless times in London pubs and has followed Weller closely ever since, a songwriter, he says, “who’s proved he’s beyond reproach and, in some senses, possibly without equal”. This is full of stories and insights, among them …

… “you don’t tell Paul Weller what to do”.

… his unease about the sentimentality of English Rose.  

… “the Style Council were a better group than the Jam”.

… the teenage Weller travelling to London to make cassette recordings of the traffic.

… his love of tabloid song titles and unrhyming lyrics.  

… what saved him from being dropped by Polydor.

… Steve Winwood, the Liverpool Poets, the Beatles, Kinks and other key influences.  

… the burden of being a hero.

… and the likelihood of a Jam reunion.

Order Paul Weller – Magic: A Journal Of Song here …

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magic-Journal-Song-Paul-Weller/dp/1905662742

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