...THE
OF A SOPHISTO-ROCK SAXOPHONIST BY ANNIE McCLEAN
By
March ‘78 the boys were back hard at work on the next album
in Rick’s Californian home. The following month they took a rehearsal
space at LA’s Burbank studio, naming it for the English cottage
where they had first put COTC together some five and a half years previously.
Relocation to LA’s Village Recorders followed only a matter of weeks
later and recording commenced on “Breakfast in America” in
Studio B (Studio A was for at least part of the time occupied by Steely
Dan working on their last album of the 20 th Century, “Gaucho”).
Studio B only had one recording booth and as the backing for tracks such
as The Logical song were recorded live, John was dispatched to the toilet
to play his solos. Engineer Pete Henderson bemusedly recalled, “He
used to complain about it a lot, but I think he was actually quite happy
being in there."
He was allowed out to contribute backing vocals to some of the tracks
and is even the “heavy breather” heard exhaling at the start
of every bar in the introduction to “The Logical Song”.
Recording for Breakfast in America finished at the end of ’78. The
album cover design was completed by including a photo of the band on the
back. For the location they chose Bert’s Mad House on La Brea Avenue
in LA, located literally just across the street from the studios (sadly
it’s now gone, rumoured to have been turned into a parking lot). Look
carefully and all the musicians are reading a newspaper from their own home
towns. John’s Manchester Evening News represents his nearest city
to Todmorden.
With the album’s release in March ’79 it was time for John
to take to the road again. The North American tour leg got underway in
St. Louis and worked its way across N. America until mid August. Supertramp
were on the crest of a wave. In Buffalo in May the Mayor even presented
them with the keys of the city which John gleefully accepted on stage.
European
touring brought them to Paris on the 29 th November ‘79 for the
legendary recording and filming of the show which would be issued as the
double live album “Paris”. Surviving footage showed John as
ever really getting into the swing of things. In black wrap around sunglasses
and with his trade mark flowing blond locks, he ducked and dived his way
around the stage, at one point climbing on to the grand piano and lying
on his back, microphone in hand, to sing the backing vocals for “Dreamer”.
His voice is heard greeting the audience in French and his introductory
detailed descriptions of the various recent meals he’d had, have
become as much a part of the live recording as has the music. His ability
to learn a few sentences of the language of whatever country he is performing
in is a trait which continues to endear him to continental fans.
OF A SOPHISTO-ROCK SAXOPHONIST BY ANNIE McCLEAN
