F J
McMAHON
Originally released in the late 1960s on the semi-legendary Accent label, F J McMahon's rare folk LP "Spirit of the Golden Juice" found a new audience via a vinyl reissue a few years ago. I was able to connect with F J ("F" stands for Fred) recently and he kindly agreed to a short Q & A to provide some more details on his somewhat mysterious LP and career.
Q: Could you say something about your
background and early years, especially with relation to playing/listening to
music?
FJM: I started playing guitar around 1958 or so after reading an Elvis fan
mag. I started a band in junior high school and did real well through high
school. We started with Ventures music and progressed through the steps with
the rest of the world with folk, Beatles etc. After a stint in the Air Force
I came back to Santa Barbara Calif, home town. And started
playing.
Q: Your LP reminds me a bit of the 1960s folk scene
and artists like Fred Neil and Tim Hardin - would you consider yourself part
of that era?
FJM: The people I listened to most were Beatles, Steven Stills, Hoyt Axton,
Johnnie Winter. I still think Hoyt Axton was about the best singer/story
teller there ever was.
Q: What were the circumstances behind the LP?
FJM: Tigereye
music put out the album in 1969. I played lead and backup guitar on the
album, vocals, wrote all the songs. It was the only
album I ever recorded. The bass
player was a guy called Peace Pipe, who had a couple of singles on Accent
[note: this was probably Jon Uzonyi]. The album was
recorded at PD Sound in LA. The photo on the back is Big Sur, California
coastline, the one on the front was taken at the infamous Chateau Marmont in
Hollywood.
Q: What precisely does the title (and song)
"Spirit of the Golden Juice" refer to?
FJM: The song Spirit is about my experiences in Viet Nam, Thailand and the
PI. The "golden juice" is I.W. Harper bourbon which was the fuel
of the times.
Q: Did you play much live back then?
FJM: I played live for about 8 years and
then gave it up when disco took over.
© Lama
Sivart Doz 2002