The 1968 album Paul Weller considers mandatory listening for any true music fan
When Noel Gallagher was eyeing up the music scene in the 1980s, he mused, “Back in the day, we thought that you had to go to college and be an art student to be in a band. Or be Paul Weller.”
In other words, folks saw the former Jam frontman as an icon in an unattainable league of his own. Weller is an icon of British music who deservedly earned himself the nickname of The Modfather.
The feathery-haired frontman, of course, started off with The Jam. He injected all of his youthful angst into becoming one of the voices of a generation with the era-defining group, before radically changing things up and moving into the world of neo-soul with The Style Council.
The 62-year-old’s career has been the definition of diverse, The Modfather constantly mixing things up as his career has progressed over the years with him never resorting to the safe option, and this is reflected within his music taste.
Weller’s love of different genres and pioneering characters is a large reason why he has had the unique career that he has had. The former leader of The Jam could have easily chased financial gain by reuniting the band that began the story for him in the first place, but his heart has never been about going backwards, and that true artistry of always looking forward is why he is as revered as he is today.
So, it comes as little surprise that the record he prescribes as mandatory listening material is one that you can hear as a clear influence in his own work, especially the jazz-fused material that his solo albums often meddle with. There’s undoubtedly a flavour of that old school British cool and his love of beat laced with elements of psychedelia in the 1968 record, too.
The album that Weller picked when asked by NME to recommend an album everyone should listen to before they die was the groovy Odyssey & Oracle by The Zombies, an effort which somehow shares similarities with all three of the eclectic chapters of The Modfather’s career. The 1968 record is the definition of a cult classic, and while it was met by indifference at the time of its release, its brilliance has been solidified in the years that have followed.
“When it came out in 1968, no-one bought it, and by the time it had come out the band had split. I didn’t hear it until the mid-’70s, but when I did it just blew my head off,” Weller said of the album.
Continuing, “Me and my mate used to sit around in his flat, as teenagers, in the Autumn with leaves on the ground everywhere in Woking park, listening to this, writing songs, making plans.” Something about its lilting melodies and magical otherworldliness proved deeply inspirational.
“It’s obviously a very English-sounding record, and melancholic. There’s jazz and classical influences in there, as well as the psychedelic touches,” he added, encompassing the broadstroke approach on the pioneering album that perhaps explains why it wasn’t instantly accessible upon release while the world caught up.
On another occasion, Weller detailed more about those days as a teenager that the record soundtracked, “That was the first time me and my mate [and early Jam member] Steve Brookes heard it,” he said. “Steve lived near Woking Park and it was autumn time, so I guess that’s always been part of it for me in terms of the sensations that it brings up.”
The memories that are attached to the record provide Weller with a sentimental attachment to The Zombies’ sophomore record but the album has aged beautifully and it’s no surprise that the English band are still playing the classic LP in full today, half a century on from its almost suitably subtle release.
Its highest chart success might have been when it peaked at 95th in the US in ‘69 after Al Kooper began promoting the record, but its impact has gathered like a storm since then, and in the 21st century, it is clear that Odyssey & Oracle is one of the greatest and most vital British albums ever released.
