“Simple pop music”: the artist John Frusciante said no one has surpassed and has always inspired him
It’s easy to view John Frusciante as a modern reincarnation of Jimi Hendrix.
The pair share the same virtuoso approach to guitar playing that few others have reached in their musical careers. Spiralling into mind-bending licks that blurred the lines between rhythm and melody, most notably coalescing on their respective tracks ‘Little Wing’ and ‘Under the Bridge’.
For the period of time when he was a part of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Frusciante was the soul of the band, and on the surface, it was Hendrix we had to thank for that. But digging a little deeper, and getting to understand Frusciante as the songwriter rather than the guitarist, and his self-professed love for Yusuf/Cat Stevens, becomes a whole lot clearer.
“I have many memories of learning and performing his tunes,” Frusciante explained. “My most recent memory of this kind is perhaps the most meaningful. My dad has a doctorate degree in music as a pianist, but he had a block against learning ‘simple’ pop music, until age 70, when we sat down with a Cat Stevens songbook and got ‘Morning Has Broken’ together. We performed it in my house for ourselves; him playing and me singing.”
The simplicity was exactly why Stevens’ work had such a profound impact on Frusciante. For a large part of his career, he was preoccupied with pushing the boundaries of his own guitar-playing capabilities, fulfilling the role of both lead and rhythm guitarist in a band that straddled the lines between rock and funk with unrelenting fury.
At that time, Hendrix was obviously a fitting influence. But when Frusciante decided to do things on his own, it was the simple and emotive style of Stevens that brought him creative clarity. More than that, it connected him with a man who was otherwise disconnected from his previous musical success.
Frusciante added, “It was a breakthrough moment for my father, and for us, as it was also the first time we’d ever played music together. We have since played it on whatever occasions we’ve seen each other. Cat Stevens songwriting has inspired my own, in countless immeasurable ways.”
Concluding, “His songs, for me, are among the most fulfilling to learn, study, play along with, and interpret. His records carry a warmth with them that is, in my opinion, unsurpassed by other music.”
Stevens’ influence was best heard on Frusciante’s 2004 album The Will to Death, as well as ‘05s Curtains. A track like ‘A Name’, for example, taking from the latter album, is something Frusciante could have never achieved in the high-octane days of Red Hot Chili Peppers, while his dual responsibility as a guitarist removed any opportunity to slow down the pace and write something more pensive.
In his Stevens-influenced world of songwriting, Frusciante proved himself a compelling storyteller and vocalist. The acoustic guitar suddenly became a more delicate companion for this axe-wielding virtuoso, and an overhanging question began to beckon. What could Frusicante have provided the Chili Peppers, had they encouraged his Stevens fandom even more?
