The moment in 1963 when Paul Weller knew he’d become a musician: “I can tell you exactly when”
The all-encompassing power of The Beatles can scarcely be comprehended; the band indefinitely altered the look, sound and production of pop music. Not bad for a group of working-class kids from Liverpool.
In fact, the Fab Four were so innovative and important that their influence on popular music can still be clearly heard today, over five decades from when the group eventually dissolved. Of course, some people were more influenced by the band than others, but they seemed to have a kind of life-changing quality to them which has transcended time.
One figure who has been particularly influenced by The Beatles is Paul Weller. The Woking-born songwriter first rose to prominence within the punk generation, which aimed to move away from the stuffy old-school pop of the 1960s, but The Jam frontman had other ideas.
He was something of a rarity within the punk scene, preferring Italian suits to safety pins and intricate lyricism to half-hearted sentiments about anarchy and snarling. Nevertheless, the smartly sartorial songwriter managed to make a name for himself, with The Jam gathering such a dedicated following that they inspired a resurgence in the modernist subculture.
“As a small kid, they were the first group to make me sit up and take notice of their songs.”
Paul Weller
Weller has always maintained a broad range of musical influences, ranging from Brazilian tropicália to the gentle folk of artists like Nick Drake and the glam of David Bowie. Particularly within his solo discography, these disparate influences can be heard clearly within his own songwriting, coming and going at will.
However, one influence that has never waned for Weller is that of The Beatles. This should perhaps come as no surprise, given that the Modfather was a child of the 1960s when the Fab Four dominated virtually all aspects of popular culture.
As he told Lisa Verrico in 1995, “I like all those ’60s groups like the Who, Small Faces, the Kinks and the Stones, but the biggest influence has to be the Beatles . As a small kid, they were the first group to make me sit up and take notice of their songs.”
For the Woking lad, they represent a whole gamut of alternative life. “I loved everything about them,” he said, “their clothes, their music and, when I was a little older, their attitude. I wanted to know all of John’s thoughts – on religion, politics, pop culture, young people, whatever.” It was as though they began to mould his future from afar.
In fact, it was the revolutionary sounds of The Beatles that first inspired Weller on his path to musical greatness. During a recent appearance on the BBC’s Tracks Of My Years, the ex-Style Council songwriter reflected upon the influences that drove him to first pick up a guitar and begin writing songs. Seemingly, Weller can recall the exact moment that his mind became invariably linked to the musical world. “I can tell you exactly when,” he said, “November 1963, and it’s when The Beatles played the Royal Command Performance and it was on TV.”
By that point in 1963, Beatlemania was in full swing, but their performance at the Royal Variety, in front of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, was one of the first times many people in the UK were able to see the band on television. John Lennon was openly critical of the performance, later saying, “That show’s a bad gig, anyway. Everybody’s very nervous and uptight, and nobody performs well.” but, for Weller, their set was a revelation.
“That was the first time I’d seen the Fabs,” he recalled, “and that was it for me. I just thought it was the greatest thing I’d ever seen.” It seems as though the performance, which began with a particularly good rendition of ‘From Me To You’ flipped a switch for Weller, who never forgot the captivating power of Liverpool’s favourite sons. “I’d never seen anything like that,” he said, “It was just so different. It was new, it was fresh and something you hadn’t seen or heard before.”
Weller managed to carry that desire to be different and interesting into his own career, both with The Jam and The Style Council, as well as his celebrated solo work.
Over the course of his long and illustrious career, the Modfather has had a few opportunities to meet his heroes, too. “I met Paul McCartney in 1981 in AIR Studios,” he shared. “I was in there doing the last Jam album, which was called The Gift, and Paul was in there with George Martin doing his McCartney II album,” he continued. “I was so, sort of, freaked out by the whole thing. I found it hard to talk to him because I was just in awe.” It seems that childhood wonder surrounding The Beatles never really faded for Weller.
