Oasis: Was ‘Little James’ about a real person?
In an attempt to knock Liam Gallagher down a peg or two and refute all comparisons, John Lydon once claimed Gallagher would never be as good as him on the sole basis that he didn’t write his own material. For the most part, Lydon was right. Liam’s role in Oasis was to be the chief entertainment officer, providing the necessary colour to his brother’s lyrics.
Now this contention goes against every fibre of my musical fandom, for I am a staunch believer in the importance of a vocalist having some emotional connection to the words they are singing. But in the case of Liam Gallagher, why bother? Firstly, he was simply too good of a frontman for his lack of writing to weigh him down. He felt the lyrics to his very core, and that’s largely because of my second point. While he didn’t write them, his brother did, and there’s something in the familial link of the words to Liam’s life, for they felt as much his as they did Noel’s.
It was when those two wholeheartedly filled their roles within the band that Oasis were at their peak. Leading up to their seminal gig at Knebworth when their first two albums acted as the fiercest one-two jab in rock history, they were an unstoppable music force. As the decade bore on and the drugs got harder, the band’s grip on greatness slipped ever so slightly.
Come the turn of the millennium, they released, Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants, which was largely underwhelming in comparison to their previous work, but undoubtedly great in glimpses. ‘Fuckin’ In The Bushes’ is a truly iconic instrumental track, fitting for the walkout of any great boxer, while ‘Roll It Over’ is one of Liam’s finest ever vocal performances. But there must have been something in the modern air at the turn of the millennium that made Liam pick up the pen and give writing a crack.
‘Little James’ was his first songwriting credit for the band and was the sort of mid-tempo, whimsical disposition fitting for someone with as much appreciation for John Lennon as he had. But who was the muse behind his songwriting debut?
Most evidence points towards James being the son of his then-partner, actor Patsy Kensit. James Kerr, was the son Jim Kerr, frontman of Scottish band Simple Minds, and Gallagher clearly felt a sense of paternal kinship with the child, penning lyrics like, “Live for your toys / Even though they make noise / Have you ever played with plasticine / Even tried a trampoline / Thank you for your smile / You make it all worthwhile to us.” Certainly not the finest lyrics to ever take shape, but it was an important first step in Liam’s growth as an artist.
Fast forward to 2018, when he had reemerged as a social artist, writing chart-topping hits of his own, he mused on the genesis of Little James and questioned whether it was in fact time for a follow-up, now Kerr had turned 24. He said, “The first song that I wrote was ‘Little James’, which was about my stepson at the time, he was called James and he was little. I might do a reprise, a new version called ‘Big James.'”
What other songs did Liam Gallagher write for Oasis?
Thankfully, Liam’s lyrics got slightly better after ‘Little James’. He went on to contribute a further eight songs to the Oasis discography, which can most likely be attributed to the ever-growing war he fought with his brother after the turn of 2000. Perhaps his most notable of the collection was ‘Songbird’ from 2002’s Heathen Chemistry. It was a song that finally introduced the world to Liam Gallagher the songwriter, an artist who could carefully construct a melody and pour his heart into the walls of an acoustic guitar.
In fact, it garnered the highest praise of all, and that was from his brother, who said, “‘Songbird’ blew my head off when I first heard it because it was that fucking simple and that direct,” Noel later admitted. “But when Liam plays you a song he wants you to instantly fucking drop dead on the spot and then, when you come around, stab yourself in the heart and be in awe of the f*cking sonic ability of the man.”
