
Errol Linton — An Open Book


Words by Glenn Sargeant
Photo Credit: David Titlow
JLTT: Hello Errol thank you for doing this. How are you doing?
EL: Hi Glenn I’m as good as you can be right now!
Yes, this has been such a strange year for so many people. First question, your new album ‘No Entry’ was recorded at Toe Rag Studios with Mr Liam Watson whose past credits include The White Stripes. How did that collaboration come about?
That was through someone at Bra$$dog Records who I did the first album with that was the album ‘Packing My Bags’ in 2018 and he helped with all of the legal documents. He knew Liam Watson from many years ago so that’s how I got to know him. He was great to work with and knows what he is doing. He and Tim Bulleyment produced it but obviously, Liam did the engineering. I always wanted to record in Toe Rag and many years ago I used to work with a guitarist who recorded there. It is the sort of studio that you go in and as a musician, your eyes get big because everything is vintage with the microphones and the mixing desk. It’s got a good atmosphere and it is built for live music. We recorded it in two days in January 2018 and that was ‘No Entry’. We recorded it live with a couple of overdubs on percussion and that’s about it really.
Yes, that live sound really does come through.
The energy definitely.
What brand of harmonica did you use on this record?
I mainly use Lee Oskar but I did use some Hohner.
Good man! Dad was a Lee Oskar guy!
A standard thirty quid Hohner blues harmonica. I use Oskar for minor but I’ve got some minor Hohners as well.
Opener ‘No Entry Blues’ has an eerie late-night vibe and reminds me a bit of The Specials. Was that intentional?
Really? Well, I bought a new harmonica really. I got one in C minor and that’s what came out of it. It is quite a moody, atmospheric piece yeah.
‘Sad and Lonesome’ has this great lead vocal from you. How do you look after your voice?
(Laughs) Not really, no! I try and have water before a gig or a session and the usual vocal warm-ups. I would say whiskey and nicotine! I’m not a massive whisky drinker anyway.
‘Rain In Your Life’ features a really funky electric guitar. Who played on that track?
Adam Blake played all the guitar on this album. It is really funky and he is doing a bit of wah-wah on that. Those kinds of tunes always go down well towards the end of a show and we do that one as a funky groove.
‘So Many Women’ is an upbeat number with cheeky lyrics. Is it an autobiographical?
(Laughs) No. You can hear on the third verse that it’s not! But it is a bit of a tongue in cheek kind of tune but again it is one that really goes down well at gigs. We wanted to capture that feel at a gig when you get up and dance! We did an album launch gig in London and even though it was seated the energy was still there because people hadn’t been to a gig in so long.
You are right people haven’t been able to attend live music in so long that when you have the opportunity to everyone in that room has the same goal and you are all on the same team.
It was a very good night. I am very happy with the album ‘No Entry’ as it has a great sound, brilliant production by Liam Watson and Tim Bulleyment. Petar Živković on piano and organ, Lance Ross on bass, Kenrick Rowe on drums, Adam Blake on guitar and Tony Uter on percussion. Everyone did a great job.
‘Got To Move’ sounds like it is a man who has to get out of a situation quickly. Is that one that you do live?
I do that regularly at gigs and it is a Homesick James tune. He is Elmore James’ cousin. It deals with a breakup and all that kind of business. I credited it all on the album.
For example, the song ‘Speak Easy’ was just like pure sunshine to me. It made me think of a summer’s day but I also got a film noire sound. Like it would be really good in a detective drama.
It has a vibe about it definitely. Soho Radio said that it had a “snaky feeling to the tune”. It has a very Jamaican/Caribbean influence that track.
Speaking of that inspiration, I thought the track ‘Big Man Gone’ was really emotional but it still made me smile.
Yeah.
I wanted to ask, and I could be way off base here but I wanted to ask is that a tribute to the late Toots Hibbert of Toots and The Maytals?
No, it’s about my dad who passed away a couple of years ago.
Oh, I’m really sorry mate.
I recorded that long before Toots died but it is an upbeat song with sad lyrics so it is a mix of happy and sad. A bit of both.
I love the percussion on ‘Love You True’. Was that an important component for that song?
The percussionist is Tony Uter and they call him Grecko. He is ninety-one years old and he flavours everything and is on like six tracks. That is done by him and he is on
In doing some research, I read that you like to paint – what do you like to paint e.g. portraits, landscapes, animals?
Everything. I do portraits, landscapes, from my imagination. I look at my wall now, I’ve got a picture of Jimmy Reed, John Coltrane, Muhammed Ali, a portrait of Earl Palmer. I’ve got a portrait of my mate’s mum who died called Molly. It has been good because I have made a bit of money during lockdown doing portraits. I did painting and drawing when I was younger before I did music as I went to art college for a bit. I was about thirteen/fourteen when I did a picture of Peter Tosh in a field of weed. I realised that I could draw at that moment. I never stopped really. I do a bit of carving as well.
You feature on the track ‘Lookout Man’ on Joe Bonamassa’s new album ‘Royal Tea’. How did that opportunity arise?
I met him through a mutual friend and he was in London and had a day off before his recording album at Abbey Road Studios. He came to see me perform at my regular gig at The Effra Pub in Brixton and he guested on a couple of tracks. It is on YouTube if you want to see it. Then I went into Abbey Road Studios and it was the first time I had been there and played a harmonica in C sharp which is quite a high key for the harmonica. It was for the track ‘Lookout Man’. I did two or three takes and then it was done. I didn’t realise they were filming me during the second take for the music video! I’m glad I made the album and that they used as much harmonica as they did, to be honest.
It’s a difficult question but are you able to do any live shows to promote this release?
I have managed to get some gigs because I can do medium-size gigs with various setups like duos and full band. But the information is changing on a daily basis that even though I say yes to something it might not go ahead. The whole country is all in different tiers and sectioned off and it is just so difficult.
We still have some more tunes in the can from the last session so maybe we will go back in again and keep on keeping on. I will try and do as many gigs as I can but it all depends on the government really! We called the album ‘No Entry’ not because of Covid but because of Brexit really. Most of the band are from immigrant families who came over here. We had this photo of me which was taken by David Titlow and it has the sign ‘No Entry’ behind me. And it links in with Brexit and Windrush and that is why we called it that.
Thank you very much for taking the time to do this. It is really lovely to talk to you and I really do like this album. There is real emotion there and I really like this album.
Lovely speaking to you and hopefully we will see each other at a gig sometime. Cheers mate take care.
That would be really lovely. Take care mate.
Errol Linton’s new album ‘No Entry’ is out now on Bra$$dog Records. For more information visit www.errollinton.com
(Many thanks to Chris Hewlett PR and Errol for this interview)