John McLaughlin Archive

John in 1978. Photo by Carol Friedman.

John performing in 1978. Photo by Carol Friedman.

John, Larry Coryell and Paco de Lucia performing in 1979. Photo by Paul Cox.

John performing in 1990. Photos by Stephane Tabet.

John performing in 1974. Photo by Michael Putland.

John performing in 1984. Photo by Sue Brisk.

John with Chick Corea, Carlos Santana and Herbie Hancock at the 2015 Montreux Jazz Festival. Photo by Skip Rickert.

Billy Cobham in 1974.

An interview with Billy Cobham from 'Modern Drummer' magazine, July 1986.

John and Billy Cobham pictured during soundcheck at the Town Cinema Theatre in Bloomington, Indiana, April 24, 1972. Photo by Peter Erskine.

An interview with Carlos Santana in which he explains how John is helping getting him closer to becoming one with God. 'Guitar Player' magazine, November 1974.

An iconic portrait of Miroslav Vitouš, pictured with Rex Bogue's double-neck bass in 1976. Photo by Herbie Greene.

Miroslav Vitouš with the Rex Bogue double-neck bass guitar in 1976.

Miroslav Vitouš pictured in performance with the Rex Bogue double-neck bass guitar, designed by Rex exclusively for Miroslav in 1976. In the photo, Miroslav can also be seen operating the '360 Systems' guitar synthesizer which John used on the 'Inner Worlds' album and tour. It's very interesting to see how Miroslav went down a similar path as John, pushing the envelope of what could be done with the bass guitar in 1976, just as John did a year previously.
Both musicians were old friends (John already played on Miroslav's 'Infinite Search' in 1969 and 'Purple' in 1970), and both wanted each other to be in their respective bands during their inceptions in 1971. Although they didn't end up in each others' groups, Vitouš was instrumental in connecting John with Jan Hammer. As John was searching for a keyboard player, Miroslav recommended Hammer with whom he had already played during the '60s in Czechoslovakia in the Junior Trio with Miroslav’s older brother Alan. After both Hammer and Miroslav moved to the States, they would become a part of a musical revolution which spawned two of the greatest bands of all time.

John performing in 1972. Photo by Neal Preston.

John performing in 1974. Photos by Mark Mander.

John's interview for 'Guitar Player' magazine, August 1978.

Sri Chinmoy's book of poems titled 'My Flute', published in 1972. This work was an important part of John's life at the time of his discipleship, with three of its poems being featured on Mahavishnu Orchestra albums - 'Between Nothingness and Eternity', 'Apocalypse' and 'Revelation' (on 'Birds of Fire'). Here is the entire collection.

Geneviève Renon, John's wife from 1976 to 1981. Geneviève was a great viola player, performing and recording several pieces by contemporary composers, being in close relationship with Giacinto Scelsi who even considered her as his muse. She passed away in 2019. Those interested in hearing her vocal work on one of Iannis Xenakis' compositions can do so at this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNd81WWYgYE

Luthier Rex Bogue, creator of the double-neck guitar which John used from mid-1973 to mid-1975 when it was broken in an accident.

Miles Davis pictured with John's long-time girlfriend Katia Labeque. Miles named the song 'Katia' from the album 'You're under arrest' after her - the song also features one of John's best electric solos of the '80s.

An article about Rex Bogue's 'Double Rainbow' guitar from 'Guitar Player' magazine, May 1974.

Shakti performing at 'The Bodega' club in Campbell, California in 1977.

In early 1984, Shakti reunited for a short tour of India, performing together for the first time since disbanding. These photos show them at what many of those who saw them that year describe as their absolute peak, playing at an ever higher intensity than before. Two new additions are noticeable - John's new guitar, designed by Abe Wechter, and L. Shankar's double violin, built by Ken Parker. Previously, I have already posted fragments from one of their 1984 shows. Soon, you will be able to hear a concert in its entirety.

Abe Wechter, builder of John's 'Shakti' guitar, pictured with John in 1977. Wechter explains the origins of this unique instrument's 1976 version :
"The drone strings are entirely John's idea. He knew that he wanted them and that they should be positioned obliquely across the soundhole, but otherwise his whole concept was pretty general at first. Initially he thought that he might want to accomplish this on an arch-top guitar, but we settled on a flat-top.
The design is extremely effective, however, the guitar is exceptionally difficult to play - it requires incredibly good technique. The slightest finger pressure will change the pitch of the strings, so if you're coming into a big chord, you've got to keep the pressure just right - there's no fingerboard to stop you. I've heard John play full chords quickly up and down the neck, but I haven't heard too many other people who can. It's really difficult, but it gives the guitarist a unique freedom and for John it really fits."
Soon after Shakti disbanded in early 1978, Wechter began developing the next version of the guitar :
"I am going to start working on a new instrument for John. It was commissioned immediately upon delivery of the second Gibson drone-string - same day. It's tenatively due to be delivered on December 1, 1978, and John and I are doing it independently from the auspices of Gibson. The soundboard design is revolutionary, and I'd rather not talk about it until it is patented, but let me say that it'll be different from every soundboard ever made so far. Just about everything will be new and unusual in this guitar. It'll have a stainless steel fretboard with fitted, pre-scalloped pieces of ebony between the frets, and it'll also have exquisite little drone-string tuners designed especially for me by Helmut Schaller; the tuners will be all you will see on the outside surface. The challenges of building the drone-string guitars put pressures on my mind in a creative sort of way to spring forth this latest development. It forced me into an unconventional line of thinking, and that's where the whole thing came from, really - just being presented with a problem and trying to solve it."
This new version of the guitar would be used by John during Shakti's 1984 reunion tour. It is without a doubt one of the most incredible guitars ever built. Many photos of it can be found in the Archive's 'Shakti' album.

'Vibraciones' magazine, March 1975.

Trilok Gurtu and the brilliant pianist/composer Daniel Goyone performing as the Crazy Saints in 1994.

'Cash Box' magazine, February 17, 1973.

John with Stanley Clarke, George Duke and guitarist Dean Brown.

'Vibraciones' magazine, September 1975.

Narada Michael Walden pictured in 1977.

Billy Cobham and George Duke pictured during and in-store promotion at Just Music in 1976.

Since the Archive is largely dedicated to John's career during the '70s, I thought it would be appropriate to present to you a list of my personal 30 favorite musicians from that golden decade (as the original list is endless, I had to make just a selection). If you have your own such lists of favorite '70s bands, feel free to share them in the comments, I would be very interested in seeing them.

1. Shakti
2. Mahavishnu Orchestra
3. Genesis
4. Frank Zappa
5. Herbie Hancock
6. Stanley Clarke
7. Pink Floyd
8. Return to Forever
9. Peter Gabriel
10. Brian Eno
11. Magma
12. King Crimson
13. George Duke
14. Jan Hammer
15. Joni Mitchell
16. Weather Report
17. Earth, Wind & Fire
18. David Bowie
19. Cluster
20. Iggy & The Stooges
21. Miles Davis
22. Bennie Maupin
23. UK
24. Emerson, Lake & Palmer
25. Tony Williams Lifetime
26. Steve Hackett
27. Keith Jarrett
28. Soft Machine
29. Throbbing Gristle
30. Captain Beefheart

An article titled 'Requiem for Jaco', written by Bill Milkowski in the wake of Pastorius' murder, published in 'Musician' magazine in December of 1987. This big feature also includes a special eulogy for Jaco, written by Joni Mitchell.

Jimmy Page pictured in the mid-'60s, around the time he took lessons from John who taught him about harmony and guitar chops in general. John and Jimmy originally met at London's Selmer music shop and became friends. As Jimmy would later explain :
"Well, I did meet John McLaughlin, who was working in there. He came down from Doncaster, and he was living in London. He was sort of introducing himself on to the Jazz scene and welcomed with open arms, as you can imagine. He was instinctively the best, I could tell. I didn’t listen to a lot of Jazz - or it was selective, what I listened to - but I could tell from what I knew that he was easily the best that I was gonna hear or witness in front of me. He was the best one I was going to see, that’s for sure. He was working there, really, to practice all week, because the only day that was busy was Saturday. That’s what he said. Fantastic! This bloke knows what he’s doing and he knows where he’s going.
I would say he was the best jazz guitarist in England then, in the traditional mode of Johnny Smith and Tal Farlow. He certainly taught me a lot about chord progressions and things like that. He was so fluent and so far ahead, way out there, and I learned a hell of a lot."

John in 1982. Photo by Andy Freeberg.