The Jam
A doubled-sided 7" acetate, the white Emidisc label inscribed in black
ballpoint pen in an unidentified hand A side, Taking My Love (From Me),
(Weller-Brooks), THE JAM and on the B side Blueberry Rock,
(Weller-Brooks), THE JAM; accompanied by two white Fanfare labels
alternating the A and B side listings with the same track details (3)
REED, John Paul Weller: My Ever Changing Moods, London: Omnibus, 2005
This rare
acetate represents the earliest Jam recording from 1973. Takin' My Love
and Blueberry Rock were both solo Paul Weller compositions; in his
biography of Weller, John Reed documents that....a handful of acetates were
cut with one good song on each side. It was recorded in Eden Studios in Kingston,
according to Weller...."It was the very first thing we recorded as a
four-piece". Reed explains that Takin' My Love was later reworked as
the B-side to The Jam's first single In The City, released in April,
1977, but... Blueberry Rock has since passed into the annals of The Jam's
mythology; it would seem that no-one other than the band and close acquaintances
has ever heard it.
These two songs, recorded four years before the first official Jam single,
reveal that the 1973 line-up of the group was already offering a surprisingly
mature sound. The arrangements of both songs are simple but effective, with a
much more marked American influence than would be obvious on their 'official'
recordings. Paul Weller's vocals are strong, with only a slight hint of the
cockney-style accent found on his later work. His guitar work is also
impressive, in the tradition of Chuck Berry.
Takin' My Love is a mixture of 1960s British beat and 1970s American
boogie rock'n'roll, while Blueberry Rock is a more self-consciously
'rock' performance. There are suggestions that Weller may well have been paying
close attention to bands such as Status Quo and Humble Pie. Neither song
approaches the sonic impact of The Jam's later work, but given the fact that the
musicians were only in their teens, they demonstrate a remarkably precocious
talent on these recordings.
Although Takin' My Love is listed as the A-side on the record, the spare
set of labels slipped into the record sleeve credits Blueberry Rock as
the A-side, suggesting that The Jam had not been able to decide which song
showed them at their most commercial.
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©Detour Records