Pheaturing Chris Jagger

Hello, and welcome to another entry of the Phile on a Wednesday. So, before I start I have to talk some business, get some stuff outta the way. First of, I got a few e-mails complaining why I didn't mention Columbus Day in Monday's entry. Yep, people actually complained. The truth is, I totally didn't know it was Columbus Day. I cannot remember everything that is going on. The other complaint that I received was I did not mention at all about October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I don't think I ever mentioned that in the last five October's I have done the Phile. I received an e-mail that said, "Dear Phile, Since it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month you should make the Phile all pink. I personally think it will help with your readers. More people with breast cancer will see how supportive you are. Support breast cancer! Thanks." Well, first things first, I do not support breast cancer, but finding a cure. The second is, I don't think turing the Phile all pink will help it any way possible. But, as you noticed, I changed the colors of the logo, and it now has a pink sky... for this month only. Also, I will post this in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month...

I hope that makes everyone happy. Now can I start the normal Phile bullshit?  A farmer in Oregon was eaten by his pigs. The pigs ate the farmer. But in the overall race, humans are still way ahead.
Happy belated birthday to actor Roger Moore, who played 007. Roger Moore is 85 years old. In fact, his new catchphrase is, "Bond, Gold Bond, Medicated Powder."  Democrats are accusing Mitt Romney of cheating during the debate. I don't know who he cheated off of, but I think we can rule out President Obama.  While the average American's net worth has gone down in the last four years, the net worth of the average member of Congress has actually gone up. No wonder Congress isn't motivated to do anything... they're the only ones better off now than they were four years ago. Unemployment is 7.8 percent, the lowest it’s been since Obama took office. The Obama campaign said they can't wait to take these statistics and not use them in the next debate.  Hey, movie fans, The number one movie in the country is Taken 2. Fifty million dollars it made. In this sequel, Liam Neeson's ex-wife is taken hostage. Divorced guys are calling it “the feel-good film of the year.”  Can you believe it's only another month until we start arguing about whether the election was stolen or not?  A handwritten letter written by Albert Einstein suggesting that there is no God went on sale on eBay starting at $3 million. When the owner heard how much the letter was worth, he said, "Thank you, Lord."  Japanese researchers have successfully grown mouse eggs in a laboratory dish, thus giving hope to millions of infertile mouse couples that hope to start a family.  A friend of Lindsay Lohan says she is not in a good place because people around her keep throwing her under the bus. You know, as long as Lindsay's under the bus and not driving it, I'm going to feel okay.  On Monday's Phile, I didn't talk about Columbus, but I talked about Bob the Builder and said bring Bob the Builder back, making a reference that he seemed to have vanished. I think I know why, one of his last products released probably didn't sell.

Hey, who watched CNN today? I was shocked when I saw this.

Why, Beaker, why?  Well, it's October and as you know at the end of the month it is Halloween. Here in the Peverett household we don't celebrate Halloween, but I thought to be a service for you, dear readers, that do celebrate that pagan holiday I will show you some Halloween costume ideas to give you any ideas. Like this one... Tom DePetrillo built a mechanized Avatar AMP suit. He spent 450 hours and $1,600 building it.

And now for some sad news...

Alex Karras
July 15, 1935 - Oct 10, 2012
Goodnight, Mongo.


Okay, kids, it's Wednesday, and what I like to do Wednesday on the Phile is invite my good friend Jeff here and talk football, and do our ever popular football picks. Take our advice, it could help you win some bets, or a lot of money in Vegas. Anyway, please welcome my good friend Jeff to the Phile once again for...

Me: Hey, Jeff, I cannot believe we are at week six already. How are you?

Jeff: It's great to be back on the Phile. I'm doing well. I hope everything is well with you these days.

Me: Things are okay. I am on vacation next week. Okay, Jeff, what is the big NFL football news this week?

Jeff: The biggest news is Drew Brees broke the record for most games consecutively throwing a touchdown, breaking Johnny Unitas's record. But his team and the Packers, both expected to have deep playoff runs, have struggled.

Me: Alright, so, how did we do last week? More importantly, am I still winning?

Jeff: Part of me hates to tell you this but part of me doesn't. No, you are not in the lead anymore. Both of our teams won this week. I went 2-1 and you went 0-3. So now I'm leading 14-13!

Me: Agghhh. You're winning by one point. Okay, let's do this week's picks, Jeff. I say Oakland will beat Atlanta by 7, Kansas City will beat Tampa by 3 and Denver will beat San Diego by three as well. What do you pick?

Jeff: I'm picking Bengals by 3 over Cleveland. Arizona by 5 over Buffalo. And New England by 10.

Me: Alright, Jeff, I will see you back next Wednesday, then I will be on vacation the Wednesday after so next week we'll pick week's 7 and 8.

Jeff: See ya next week for a double header.

Well, with less then a month to go before this election thing is over, a friend of the Phile wanted to come on and talk about something that she found personally offended by. I hope it's nothing I said or did... and no, it's not Stephanie Cutter. Please welcome back to the Phile, Chair of the Democratic National Committee... Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Me: Hello, Debbie, welcome back to the Phile. So, what are you offended by?

Debbie: Hello, Jason, at the debate, Mitt Romney looked the American public in the eye and said: "I do have a plan that deals with people with pre-existing conditions. That's part of my health care plan."

Me: Didn't his campaign quickly change that?

Debbie: His campaign quietly admitted afterwards that, no, it is not, in fact, a part of his health care plan.

Me: I was talking about breast cancer and you are a breast cancer survivor, right?

Debbie: Yes, and as a breast cancer survivor and someone living with a pre-existing condition, this statement was more personally offensive than any of his repeated promises to repeal Obamacare. This kind of say-anything dishonesty is typical from Mitt Romney and the Republicans.

Me: So, I can see why you are offended by what Romney said. When you heard this, what did you think?

Debbie: When the other side makes empty, dishonest promises like this one, it's not only the worst kind of politics, it's toying with real people's lives. As a cancer survivor, I know just how much we used to be at the mercy of insurance providers.

Me: This is why you think Obamacare is important, right?

Debbie: Obamacare protects us from unfair practices like lifetime caps on your coverage, denial of coverage because of pre-existing conditions, and being dropped from your policy exactly when you need it most.

Me: And Romney will take that all away?

Debbie: Yes, but when he's asked point-blank about it, he won't admit it. We deserve better.

Me: Debbie, thanks for coming back on the Phile. I will talk to you soon. Is there anything else you wanna add?

Debbie: Thank you, Jason. Let's stand together and keep Mitt Romney and Republicans in Congress away from our health care.

Alright, the 26th artist to be pheatured in the Phile's Art Gallery is Timothy Lim, and this is one of his pieces.

Timothy will be a guest on the Phile this coming Monday.

This is very exciting. Today's guest is a British musician who has a very famous brother I will try and not mention. His latest CD "The Ridge" is available on iTunes and he will next be appearing in Aldershot, England on October 12th at West End Centre. Please welcome to the Phile, the one and only... Chris Jagger.

Me: Hello, Chris, welcome to the Peverett Phile. It's a real honor to have you here, sir. How are you? 

Chris: I'm good.

Me: So, I said in the intro I will not to mention your brother, but I have to ask... how many interviews have you done where the interviewer only wants to ask you about Mick and the Stones? I promise this won't be one of those interviews, sir.

Chris: I don't bother with them generally but it's hard to shut someone up and be polite at the same time...

Me: I wonder if you knew my dad. He was Lonesome Dave Peverett from Savoy Brown and the lead singer in Foghat. Mick and my dad belonged to the same record club in London when they were lads. And my mom went to school with Mick. You are a little younger than Mick, right? Did you used to hang with the same people he did growing up?

Chris: Well, the drummer that later joined Foghat played on my very first record.... mostly it was Mike from Spooky Tooth who did it but your man came over to Star Groves where we recorded it and did a couple of sessions. I remember we had a very spaced out number and he was too busy so someone gave him half a Mandrax which slowed him up well enough. Then we kept on and finally the sun came up on us and he was amazed... I don't think he had ever stayed up all night before!

Me: Ummm... okay. I have a picture of my dad, Mick and Brian Jones when they were part of the record club when they were kids.

Me: It's cool you got into the music business as well, Chris. You worked with Mick a few times over the years, right? Do you like working with your brother?

Chris: I would like to do some more things but it's hard to organise... he sang backups a couple of time so on the last band record "Act of Faith" we did a duet which was fun and worked well enough sopping lines and harmonies. I always loved the sounds of families singing together like the Everly Brothers... it has a special magic so I hope to do some more before I grow too old!

Me: I just downloaded your latest album "The Ridge" from iTunes, Chris. Where did the title come from?

Chris: It refers to the ridge above my house as depicted in the drawing by a friend of mine, an artist name of Jane Percival.

Me: Did your band Atcha play on the new album or do you have a new band?

Chris: It was like a solo project but the drummer Malcolm played on it and Charlie shows up on it as does a former member Ed Deane, a great Irish guitar player who has moved back there now.

Me: The first album I ever heard from you is "Rock The Zydeco", but in England had a different name, right? That wasn't your first album, was it?

Chris: It was just called "Atcha"... which then became the name of the band... that was my first CD.

Me: Anyway, back to "The Ridge", that's a really good album, sir. Where and when was it recorded? 

Chris: Recorded in my barn alongside my house which was fantastic as you are very relaxed that way. The only drag is that you are forever making musicians cups of tea and sandwiches etc. which they always say yes to and never make one for me!

Me: Do you live in England still?

Chris: In Somerset which if said properly round here should be Zummerzet... where the cider apples grow.

Me: I live in Florida now, Chris. Have you ever played down here in Florida?

Chris: No, but I went to the film festival there last year in Orlando which was great. Don’t think I could live there though!!

Me: Chris, I never knew you had a background in journalism. I took journalism in school but the only thing I ever did with some kind of skill is write this little blog. You wrote and write for a shit loads of newspapers and magazines, and even Rolling Stone. What do you write about mostly, Chris? I take it journalism is something you really like to do. Did you ever write a piece on your brother?

Chris: I certainly don’t write about my brother though I have interviewed him a couple of times which was fun. It started in the 80’s when I was asked to write for a music magazine in Belgium and then I syndicated the monthly page also sending it to The Music Paper in NYC which was fun for a while as it got me out to see lots of bands and get free records! I didn’t like many of the bands though which was a drag but I thought ‘so what the hell do you want to do this for?’ and then I wrote a piece titled "Critics Don’t Dance" saying what a drag critics are and who cares what the hell they think and what kind of a job is that anyway? I enjoyed taking some pictures though and it was fun for a while. I figured the only raison d’etre was to tell good stories. Then I branched out and wrote travel pieces, about the environment and other subjects as I didn’t want to write about music anymore.

Me: Did that lead you into doing radio work for the BBC? You have "The Bluesman of Fine Art" radio show (maybe I can get Foghat to be on it) and you did a three part series on Alexis Korner which I heard on your website. Was that your idea to do a special on Alexis? Have you ever met him?

Chris: Sure, but it was a while back in the 1960’s I guess. I tried doing some radio stuff and hope to do some more if asked. The idea was mine and I wrote the story about Alexis which was fun.

Me: You did a song many years ago for an album called "Knights of the Blue Table" which my dad was supposed to be on but at that time my mom was sick with cancer. How did you become part of that project?

Chris: I cannot remember who was putting it together. An American called Anthony something… he just came out of the blue and we did some sessions in a nice studio… think it was at Dave Stewart’s place. Stuff like that doesn’t happen anymore.

Me: Chris, thanks so much for being on the Phile, sir. Any plans to come to the States?

Chris: Would love to come and play in the USA either with my band from here or other players I know but the Visa entry is such a drag and you need around $5000 spare to pay the attorney and immigration so with the air fare that’s another grand before you make a buck. Okay for the big earners but crap for ordinary musicians. It’s restraint of trade under the banner of ‘homeland security.’ Why do you need all those police checks and an unblemished record and endless questions and forms just to play a couple of folk clubs? It’s much easier for Americans to come to Europe which is why they all come over and are allowed to earn up to $20,000 tax free. Not so the other way. So, I am afraid the USA is a no go area unless people come in ’under the radar’ i.e. as a tourist or are willing to devote lots of time and money to the visit neither of which I have much of. I do play from time to time in Canada. I played at the Montreal Jazz Fest and when we arrived I told them what we were doing and they stamped my passport and said have a nice time! Pity the Americans cannot be as civilised!

Me: Thanks again, Chris. Please come back again here soon.

Chris: Cheers.  

Well, that was a different interview. It was an honour to have Chris here. I hope I can get him back when his next album comes out. Thanks to my guests Jeff Trelewicz, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and of course Chris. The Phile will be back Sunday with singer Holly Elle, then on Monday it's artist Timothy Lim and next Wednesday it's my last entry before vacation and that's with the boy's from Reasons Be. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.