Hewitt Paolo - Paul Weller: The Changing Man

About the Book

Paolo Hewitt has known Paul Weller since they were both teenagers in the depths of Woking, through his ascent to fame with The Jam, the halcyon years of The Style Council and for all of his critically acclaimed solo career. Hewitt has even been the inspiration for some of Weller's songs - and he has extraordinary in-depth knowledge of the inspiration behind the rest.

Once, when Hewitt interviewed Weller for a music magazine, he complained I dont know why people ask me all these questions. All the answers are in my songs. For the last thirty years, Weller has been using his lyrics to explore his personal life and air his deeply held beliefs.

Taking these lyrics as his starting point, alongside a lifetime's friendship, Paolo Hewitt has written the ultimate Weller book. In so doing, he introduces us to the real Paul Weller the man inside the music.

PAUL WELLER

THE CHANGING MAN

Paolo Hewitt

TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS
6163 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA
A Random House Group Company
www.rbooks.co.uk

THE CHANGING MAN
A CORGI BOOK: 9780552156097
Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781446497753

First published in Great Britain
in 2007 by Bantam Press
a division of Transworld Publishers
Corgi edition published 2008

Copyright Paolo Hewitt 2007

The author and publisher are grateful to Paul Drew for permission to reproduce his poem Entertainment from Mixed Up, Shook Up, copyright 1979, published by Riot Stories, London 1979.

Paolo Hewitt has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This book is a work of non-fiction.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material, both illustrative and quoted. We apologize for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition.

Contents

Ah, you didnt think that I wouldnt salute you, little one, the woman who made me truly understand the meaning and the power of unconditional love? Love always, always love.

About the Author

Paolo Hewitt grew up in care in Woking in the 1960s and 70s, an experience he chronicled in his acclaimed memoir, The Looked After Kid. He moved to London in 1980 to become a music journalist and worked for Melody Maker and NME. In the early 1990s Paolo gave up full-time journalism to write his first novel, Heavens Promise. He has since written biographies of The Jam, The Small Faces, Oasis and Steve Marriott. He lives in London.

Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

John Keats

Every successful writer needs a sliver of ice in their heart.

Graham Greene

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I spent many months in the British Library going through interviews conducted with Paul Weller. Sources I have used include New Musical Express, Melody Maker, Record Mirror, Sounds, Mojo and Uncut. Thank you to the patient staff in that building, as well as in Colindale.

Molte grazie to: Don Martino, Amanda and Jo Jo, running molasses out of Ally Pally way; to Toby Jones operating out of Shreveport and Stockwell; to Marco Nelson and his Occasional String Band operating down South; to the other Marco operating Il Pappagone on the Stroud Green Road; to Kevin Rowland operating over East; to Linda, Niamh and Clara Taylor-Hughes, taking care of Southgate; to Mark Powell covering Soho; to Iain Munn running Dundee; to all the Arifs taking care of Oxford, Birmingham and deep South, especially Anaia; to George and Jenny bravely operating near the eye of the hurricane; to Frankie, Peter and Katie taking care of Balcome; to Nina, Susie, Tanya, Nick and Stu covering Somerset way; and to Paul and Vicki Hallam looking after Surrey. I also want to single out Emma Musgrave, Sheila Lee, Sam Jones and the books editor, Doug Young . Molte grazie. My biggest thanks go to David Luxton who came to me with the idea for this book and then became my agent, a turn of events which I am very grateful for.

I dedicate this book to Roberto and Michelle Howard, to Johnny C., Inky and Sterling, to Giovanni Taylor, to you Bax, but especially to you, Mr Wells of Forest Row.

INTRODUCTION

Between the years 1980 and 2006, Paul Weller was my closest friend. He no longer holds that position, and that is fine. People come together, people change, people move on. Such is the way of those who guide us from above.

During the time I was close to him, Paul would often say prior to a press interview, in that exasperated tone of his I got to know so well, I dont know why they ask me all these questions. Its all there in the songs if they bothered to look. This book takes Paul at his word and seeks to draw out both the man and his story through his songwriting. Selecting those songs which I think are of interest, I have sought to examine his words to see what they reveal of him and his complex character. I have also in some places tried to guide the reader to those songs which I feel have been neglected over the years. Forgive me for my presumptuousness.

Paul Weller has been writing songs for over thirty years now. Within that quite sizeable body of work he has placed numerous clues and confessions as to his true nature. This is because music is the only place where he finds full expression. I have always felt the need to write, he said in May 2000. Theres something about writing that makes me feel complete and whole as a person. Its almost like my whole worth in life hangs around whether I can write these songs or not and whether they are going to impress me enough to make me play them to you and impress you.

In public and in private, Paul is heavily guarded, careful of revelation. He has always been this way. In December 1977, Sounds writer Chas De Whalley noted of him, His words are awkward and his tone is dry. In fact, his lack of recognisable rhetoric and his taciturn conversation might tempt many to pigeon hole this nineteen year old as hopelessly inarticulate It is an observation that applies to this day, one that echoes down the years, and one that, as psychologist Anthony Storr noted, would seem to be common to all creative people. In his 1972 book The Dynamics of Creation, Storr wrote, Great artists are seldom great talkers. He later added, This needful secrecy, however, means that creative people very often reveal less of themselves in company than ordinary people.

This is certainly true of Paul. Verbal communication is simply not his strength. Instead, throughout his career, he has displayed an incessant drive to create and to improve. This impulse has produced a staggering amount of songs, nearly five hundred at last count. Seventeen studio albums have emerged, sixty-seven hit singles have been created. Five live albums, countless compilations, three greatest hits the list rolls on. Even his most virulent critics have had to acknowledge the mans staying power. I may not like his music at all, wrote