Writing about a Hull singer-songwriter using the music of Joe Solo (1/2) By Tim Roux

(1/2), (2/2).

I have just had a fantastic experience - writing a novel,(Just like) El Cid's Bloomers' about a fictional Hull singer/songwriter around the songs of a real one, Joe Solo. And it could be a global first - the first musical novel to be designed specifically for an e-book format. It doesn't really matter whether it is or isn't, but it is always fun to be the first to do something.

For Joe, there were some serious potential downsides to the project. He could end up having his private life associated with that of the rather unfortunate hero Jake Pembleton, plus he could have agreed to give away 19 of his songs to no purpose.

For me, as a big fan of Joe Solo's music (I have all his published work since he stepped out on his own eight years ago but I never got into his old punk rock band Lithium Joe, though) the biggest risk was that listening to specific tracks many times in order to write the book, I would end up allergic to them and that my eyes would itch wildly and I would start to sneeze heavily at the mere mention of the word 'solo'. Well, I lucked out. Far from tiring of his music, I am now totally devoted to every note and every word of the tracks I used in the book. People often say about singer-songwriters 'Their music grows on you' and in Joe's case it is more true than usual.

When I first heard a Joe Solo album I thought 'Don't quite get this, but it does have something'. Being a persistent sort of guy, I listened to that CD over and over again until certain tracks popped out, Hemingway in particular, if memory serves, and Parking On The Dead. A few more listens and I no longer had a favourites list and that is where I still am. Joe's music keeps growing on me. I think it is something to do with the fact that his arrangements are so spare that there is nothing cloying or phony about them.

He also writes tremendous lyrics. When you are writing a novel quoting song lyrics extensively, those lyrics have to have something of a literary quality otherwise they are going to get in the way rather than move things along. Joe's lyrics tell stories. Take a single example; St. Martin's Square. It is the story of a couple of school kids who hang out together on a bench well away from the prying eyes of the school bullies. She decides she wants to go away to college. He isn't going anywhere except to a local factory job. She leaves but wants to keep in touch. He is convinced that he is no longer good enough for her, and that she will find herself surrounded by much more interesting people at college, so he never replies.

Continued .... Next Page (2/2)

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