John McLaughlin Chooses His Favourite Prog Artist...

The new issue of Prog is on sale this Friday…

And you may remember us, a while back, asking you to vote for your favourite progressive musician and artist of all time. Well, an unbelievable amount of you voted, and it’s taken for ever to work our sway through all the votes and come up with an ultimate list of 100 which will appear in the next issue. Of course we asked load of the musicians we write about to tell us who their favourites are as well, and in the run up to the new issue going on sale, we’re sharing a few of those with you.

Today it’s the choice of ex-Mahavishnu Orchestra leader and all round guitar great John McLaughlin. John is currently reaping new critical acclaim with his latest fusion outfit 4th Dimension, who released the excellent Black Light earlier this year. At 73-years old it’s great to see John still at the very top of his game. Anyway, we asked John for his choice, and, in a move that may surprise some, he chose JEFF BECK.

“For years my favourite prog rock musician has Jeff Beck, and it’s still the same today. I know a lot of prog fans might be surprised that I would even put him in this category, because they won’t consider him to be a prog musician. But perhaps that’s why I see him in this light. Jeff Beck has always been his own man, and followed his own path, and isn’t that the best definition of a true prog giant? Someone who doesn’t follow other people’s rules.

“What Jeff has done throughout his career is take chances. He has never played safe. Which is why he’s produced so much diverse music. He’s at home in any style, and every type of music is open to him. Maybe one day somebody will come along and take over from him, but for me, right now, Jeff Beck is still the best.”

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.