Song Man - A Melodic Adventure, or My Single-minded Approach to Songwriting (Paperback)

Will Hodgkinson learned to play guitar for the first time at the not-so-tender age of 34. Now, bolstered by the truism that with three chords you can write a song, he sets out to do just that, and aims to present his creation to the world by cutting a 45rpm single at the famed Toe-Rag Studios in London. Armed with a singing voice that makes children cry and a sense of melody that could best be described as challenging, Will takes off on a songwriting journey. He receives lessons and advice from, among others, Keith Richards, Ray Davies, English folk queen Shirley Collins and a brilliant recluse called Lawrence, and, on a mission to find a song for his wife to sing, goes to New York to meet the hippy-era songwriter Bridget St John. Then, in search of inspiration, he travels to the mysterious Scottish island of Eigg with his reluctant songwriting partner Doyle - but what will Liam Watson, Toe-Rag's fearsome producer, make of the pair's efforts? Taking in the history of song from the Carmina Burana to modern pop, Song Man gets to the heart of why three minutes of music will always encapsulate what it means to be alive.